Writing & Reading Classes

ALL CLASSES ONLINE

Summer 2021 writing & reading classes oo

TABLE OF CONTENTS COVID-19: All Summer 2021 classes will take place online.

About Our Classes ... 2 All classes are listed in Pacific Time.

Highlights ... 3 Classes listed as “Asynchronous” will be held on our Wet Ink platform that allows for asynchronous learning. Students will receive Fiction ... 4 an invitation to join Wet Ink on the class start date. Nonfiction ... 8 Poetry ... 11 Mixed Genre ... 14

Reading ... 19 The Writing Life ... 20 Free Resources ... 21 About Our Teachers ... 23

iiii From Our Education Director REGISTRATION

Register by phone at 206.322.7030 The music critic Amanda Petrusich recently reveled in the continuing ero- or online at hugohouse.org. sion of genre for the New Yorker. “(G)enre feels increasingly irrelevant to the way we think about, create, and consume art,” she says. “It’s interesting to All registration opens at 10:30 am consider genre as inherently backward-looking—particularly in a moment, Scholarship Donation Day: May 17 such as this one, in which we are all hungrier than ever for the future.” Member registration: May 18 While we toyed with the idea of a genre-less catalog this quarter, we’ve kept General registration: May 25 the categories you’ve come to expect for searchability’s sake. But look care- fully and you’ll find this catalog’s full of mixed-genre gems… Register early to save with early bird pricing, in effect May 17–31. Come philosophize about the nature of memory with Charles Mudede. Make a screenplay out of a poem in Rose McAleese’s Poetic Screenwriting. See how moving between forms “can strengthen the story you are trying to SCHOLARSHIPS tell” with Darien Hsu Gee. Mix up all your disparate, errant bits in Rebecca Makkai’s Blind Date. Or study the structure of Toni Morrison’s Beloved “as Need-based scholarships are available an example structure for (your own) stories about loss, violence, memory every quarter. Applications are due and healing” with Dr. Michele L. Simms-Burton. May 24, and scholarship applicants will be notified May 31. In other news, the first day of registration this quarter—May 17—will be for scholarship applicants and Hugo Fellows, as usual, but also for anyone Visit bit.ly/HHscholarship for more who donates $250 to our scholarship fund. Call in to make your donation information and to apply. and sign up for a class that’ll keep your writing practice strong this summer.

See you in the classroom, MEMBERSHIP

As a member, you help us provide thought-provoking classes and events that connect writers and readers to the craft of writing. You’ll also receive great Margot Kahn Case benefits, including early registration and discounts on classes and events. Learn more at hugohouse.org/become-member/

QUESTIONS?

If you want to know more about a class or Hugo House policies, email us at [email protected] or call 206.322.7030. We are here to help!

hugohouse.org 206.322.7030 [email protected] 1 ABOUT OUR CLASSES

STUDENT GUIDELINES CLASS LEVELS Our Student Guidelines are intended to help you and your fellow TIERED | These courses are designed students engage in our literary community with compassion, curiosity, to equip you with tools, skills, and an and consideration. If you experience or witness any harassment or understanding of the diverse voices at discrimination in a Hugo House class, please alert the registrar: work in each genre. You may self-select [email protected] or 206.322.7030. into classes based on where you feel comfortable. Take these classes as Hugo House does not tolerate racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist, many times as you like. transphobic, or any other oppressive behaviors. Please alert Margot Kahn Case, education director, if you experience or witness any harassment or ALL LEVELS | Many classes at Hugo discrimination. At all times, please: House are intended for writers at any level, regardless of prior writing class • Remain respectful of all writers (and their work) in the classroom. experience. • If you come into the classroom with a background of privilege, be aware of that position and the ways in which it can potentially affect INTRODUCTORY | Writers with other students. limited experience in a writing class or • Be intentional in working against traditional power dynamics, which workshop setting who want to expand can alienate and silence voices that have been historically marginalized. their knowledge should consider introductory classes. These classes are • Be aware that your fellow students have an equal right to the class also designed for writers who want to space and time. explore a new genre. • Put aside personal technology, if not being used for the purpose of the class. INTERMEDIATE | Writers with some experience in genre-specific instruction For the full version, please visit: hugohouse.org/classes/student-guidelines/ looking to deepen their understanding should consider intermediate classes. ACCESS NEEDS These classes often feature a workshop component in which student work is For students with access needs, Hugo House is ready to help. Teachers shared and critiqued. should reach out about access needs, but please also feel free to notify the registrar of your individual needs before your class begins. ADVANCED | Writers with significant experience in a writing class or CATALOG KEY workshop setting who seek assistance

ABOUT OUR CLASSES and feedback with revision should This denotes an asynchronous class. These classes can be done consider advanced classes. at your own pace throughout the week.

REFUNDS CANCELLATIONS & TRANSFERS

Hugo House cannot provide refunds, If you need to cancel your registration for a class, the following refund transfers, or makeup sessions for classes schedule applies: a student might miss. If Hugo House has to cancel a class, you will receive a • 3 days or more before a class, a class credit or transfer will be issued full refund. less a $15 fee. Refunds will be issued less a $35 fee. • Less than 3 business days before a class starts, no refund, credits, or transfers are available. • No refunds, credits, or transfers are available after classes begin.

2 HIGHLIGHTS

FICTION J. RYAN STRADAL CREATING CHARACTER Intermediate | In fiction, character is the font of narrative. A character’s desires, behavior, and limitations create and evolve plot. Consequently, when beginning a novel or story, a writer’s knowledge of their primary characters interrogates and supersedes all other variables. Through discussion of the work of Dana Johnson, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Denis Johnson, this class will explore the components and utility of memorable characters. Students are urged, but not required, to bring works-in-progress for discussion and exploration.

One session | Tuesday, June 29 | 1:10–4:10 pm General: $150 | Member: $135

MIXED GENRE HIGHLIGHTS JENNIFER DE LEON

ON ENDINGS All Levels | We’ll examine published excerpts in prose (Jhumpa Lahiri, James Joyce, ZZ Packer, and others) and discuss the ways in which the authors achieve successful endings. We will consider the range of possibilities for endings in stories, essays, and yes, novels: action, flash-forward, open endings, resolved endings, and, of course, the surprising and inevitable ending. Part lecture and part discussion, this session will also provide the opportunity—time permit- ting—to try out various approaches for writing effective endings.

