Class Description
This workshop is for intermediate and advanced essay writers eager to dive deeper into their projects and get regular, thoughtful feedback in a supportive space. Each week, we’ll workshop drafts, explore the art and the challenge of the personal essay, and read instructive published work and craft essays.
In-class prompts will spark your creativity and help you play with different essay elements, and together, we’ll tackle themes and techniques like conflict, change, scene-writing, reflection, pacing, form, and structure. You’ll encounter essays by writers like Joan Didion, Alice Walker, Thomas Swick, James Baldwin, Erik Larson, MKF Fisher, Malcolm Gladwell, Zora Neale-Hurston, Ernest Hemingway, Maxine Hong-Kingston, Jeanette McCurdy, and Trevor Noah.
You will share at least two essay drafts (up to 5,000 words each), submitted in advance for written feedback from your peers and instructor—drafts can be from two different essays, or one essay that has undergone significant revisions between rounds of workshop. Writers are welcome to submit brand new essays, or bring in-progress drafts.
By the end of the course, you’ll have made substantial progress on your essay project(s), honed your understanding of the personal essay form, and built a toolbox of strategies to carry your writing forward.
Note: Because personal essays often explore intimate or challenging topics, we’ll foster a safe, respectful environment where all voices can be heard and honored.
Please note: Class does not meet Tuesday, November 11th.
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.