Class Description
Great writing should make us uncomfortable. Not because the content is necessarily graphic or shocking, but because the writer is being painfully honest, confronting the failures, dark impulses and moral ambiguities that we spend much of our day-to-day lives avoiding. Whether it’s a story of personal trauma, addiction, sex, or social or racial tensions, writing about such themes can stir reflection and recognition in readers and create space for new dialogues. In this seminar, we’ll explore this kind of bold, challenging writing, examining what makes a provocative piece of nonfiction or fiction succeed, along with the pitfalls of writing stories that touch nerves—especially in our current era, when opinions feel so urgent and the stakes so high. To drive discussion, we’ll read daring work by authors such as Roxane Gay, Miranda July, Edwidge Danticat, Patricia Lockwood and Gary Schteyngart. And we’ll do in-class exercises to push our writing into territory that is similarly candid and unafraid.
Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.
For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.