One session | Wednesday, July 21 | 1:10–4:10 pm General: $150 | Member: $135

POETRY VIEVEE FRANCIS THE ARS POETICA AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PERSONAL VISION Intermediate | How do our attitudes, backgrounds, and experiences inform the way we think about writing? If our personal narratives shift, how does that im- pact our approach to the poem? We will discuss how the conscious questioning of our thoughts and feelings about poetry can “twig by twig” (as Archibald MacLeish notes in his poem, “Ars Poetica”) move us toward a comprehensive and sustainable personal vision for our work.

One session | Sunday, August 7 | 10 am–1 pm General: $150 | Member: $135 3 FICTION

tiered classes

FICTION I RAMÓN ISAO Whether you’re looking to write a collection of stories or a novel, this course will Six sessions introduce key elements of craft such as character, plot, and setting. Alongside Tuesdays, June 15–July 20 published examples and writing prompts in and out of class, you will write short 7:10–9:10 pm stories and learn the basics of the workshop model. Readings may include George General: $305 | Member: $275 Saunders, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Carmen Maria Machado, Zadie Smith, and Edgar Allan Poe.

general

TRANSITIONS AND TURNING POINTS: KIRSTEN SUNDBERG WRITING ADOLESCENCE FOR ADULT READERS LUNSTRUM All Levels | In this intensive reading and generative writing course, participants Four sessions will study four novellas (by Sarah Moss, Julie Otsuka, Justin Torres, and Jacqueline Mondays, June 14–July 5 Woodson) intended for an adult readership but focused on that most emotionally 7:10–9:10 pm charged developmental period in a human’s life: adolescence. At the heart of the General: $240 | Member: $216 class will be an exploration of fiction techniques, which we will investigate through model texts and weekly exercises. A syllabus will be provided before class begins.

WRITING THE FICTIONALIZED MEMOIR JENNIFER HAUPT All Levels | Are you struggling to tell your personal story in a dramatic and Four sessions entertaining way—or fully understand what the book-worthy story truly is? One Tuesdays, June 15–July 13 way to explore all the storytelling possibilities around real-life events is to infuse [No class June 29] them with fiction. We’ll discuss strategies for combining fiction and memoir in 5–7 pm FICTION ways that are meaningful to the theme of the book, expand the plot, and deepen General: $240 | Member: $216 characters. We’ll also complete and share scene-building exercises and discuss structural elements for this exciting hybrid.

LEARNING FROM THE MASTERS KIRSTEN SUNDBERG Intermediate | We’ll engage in a close reading of several short stories by four short LUNSTRUM story masters (Anton Chekhov, James Baldwin, Alice Munro, and Yiyun Li), gar- Four sessions nering lessons from their fiction on how to build and improve our own stories. Wednesdays, June 16–July 7 Generative writing exercises will further our explorations of the techniques and 7:10–9:10 pm stylistic choices of our model texts. A list of texts and a syllabus will be provided General: $240 | Member: $216 prior to the first session of class.

CREATING (UN)LIKABLE CHARACTERS MICHAEL SHILLING All Levels | The Misfit, Ignatius Loyola, Nick and Amy Dunne—one of the Six sessions great ironies of literature is that we are often most compelled and captivated by Thursdays, June 17–July 22 characters who are dirty, rotten people we would never want to know. Through 7:10–9:10 pm generative work and strategic reading of acclaimed published work, we will look General: $305 | Member: $275 at how to create characters that we care about—even root for—despite not liking them one bit. 4 DIAL UP YOUR DIALOGUE LISH MCBRIDE All Levels | Dialogue and banter are a great way to reveal character and entertain One session your reader, but what takes it from so-so to sparkling? We'll dissect examples Sunday, June 20 of dialogue and use writing prompts to learn the dos and don'ts of successful 1:10–4:10 pm dialogue. General: $90 | Member: $81

BLIND DATE REBECCA MAKKAI All Levels | This brainstorming workshop will explore the alchemy of combining One session seemingly disparate concepts into one narrative. We’ll each take our own unused, Thursday, June 24 unloved ideas and, after we discuss the fine art of narrative matchmaking, set them 10 am–1 pm up together for a lifetime of happiness—or at least a few paragraphs of fun. In ad- General: $150 | Member: $135 dition to something to write with, bring whatever notebook or computer file con- tains your miscellaneous ideas. You’ll leave with the makings of several new pieces.

WRITING KIDS IN A GROWN-UP WORLD EVAN RAMZIPOOR All Levels | The Family Fang, The Kite Runner, Ender’s Game, All the Light We One session Cannot See… Some of our most memorable and sophisticated fiction is populated Saturday, June 26 by child protagonists. Children often see and hear everything that we miss, which 10 am–1 pm makes them uniquely difficult (and interesting) characters to write. Students will General: $90 | Member: $81

learn how to write kids and young adults for an adult market. We will conduct FICTION small group exercises, analyze scenes from recent novels, and practice by writing a short scene together.

SUSPENSEFUL WRITING JOSHUA MARIE WILKINSON All Levels | Why are some books impossible to put down? It’s simple: When an Four sessions important outcome is unknown, people can hardly think of anything else. It’s that Wednesdays, July 7–28 yearning to turn the pages in order to find out what happens next. Suspense is what 5–7 pm makes great stories so absorbing, and it’s why your favorite show is so ridiculously General: $240 | Member: $216 bingeable. We’ll explore extremely practical methods for writing suspensefully, and we’ll learn how to make scenes that leave the reader burning to turn pages.

FIRST PERSON OMNISCIENCE CORINNE MANNING Advanced | The most honest point of view is first person, isn’t it? A character’s per- Four sessions spective becomes our whole world, and every nuance of their perspective informs Wednesdays, July 7–28 the heart of the story. In the rarely used but intriguingly powerful first-person 7:10–9:10 pm omniscient narrative, the narrator knows all—but their perspective is still flawed. General: $240 | Member: $216 In these four weeks, we will bust open notions of authorial power in perspective. Class time will include outside reading, in-class writing, and internal examination.

THE ART OF THE NOVELLA STACY D. FLOOD All Levels | More than simply an elongated short story or a truncated novel, the Four sessions novella has its own parameters, intricacies, and rewards. Together we’ll look at a Saturdays, July 10–31 few jewels of the form, as well as the novella’s histories, origins, and how its varying 1:10–3:10 pm structures still feed into the overall design. Students are invited to use this expe- General: $240 | Member: $216 rience to either enhance their own novellas, or learn more about this fascinating literary form.

5 FANTASY & SCI-FI NOVEL WORKSHOP LISH MCBRIDE All Levels | Writers will turn in chapters of their novels in a workshop-style format. Eight sessions Everyone will learn how to constructively critique and discuss the submitted work Sundays, July 11–August 29 as a group, with an eye toward helping the author strengthen their writing while 1:10–3:10 pm supporting them in their creative efforts. While we will also generate some writing General: $395 | Member: $356 in class through prompts and exercises, the focus will be the workshop. This class is for adults writing for an adult or young adult audience.

