2012 Writing Classes

The Poem Beyond: Composing a Chapbook

In this course each student will write and revise five poems to cover a topic of his/her own choosing with a goal of the chapbook itself becoming “the poem beyond” or the sixth poem.  Various strategies for arrangement and structure will be analyzed, discussed, compared and chosen for each booklet.  The level of this class is intermediate to advanced.  Please see “General Information” below for times and tuition.

Dates:  (Mondays) Feb. 27, March 5, 12, 19, 26, April 2, 9, 16, 23 (nine classes)  Tuition:  $250

Beginning Memoir:  Telling the Story

This class will focus on understanding and utilizing the techniques of narrative writing that the memoir writer uses to tell the stories from his/her own life.  Expect to increase your facility in narrative skills such as pacing, characterization, tone, use of dialogue, use of resonant detail, and movement through time.  Numerous cross-cultural examples will illustrate the options for creating a voice on the page—one of the most crucial first steps for the memoir writer.  This class is geared to the beginning memoirist or to a more advanced writer who wishes to review the foundations.  Please see “General Information” below for times and tuition.

Dates: (Tuesdays) Feb. 28, March 6, 13, 20, 27, April 3 (six classes)

Tuition:  $175

The Spiritual Essay

Philip Zaleski, editor of the Best American Spiritual Essays, has said that spiritual writing describes the indescribable.  In this class, we will look at examples of spiritual essays that work (or don’t), while learning and practicing in some of the forms that the spiritual essay can take—the confessional, the polemical, the prescriptive, and the satirical.  Students may write from a position of faith or one of doubt.  Writers of every level and all systems of belief will benefit from this class.  Please see “General Information” below for times and tuition.

Dates: (Wednesdays) March 7, 14, 21, 28, April 4, 11, 18 (seven classes)

Tuition:  $200