Class Description
Sometimes the smallest moment — or the shortest essay — holds the greatest revelation. In this generative class, you’ll write six personal essays between 500 and 1,000 words. You’ll experiment with a variety of essay formats, play with voice and structure, and take a fresh look at your own life experience.
Each week, you’ll write a new essay in response to a prompt, and we’ll follow a rotating workshop schedule to discuss those drafts in class. You’ll receive thoughtful, targeted feedback on at least three pieces, focused on what’s working and how to strengthen and refine it. We’ll also read and discuss published essays from writers like Jaquira Díaz, Ryan Van Meter, Claudia Rankine, and others—studying how they meld their experiences and their ideas into powerful narratives.
Throughout the course, we’ll cover practical revision strategies and explore how—and where—to submit your work. By the end, you’ll leave with six new drafts, exposure to the many possibilities of the personal essay form, and fresh insights into the publication process.
Please note: Class does not meet on Monday, October 13th.
Writing Roadmap: We've created a simple, goal-based writing roadmap to help you find the perfect GrubStreet course for your writing needs.
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.