REVISE YOUR MESSY FIRST DRAFT JENNIFER HAUPT Intermediate | Congrats on finishing your imperfect first draft! If you’re feeling the Eight sessions elation and terror of “What’s next?,” help is here. During our first three sessions, Wednesdays, July 14–September 1 you’ll create a plan for revising your novel into a second draft with clear structure 5–7 pm and plot and deeper characters. We’ll spend the remaining five weeks diving General: $395 | Member: $356 into revisions, using your blueprint, with in-class exercises to build key scenes. Prerequisite: Two-thirds of first draft completed.

SHORT STORY INTENSIVE JESSE JOHNSON Advanced | Are you gearing up to submit your short fiction? This class is for you! Six sessions In this six-week workshop, students will do the hard, rewarding work of revising Mondays, July 19–August 23 their most publication-ready story. Everyone will have their work discussed in class 7:10–9:10 pm at least twice and will receive the feedback and encouragement needed to get their General: $305 | Member: $275 story into print. So sign up, bring your story, and let us help you get it to the finish line.

FIRST AID FOR YOUR FICTION PETER MOUNTFORD All Levels | This class will introduce the eight most common craft problems that Two sessions fiction writers struggle with, including some they rarely notice—among them, Saturdays, July 24 & 31 evasive protagonist syndrome, excessive scene disorder, and “Oops, Where’s My 10 am–1 pm FICTION Plot?” During two three-hour sessions you will learn tools for self-diagnosis and General: $180 | Member: $162 cures for all these afflictions, and you’ll apply them to ten pages of your writing.

LITERARY HORROR: USING FEAR IN FICTION ANNESHA MITHA All Levels | This class will explore how horror tropes and “scary fiction” can be Six sessions used in ambitious and socially conscious storytelling. Through discussion of Sundays, July 25–August 29 relevant texts, we will determine how we can use fear to illuminate something 1:10–3:10 pm essential about the world around us. Readings include work by Shirley Jackson, General: $305 | Member: $275 Octavia Butler, Jordan Peele, Victor LaValle, and Samanta Schweblin. Students will generate and share new work and can expect to come away with at least one full-length story draft or novel chapter.

WORLDBUILDING: OUTSIDE AND IN SCOTT DRISCOLL All Levels | All fiction writers engage in worldbuilding. The first three weeks of Six sessions this class will look at how to build exterior worlds, including place, culture, and Thursdays, August 5–September 9 atmosphere. The next two weeks will explore the interior world of needs, wants, 7:10–9:10 pm fears, repressed desires, and wounds your character hides, including how this General: $305 | Member: $275 interior history shows up in their actions. The final week will be workshopping.

6 DYNAMIC DIALOGUE: THE ART OF SUBTEXT SUSAN MEYERS Introductory/Intermediate | Do you want to liven up your dialogue? This class Two sessions introduces you to the art of subtext: those implied messages that give invisible life Saturday & Sunday, August 7 & 8 to the things we say. Through writing exercises and sample stories by authors such as 10 am–2 pm Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O’Connor, Charles Baxter, and Karen Russell, you’ll General: $240 | Member: $216 learn to master the most important element of dynamic dialogue: what’s left unsaid.

WHEN THE PERSONAL TURNS FICTIONAL LAURA LAMPTON SCOTT All Levels | You have a story to tell that comes from your life experience. Maybe One session you’ve tried to tell it straight, but it just isn’t coming out right. We’ll discuss and Saturday, August 21 practice the moment when a story turns from truth into fiction. We’ll test strategies 1:10–4:10 pm for developing fiction out of life experiences, what to keep and what to let go. Plan General: $90 | Member: $81 to begin at least two new stories, setting your experiences loose into the realm of fiction. FICTION

Many classes in the Mixed Genre section cover general fiction techniques. See pages 14–18.

7 NONFICTION

tiered classes

CREATIVE NONFICTION I BETH SLATTERY We will figure out the true topic of our pieces, and how to most effectively explore Six sessions those topics through points of view, scene, reflection, and form. Using generative Mondays, July 26–August 30 writing, reading, and an introduction to the workshop model, we will begin to 5–7 pm investigate our own personal stories. Students will generate 15–20 pages, which General: $305 | Member: $275 will be shared in workshop and will receive extensive instructor feedback.

general

API/AAPI BAD GIRLS CLUB JAIMIE LI All Levels | Xiwangmu, one of the most powerful goddesses in the Chinese One session pantheon, started out as a mountain demon who wreaked cataclysmic havoc before Sunday, June 20 settling down into heavenly rule. What can her myth teach us about writing into 10 am–3 pm our wilderness years as womxn of the Asian diaspora? Come ready to read, discuss, General: $120 | Member: $108 write, and revel in stories about fighting, drinking, disrupting, or screwing our way into self-creation. You'll leave with new material and the readiness to take up space in any room. This class includes a lunch break.

TRAVELING THROUGH TIME NICOLE HARDY All Levels | For memoir writers, a narrative’s order of events is always a conundrum One session when months, days, or years might pass between scenes. We’ll read selections from Saturday, June 26 a range of memoirs and talk about the different ways authors travel through time 12–4 pm without losing their readers. We’ll practice using different techniques in our works- General: $120 | Member: $108 in-progress.

NONFICTION WRITING THE COMPLICATED SELF KATHERINE STANDEFER Introductory | There is a great temptation to airbrush ourselves on the page, to fill One session in the pockmarks of our flaws—and yet this leaves us not only less trustworthy, Saturday, June 26 but less interesting. Students will explore how the contradictions in their personali- 1:10–4:10 pm ties—the gaps between dirty laundry and grace—are the most interesting spaces for General: $90 | Member: $81 both readers and writers. Together, we’ll discuss how craft choices around persona and structure can help us harness this charge and write into our gorgeous, complex selves.

WRITE YOUR STORY: WRITING TO HEAL INGRID RICKS Introductory | Tap into the healing power of personal narrative and write the Four sessions emotionally charged story you need to tell. You’ll learn how to identify, structure, Tuesdays, July 6–27 and bring your story to life through eight powerful narrative writing assignments 5–8 pm that culminate in the completion of your five- to ten-page story. Each class will General: $305 | Member: $275 include a group craft session followed by optional individual writing/coaching time with the instructor.

8 HOW TO WRITE A MODERN LOVE ESSAY THEO NESTOR All Levels | TheNew York Times’s Modern Love column has been a reader favorite One session since its inception in 2004. We will look at a few example columns and discuss their Thursday, July 8 structures, and the instructor will provide insider tips on how to write an essay that 5–7 pm is more likely to be a “Yes.” Bring your writing tools and your questions. General: $60 | Member: $54

WORTH 1,000 WORDS: USING DATA TO CREATE NARRATIVES KEVIN O'ROURKE All Levels | In this course, we’ll look at all sorts of data—from baseball stats to Four sessions figures showing COVID-19 rates to financial info—to examine the storytelling Saturdays, July 10–31 possibilities that data offers. What insights, for example, might looking at gross do- 10 am–12 pm mestic product statistics reveal? Is it RBI or RBIs? How can a better understanding General: $240 | Member: $216 of data in turn lead to a better understanding of one’s subject matter? We’ll examine data as a group, read data-centric writing, and work on projects of our own.

WRITING FLASHBACK NICOLE HARDY All Levels | Any scene that takes place prior to the arc of the narrative is considered One session NONFICTION a flashback—and they’re usually crucial to expanding a reader’s knowledge about Saturday, July 10 the narrator. In this class, we’ll read examples from fiction and memoir, studying 12–4 pm seamless narrative flashbacks and using them as guides to writing our own. We’ll General: $120 | Member: $108 talk about the purpose of flashbacks: how, when, where, and why delving into the past can move a story forward.

THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED: WRITING REAL LIFE ALLI PARRETT Introductory | Real-life events and experiences are the stuff stories are made of. But One session the fact that it happened in real life doesn’t make it good writing. We will explore Saturday, July 17 elements of craft that translate these moments from real life into captivating 10 am–1 pm stories on the page. We’ll examine and discuss excerpts from the book Real Life General: $90 | Member: $81 by Brandon Taylor alongside craft essays, which we will then apply to one or more writing exercises. Students will have the opportunity to submit work in the week following the class and receive detailed feedback from the instructor.

WRITING THE THINGS I DON'T REMEMBER NICOLE HARDY All Levels | Every writer of memoir stresses out about the gaps in their memories. One session In this class, we’ll see how authors handle this problem in their work and apply the Saturday, July 24 techniques to our own works-in-progress. 12–4 pm General: $120 | Member: $108

WHAT I AM HERE TO SAY: VOICE AND PURPOSE IN THE PERSONAL ESSAY SONORA JHA All Levels | Why do we disclose our deepest desires and fears in the personal essay? Four sessions Why would one person’s walk in the city mean anything to someone else? How Mondays, August 2–23 might one plumb one’s anger to find the hidden vulnerability (or the other way 5–7 pm around)? Over these four weeks, we will read some beautiful personal essays and General: $240 | Member: $216 follow some writing prompts to deepen our voice and find our purpose in this dazzling literary form.

9 WRITING ABOUT NATURE GAIL FOLKINS All Levels | Taking cues from writers such as J. Drew Lanham, Ana Maria Spagna, Four sessions Rick Bass, and Aimee Nezhukumatathil, we’ll read and write essays with a nature Wednesdays, August 4–25 and environmental focus. Through reading, discussion, and writing practice, we’ll 5–7 pm explore literary tools along with research methods such as personal observation and General: $240 | Member: $216 interviews. Every writer will compose a place-based essay integrating narrative and information. We’ll share these essays in a supportive workshop setting.

MEMOIR INTENSIVE THEO NESTOR All Levels | Spend three days diving into the memoir. This intensive will include Three sessions lecture, discussion, writing prompts, brainstorming activities designed to get to the Friday–Sunday, August 20–22 heart of your work as a writer, and workshops of participants’ writing. Lecture/ 10 am–5 pm discussion topics will include voice and vision, inviting the reader into the work, General: $435 | Member: $392 narrative arc, thematic drive, collage techniques, scene-building, the publication process, and how to make the most of your writing time. There will be an hour-long lunch break each day.

TELLING ONE STORY TO TELL ANOTHER CHRISTINE HEMP All Levels | Whether you’re working on a memoir or a long essay, this class will help Two sessions you find a fresh way to frame your narrative. Like a Rothko painting with several Saturday & Sunday, August 28 & 29 bands of color, your book or essay can possess more than one story and resonate 10 am–4 pm beyond your original intention. We will cover braiding, urgency, and narrative delay. General: $305 | Member: $275 This course is for anyone struggling with structure. Each participant will leave with a new draft of a chapter or essay.

MAKING MEANING IN MEMOIR KIMBERLY DARK All Levels | Memories aren’t enough to make a memoir. To make a great story, we One session have to connect our memories to culture, to history, to zeitgeist—and then be Saturday, September 4 as clear and specific about our unique perspectives as possible. In this generative 1:10–4:10 pm workshop, we’ll open a number of creative doorways (and windows and portholes General: $90 | Member: $81

NONFICTION and tunnels) into meaning and discuss how and why they work. Participants will leave with at least twelve new prompts for mining memory and life stories for deeper meaning.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR MORE CLASSES...

We’re adding classes all the time, so be sure to check our online catalog or subscribe to our eNewsletter to get the most up-to-date information on course listings.

10 POETRY

tiered classes

POETRY I DILRUBA AHMED Whether a beginning poet or lover of the art, this class will introduce you to the Six sessions beauty and complexity of writing and reading poetry, as well as the basics of the Wednesdays, June 23–July 28 workshop model. We’ll look to image, metaphor, sound, lineation, and structure to 1:10–3:10 pm write our own poems. General: $305 | Member: $275

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POETIC FORMS AND FREEDOMS CAROLYNE WRIGHT All Levels | Despite sonnets that terrified us in high school, forms have a delightful Six sessions ability to draw poetry out of us. We will focus on poetic diction, techniques, and Tuesdays, June 15–July 20 forms; stanza patterns and received verse forms (ghazals, pantoums, sestinas, 7:10–9:10 pm sonnets, triolets, villanelles, etc.); rhythm and lineation; as well as "nonce" forms General: $305 | Member: $275 such as abecedarians, acrostics, American haiku, anaphoras / litanies, and rounds. We will practice writing in these forms, with Finch & Varnes’ An Exaltation of Forms as companion text. POETRY

POETRY & PUBLISHING JEANINE WALKER Intermediate/Advanced | Students will generate 4–6 new poems, participate in Six sessions workshop, and submit work to a literary journal for publication. We’ll read and Tuesdays, June 22–July 27 write in response to a wide array of contemporary poets, becoming familiar along 10 am–12 pm the way with the literary journals to which we aspire. Poets we read will include General: $305 | Member: $275 Jericho Brown, Franny Choi, Solmaz Sharif, and others. All will finish the class by sending at least one submission, which will include a new, strong cover letter.

ICONOCLAST: REIMAGINING THE LINE BREAK SHANKAR NARAYAN All Levels | The line break is the poet’s Swiss Army tool. Conventional wisdom One session blesses and outlaws many line break moves—but is it right? We’ll take a deep dive Saturday, June 26 into line breaks, not so much to determine the right way to do them—there isn’t 1:10–4:10 pm one—but to reimagine together the choices poets have in deploying them. Writers General: $90 | Member: $81 will leave with an expanded sense of creative possibilities and the shards of a few crumbled line break myths. Bring two existing pieces and an open mind.

POETRY WORKSHOP: A DEEPER LOOK JEANINE WALKER Intermediate | What makes a poem work? How does a strong break heighten the Six sessions line while contributing to the powerful effect of the whole? A casual voice with Wednesdays, June 30–August 4 plain language results in a layered, sophisticated piece—how? Do curse words 10 am–12 pm have a place in poetry? We’ll look at masterful contemporary poems by Hope General: $305 | Member: $275 Wabuke, Mark Doty, Hayan Charara, among others, examining the elements that make them strong. Those insights will inform our supportive workshop, for which students will submit three poems.

11 MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES: A WORKSHOP ON POLITICAL POETRY VERONICA GOLOS All Levels | May you live in interesting times. So goes the ancient Chinese curse. Two sessions Well, here we are! How are poets answering the moment in which we find Saturday & Sunday, July 10 & 11 ourselves? What are the challenges we face? How does the lyric aid us? We will 10 am–1 pm look at examples from Jeremy Paden’s Prison Recipes, Layli Long Soldier’s (Lakota) General: $180 | Member: $162 Whereas, Sherwin Bitsui’s (Diné) Dissolve, Orlando White’s (Diné) Letterrs, among others—for the use of theme, research, detail, historical documents, deciphering the alphabet letter by letter, surrealism, and persona. We will respond to these poems and to the poems you write in response. Readings and suggestions for responses will be sent early on.

CHASING TIME IN POETRY MAYA C. POPA All Levels | Time passes, halts, sputters, and rewinds in poetry. The line itself is a One session unit of time, measured in beats, increments of time. In this craft class and workshop, Saturday, July 17 we will close-read poems for the ways their authors manipulate and control the 10 am–1 pm reader’s perception of time. Examples include flashbacks in the work of Sharon General: $90 | Member: $81 Olds and “flashforwards” in W.S. Merwin. We will use these poems as models for generating and sharing our own poems. Writers should leave the workshop with four new drafts.

POETIC ERASURE LEIGH SUGAR All Levels | We will discuss erasure as a poetic form and look at several examples Two sessions of contemporary erasure works. Students will practice in-class exercises and learn Saturdays, July 24 & 31 process techniques to engage in their own erasure processes. Everyone will have 1:10–3:10 pm the opportunity to share and receive feedback on their own and others’ works in General: $120 | Member: $108 progress.

POETRY POETS OF WITNESS AND WIT CAROLYNE WRIGHT All Levels | These are poets known both for their voices of witness to injustice, Six sessions misogyny, racism, war, and other conditions of extremity, and for perspectives Tuesdays, July 27–August 31 enriched with wit, irony, and self-deprecating humor in thoughtful and resonant 7:10–9:10 pm work. We will read poems that respond to urgent political and social contexts, and General: $305 | Member: $275 through writing exercises and workshop discussions, create our own work that inspires and provokes. Poets read in this course include Sandra Beasley, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Denise Duhamel, Gary Lilley, and Terrance Hayes.

BLOOD, RUST & BONE: WRITING THE BROKEN BODY DANUSHA LAMÉRIS All Levels | We will explore the Broken Body as a portal, an entry into the sacred in One session poems and prose. What is it about what is broken that opens us to an altered state of Saturday, August 14 awareness? How does brokenness invoke ritual? Bring power to our writing? There 1:10–4:10 pm will be a craft talk followed by a writing prompt and the opportunity to explore General: $150 | Member: $135 what we've learned and bring it to the page.

12 THE NEW SURREALISTS SUSAN RICH Intermediate | What do a rocking horse, a mind as camera, and a lampshade of One session silvering hair have in common? These are images conjured by contemporary poets. Sunday, August 15 Though traditionally a white male realm, surrealist poetics is currently undergoing 1:10–4:10 pm an exciting revolution. Together, we will generate a collage of poems using a General: $90 | Member: $81 paintbox of surrealist prompts and seek out mentor poems in the work of Valzhyna Mort, Terrance Hayes, Tlotlo Tsamaase, and Warsan Shire. We’ll share and discuss the 5–7 poems we create.

DON’T BLINK: NIGHTMARE POETICS MARCI CALABRETTA CANCIO-BELLO All Levels | “Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.” —Mary Oliver One session Why do we return again and again to haunting and violence, war and vengeance, Saturday, August 28 terror and torment? In this generative workshop, we will examine poems by Ai, 10 am–1 pm Jericho Brown, Natalie Diaz, Kim Hyesoon, and Galway Kinnell, with a dash of General: $90 | Member: $81 Doctor Who as a way to write into the darkness together, exorcise some demons, and reemerge still intact, without looking away even if we flinch.

MY LIFE HAS GOTTEN SO BUSY: A WORKSHOP ON TITLES CHEN CHEN All Levels | What can a title do for a poem? For a reader of that poem? In this One session POETRY generative workshop that borrows its title from a Nancy Jurs exhibit (My Life Has Saturday, August 28 Gotten So Busy That It Now Takes Up All of My Time), we’ll examine a wide array 10 am–1 pm of titles and titling strategies—from the headline to the preview to the doorway, General: $90 | Member: $81 and more. We’ll study examples from poets like Victoria Chang, Tarfia Faizullah, Lucille Clifton, and others. We’ll turn to music and visual art for fresh titling inspiration, and we’ll play a titling game which will lead up to a full draft of a new poem.

HAVE A MANUSCRIPT THAT NEEDS SOME HELP?

Connect with one of our manuscript consultants—all experienced teachers and writers—to receive one-on-one guidance for your works-in-progress; applying for awards, residencies, or MFA programs; submitting to agents, magazines, or publishers; or other writerly concerns. Select consultants are also available for line- and copyediting services. To see the full list of consultants and services offered, visit bit.ly/manuscriptconsultants.

13 MIXED GENRE

OUR FIRST GODS: WRITING OUR PARENTS JOE WILKINS All Levels | Too often unapproachable, unassailable—our parents are our first One session gods. How have we known them? How might we know them now? And are we Sunday, June 13 ready for our parents to fall from their thrones and become not gods (or devils) but 1:10–4:10 pm the human beings they are? In this generative workshop participants will think, General: $90 | Member: $81 discuss, share, and write about their own parents in the hopes that all will leave with the beginnings of several personal pieces.

PHILOSOPHY OF MEMORY CHARLES MUDEDE All Levels | Memory makes what has happened in our lives present, and the future Six sessions is something we imagine. But imagination both remembers the past and simulates Mondays, June 14–July 19 the future. This means the act of recalling is as creative as that of foretelling. And 7:10–9:10 pm because the virtual (or compossible) is the zone of the imagination, this means the General: $305 | Member: $275 past is as unsettled (or as ghostly) as the future. This class will introduce writers to philosophical concepts on the nature of memory, the subject of one of the greatest novels, Marcel Proust’s Remembrance Things Past.

METAPHOR AS CONTAGIOUS MAGIC SHELBY HANDLER All Levels | We will examine poems as instruments of magic and experiment with Four sessions mixed-genre prompts that incorporate divination and intuition. Most writing will Tuesdays, June 15–July 6 be done in-class with some optional daily rituals. Expect to leave with a folio of new 5–7 pm work, detailed instructor feedback and unique strategies to enchant your writing General: $240 | Member: $216 practice with power and possibility. Perhaps you’ll even agree with poet Janaka Stucky: “When I say my poems worked as spells, I mean it in a very literal sense.”

THE SWEEP OF THE UNIVERSE: WRITING WITH MILLENNIA OF SOUTH ASIAN POETRY SHANKAR NARAYAN All Levels | The breadth and reach of South Asian poetry is almost unimaginably Eight sessions vast, encompassing six major religions, hundreds of languages, diverse geographies, Tuesdays, June 15–August 3 MIXED GENRE and millennia of time. But much of this rich tradition is inaccessible to western 7:10–9:10 pm writers. This part-generative, part-analytical course will survey its arc by examining General: $395 | Member: $356 its various forms and movements over the centuries—from ancient Sanskrit religious texts to Urdu political resistance poetry. We’ll use these works from other times and places to create our own universe of inspired pieces.

PLAYWRITING: DIVING INTO DIALOGUE DANIELLE MOHLMAN All Levels | Shape the dialogue of your play by building and creating compelling Six sessions characters, exploring voice, and driving your plot forward through your charac- Wednesdays, June 16–July 21 ters’ behaviors and choices. Each week, we’ll read and discuss one scene by a con- 5–7 pm temporary playwright, exploring how each artist uses dialogue to move their story General: $305 | Member: $275 forward. We’ll explore both the dramatic and comedic form, and the intersections therein. Writing will include generative exercises and weekly assignments.

14 THRILLING STORIES DEDI FELMAN All Levels | This one-day workshop will help you develop your mystery, thriller, One session or horror TV pilot or film. We’ll cover the essentials of each genre and the various Sunday, June 27 subgenres, including how to create your own unique mash-up. You'll learn how 1:10–4:10 pm to tap into your fears, including of the shocking and grotesque, and the critical General: $150 | Member: $135 tools for writing a chilling, thrilling TV pilot or film: compelling protagonists and antagonists, intense mental conflict, unreliable and switching povs, themes that say something, red herrings, clues, supernatural elements, and writing endings that twist or shock.

HERMIT CRAB FORMS FOR POETS & PROSERS DILRUBA AHMED All Levels | Calling all poets & prose writers! This mixed-genre class will explore One session “hermit crab” forms for our poems, prose, and prose poems. Just as a hermit crab Sunday, June 27 adapts to various “homes,” we’ll write about our experiences using the language 1:10–4:10 pm and architecture of borrowed forms: instruction manuals, encyclopedia entries, General: $90 | Member: $81 multiple choice questionnaires, historical timelines, or horoscopes. How can borrowed structures help us to reveal our emotional truths? This generative workshop is open to all. MIXED GENRE

READING POETRY, WRITING PROSE LIZA BIRNBAUM All Levels | What can prose writers learn from close readings of poetry? In this Six sessions reading-focused course, we’ll take an in-depth look at work by six poets, including Mondays, June 28–August 2 Layli Long Soldier, Wanda Coleman, and Anne Carson, and explore how their 5–7 pm craft decisions might influence and inspire our own writing across genres. Expect General: $305 | Member: $275 lively discussion, opportunities to write in conversation with each author, and the chance to share ideas and creative work in a supportive setting.

BREATHING LIFE INTO SECONDARY CHARACTERS BETH SLATTERY All Levels | Whether you have a completed draft of a novel or are just beginning a Two sessions memoir, in this one-day seminar for prose writers, we will investigate what makes Thursdays, July 1 & 8 weak and strong secondary characters. Through reading and writing exercises, we 1:10–4:10 pm will discuss and practice ways to breathe life into those creatures that inhabit your General: $180 | Member: $162 work.

DIGGING INTO THE DETAILS LIZA BIRNBAUM All Levels | This generative class will explore the power of detail and description Four sessions in prose. We’ll consider the practices both on and off the page that help readers Thursdays, July 1–22 fully enter the worlds and scenes we’re describing. Along the way we’ll share work 5–7 pm in a supportive setting and take cues from masters of close noticing like Ross Gay, General: $240 | Member: $216 Nicholson Baker, and Lynda Barry. Students will leave with new pages and with strategies to carry forward into future writing projects.

15 HOW TO WRITE FOR MCSWEENEY’S JEFF BENDER All Levels | This four-week course examines the key elements of writing brief, Four sessions McSweeney’s-style pieces. It also explores publication options within the expanding Tuesdays, July 6–27 humor-writing market. You might be encouraged to know that humor sites are 5–7 pm surprisingly bookish and produce work that mixes the high- and the low-brow, as General: $240 | Member: $216 evidenced by popular headlines “Our Daughter Isn’t a Selfish Brat; Your Son Just Hasn’t Read Atlas Shrugged” and “Famous Writers’ Cosmo Tips.”

THE ULTIMATE CRAFT CLASS STEVE ALMOND All Levels | In this two-day intensive workshop, we'll cover several essential craft Two sessions lessons: how to create dramatic scenes, unforgettable characters, and an irresistible Saturday & Sunday, July 10 & 11 narrator. Then we'll complete in-class exercises to help bring the lessons home. 10 am–3:30 pm Come prepared to learn more in two days than you thought possible. Each day General: $500 | Member: $450 includes a lunch break.

WOUNDED LITTLE LIARS: CHARACTERS IN FICTION AND NONFICTION SONORA JHA All Levels | These people in your stories… Who hurt them? Who loved them One session once and left them? What are your characters doing to their world and themselves Sunday, July 11 because of their wounds? In this deep-dive into your characters’ truths and lies, we 10 am–3 pm will read and write layers and nuances into your characters and render them fragile, General: $120 | Member: $108 funny, fallible, and ultimately unforgettable. This class includes a lunch break.

FINISHING YOUR BOOK (ASYCHRONOUS) PETER MOUNTFORD All Levels | This class is for anyone struggling with a book. Although that Eight sessions first sprint of 50 pages—either novel or nonfiction—can be exhilarating, July 12–August 30 it’s hard to sustain until the end. Sooner or later, you might find yourself in a Online via Wet Ink creative ditch. We’ll take a look at when to revise, which questions are helpful, and General: $395 | Member: $356 which ones aren’t. We’ll seek out ways to reinvigorate ourselves for more writing. The final class will focus on the business of finding an agent and/or publisher. This class takes place online via our partners at Wet Ink, and sessions can be completed

MIXED GENRE at your own pace each week.

WHEN WE SIT WITH ANGER NAA AKUA All Levels | In this class we will focus on meditative writing along with meditation Four sessions practices such as breathing techniques, visualizations, and sound healing. We will Wednesdays, July 14–August 4 work in conjunction with Thich Nhat Hanh’s bookAnger: Wisdom for Cooling the 5–7 pm Flames. General: $240 | Member: $216

HOW TO HOOK YOUR READER SUSAN MEYERS All Levels | You want to grab your reader’s interest and not let go, but how do One session you do it? Whether you’re writing memoir or fiction, you’ve got a story to tell— Sunday, July 18 and it needs to get heard. Come spend an afternoon learning how to harness your 10 am–2 pm readers—and keep their attention through the end. This class surveys a variety of General: $120 | Member: $108 strategies for starting a story, as well as techniques for carrying the energy forward well beyond your opening lines.

16 STAR, RHIZOME, CERATA: FINDING THE SPARK SIERRA NELSON All Levels | What sparks us as writers to make new work, and what creates sparks Six sessions for the reader on the page? This generative class of eclectic writing experiments Sundays, July 18–August 22 explores the possibilities, finding inspiration in scientific wonders and the natu- 10 am–12 pm ral world, the light through the crack of our heartbreak, the weirdness of being General: $305 | Member: $275 alive. We’ll play with movement, collaboration, chance and observation, plus some readings and research. This class slants toward poetry but is open to writers in all genres. Optional one-on-one conferences at the end.

BUILDING YOUR PROTAGONIST: THE DIGNITY OF CHARACTER COMPLEXITY JOSHUA MOHR Intermediate | We all know that one of our chief aims as authors is to construct a One session convincing protagonist. Someone who feels as though they are vibrantly alive, blood Thursday, July 22 in their hearts, even as they’re simple scribbles on the page. We’ll talk about how to 1:10–4:10 pm inhabit a consciousness, all the while keeping the plot chugging ahead in a believable General: $90 | Member: $81 and enthralling way.

POETIC SCREENWRITING ROSE MCALEESE MIXED GENRE All Levels | A screenplay consists of dramatic structure, action, and dialogue; we Six sessions will learn the mechanics and techniques of screenwriting, using poetry as a starting Thursdays, July 22–August 26 point. Students will select a poem to translate into a one-act script, playing around 5–7 pm with dialogue, character, and stage direction to turn words on the page into words General: $305 | Member: $275 in action. They will leave the class with a better understanding of the discipline of screenwriting, as well as a finished script for a short film.

YOU MUST CHANGE YOUR LIFE: WRITING WITH RILKE WRYLY MCCUTCHEN Intermediate | Feeling alone and stagnant in your writing life? This course will Six sessions pull from Rilke’s letters, poetry, and life to spark new life in your practice. Each Mondays, July 26–August 30 session will begin with a reading, followed by prompted writing and discussion of 5–7 pm Rilke’s work. On our reading and writing journey together we’ll explore themes of General: $305 | Member: $275 translation, sensuality, identity, and solitude. You’ll walk away with new work, new tools and tricks, and a deeper connection to writers near and far, living and dead.

PLAYWRITING: CREATING BIG, BEAUTIFUL WORLDS DANIELLE MOHLMAN All Levels | Build the world of your play by establishing the rules of your world, Six sessions interrogating theatricality, creating compelling characters, and identifying what Wednesdays, July 28–September 1 drives you to share this story with an audience. Each week, we’ll read and discuss 5–7 pm one opening scene by a contemporary playwright, exploring how each artist estab- General: $305 | Member: $275 lishes and builds their world in the first few pages of the play. Writing will include generative exercises and weekly assignments.

17 WRITING RESTORATIVE JUSTICE EVER JONES All Levels | Juliana Spahr’s 2001 collection of poems, Fuck You—Aloha—I Love Six sessions You, explores themes of connection and separation, shifting its gaze from insider Thursdays, July 29–September 2 to outsider. Her poetic drive toward community collaboration will be this course’s 7:10–9:10 pm ethos. Our restorative writing practice will center connection rather than isolation, General: $305 | Member: $275 seeking relationship rather than harm in the process of writing into social issues. Students will read writing across genres from authors such as jayy dodd, Ross Gay, Joy Harjo, Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, June Jordan, and Louise Erdrich.

WRITING BEYOND WHITENESS: ANTI-RACIST APPROACHES HANNA PYLVÄINEN All Levels | The ideology of whiteness appears in writing as much as it does in real Four sessions life, often in unexamined assumptions. This class will undertake the difficult but Tuesdays, August 3–24 critical project of facing the history of whiteness in literature via close readings 5–7 pm of poetry, short stories, essays, and theoretical texts. We will consider approaches General: $240 | Member: $216 an anti-racist writer might use, from “flooding the zone” to “crowded style”; class time will include exercises, as well as (brief ) workshops.

GETTING UNSTUCK JOSHUA MARIE WILKINSON All Levels | Looking for practical methods and techniques for overcoming obstacles Four sessions to creativity? We will discuss tricks for writing poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. Wednesdays, August 4–25 Together we’ll examine the kinds of blocks all of us encounter in our work, and 5–7 pm we will explore ways to leap over them. Using exercises to develop action, depth, General: $240 | Member: $216 perspective, lyricism, and voice, we’ll renew our awareness and confidence as writers.

RACE, HISTORY & THE BODY (ASYNCHRONOUS) AIMEE SUZARA All Levels | The body has been both the metaphor and the literal site Four sessions of contestation: the gazed upon, the exhibited, the racialized, gendered August 9–30 other. How do writers document, perform, and resist through the body? We Online via Wet Ink will examine poems by a diverse group of writers, including Heid Erdrich, Craig General: $240 | Member: $216 Santos Perez, Sharon Bridgforth, Mahmoud Darwish, and Matthew Shenoda, MIXED GENRE and explore our own work as documentarians, cartographers, and archaeologists. We will write, using the body and found texts about the body as source and inspiration. This class takes place online via our partners at Wet Ink, and sessions can be completed at your own pace each week.

WRITING ABOUT THE WOMEN IN YOUR FAMILY DARIEN HSU GEE All Levels | Who are the women in your family? What stories need to be told? How Four sessions have these women helped you claim your place in the world, or what secrets might Tuesdays, August 10–31 still be holding you back? We’ll explore the roles of the women in our lives and 1:10–3:10 pm how they’ve shaped us. During class, we’ll use prompts to generate micro narratives General: $240 | Member: $216 and prose poems, discussing how the movement between these two forms can strengthen the stories we’re trying to tell. Finally, we’ll consider how these pieces may be submitted individually or organized as part of a chapbook, memoir, or more extensive body of work.

18 READING

These seminar-style reading classes are like book clubs on steroids. You wish your book club talked more about the book? You’ve always wanted to read that book but weren’t sure you’d get through it? These reading classes are for you. Led by instructors well-versed in the material and able to talk about literature as art, resistance, cultural commentary, and historical artifact, you’ll engage in conversation that illuminates and delights. Registered students receive 20% off required books at the Elliott Bay Book Co.

GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ (EN ESPAÑOL) MARGARITA BORRERO Este curso se enfoca en Gabriel García Márquez, uno de los mejores escritores del Seis sesiones siglo XX. Basados en sus trabajos, nos centraremos en cómo encontrar una historia, Sábados, 24 de julio–28 de agosto la elección del momento adecuado para comenzar, cómo aprovechar el punto de 10 am–12 pm vista, la trama, y cómo balancear el estilo y la forma. Estudiaremos los testimonios General: $305 | Miembro: $275 del propio autor sobre el proceso de dar forma a sus historias, y examinaremos las herramientas narrativas que usó el y el modo como evolucionó hasta convertirse en un maestro del oficio. Al final de cada lección haremos ejercicios para explorar nuestra propia escritura.

THE CRAFT OF TONI MORRISON IN BELOVED MICHELE L. SIMMS-BURTON READING All Levels | One of the most celebrated writers in American English, Toni Morrison One session creates masterful and complicated narrative structures and employs neologisms Sunday, July 25 to convey unspeakable things often left unspoken. We’ll look at the structure of 1:10–4:10 pm Morrison’s masterpiece, Beloved (1987)—a narrative of enslaved Africans and General: $90 | Member: $81 their white enslavers—as an example for stories about loss, violence, memory, and healing. Some short writing exercises will be given to apply Morrison’s techniques to your own work-in-progress.

WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR BY PAUL KALANITHI EMILY RAPP BLACK All Levels | We’ll discuss this groundbreaking memoir, which details the author’s One session life as a neurosurgeon and his fight against advanced lung cancer, and grapples Sunday, July 25 with the question What makes a life worth living? We will discuss the craft elements 10 am–1 pm that make this book exemplary, including pacing, layering, lyricism, scene creation, General: $90 | Member: $81 and collaboration. Students will be invited to share responses to the work, but this is primarily a discussion-based class. We will also have a special visitor.

19 THE WRITING LIFE

ORGANIZATIONAL STORYTELLING RACHEL WERNER All Levels | Strategic creative communication is key to developing an organization One session or brand’s narrative. Using fiction techniques and elements of storytelling, this Thursday, June 17 class will help you fine-tune messaging, analyze your audience, craft the optimal 10 am–12 pm vehicles for bringing a narrative and audience together, and tell stories that will General: $60 | Member: $54 keep an audience engaged. This workshop may be particularly useful for writers who are also arts administrators, copywriters, and/or digital content creators.

HOW TO LAUNCH A FREELANCE CAREER SABRA M. BOYD All Levels | Explore the craft of pitches, angles, and finding the right editor. Wheth- Four sessions er this is your first time getting published or you want to improve your acceptance Wednesdays, July 7–28 rate, this class will help you develop strong pitches, build relationships with editors, 1:10–3:10 pm negotiate contracts, and rack up bylines. Using a structured curriculum to make the General: $240 | Member: $216 process less intimidating, we will cover the pitfalls and benefits of being a freelance writer so you don’t have to waste time stumbling over hidden, unwritten rules alone.

HOW TO WRITE A MEMOIR BOOK PROPOSAL THEO NESTOR Intermediate/Advanced | In this class, you will learn about each component of a One session memoir book proposal, strategies for writing a proposal that will gain the attention Saturday, July 10 of agents/editors, as well as tips for writing a killer query letter. Bring your laptop 1:10–4:10 pm or a notebook. General: $90 | Member: $81

YOU WROTE A BOOK—NOW WHAT? BETH JUSINO Intermediate | Let’s take an unbiased, unvarnished look at current publishing One session options and how to approach them, from “Big 5” traditional publishers to small Sunday, July 11 presses to self publishing (with or without service companies) to hybrid and other 1:10–4:10 pm emerging models. We’ll examine pros and cons of each choice, realistic costs and in- General: $90 | Member: $81 come potential, as well as pitfalls to avoid. Most importantly, we’ll look at how each writer’s goals and strengths can help them make the decision that’s best for them.

THE WRITING LIFE PITCH YOUR BOOK SO PUBLISHERS PAY ATTENTION BETH JUSINO Advanced | Agents and publishers are flooded with more queries than ever before. One session How can you cut through the noise and get noticed? Let’s step back and look at your Saturday, July 31 fiction or nonfiction work with fresh eyes. We’ll identify what makes your project 10 am–3 pm unique, marketable, and irresistible to publishing gatekeepers, and then, with lots Genral: $120 | Member: $108 of examples and time for practice and feedback, work on verbal “elevator pitches,” one-paragraph hooks, and 1–2 page synopses. This class includes a lunch break.

AUTHOR MARKETING 101 ANDREA DUNLOP All Levels | In 2021, authors are expected to be proactive in marketing their own One session books. While this can often feel overwhelming, the fact that authors can reach Saturday, August 14 readers so directly is a good thing. This class will cover a variety of tools such as 10 am–1 pm social media, blogging, and newsletters and help you build a strategy for how to General: $90 | Member: $81 build and maintain an audience (and have fun doing it!).

20 FREE RESOURCES

Check out a community class if you’ve never taken a writing class before and want to see what it’s all about, if you want to try a new genre or meet a new teacher, or if our regular class prices are prohibitive. The Community Write-In and Write with Hugo House drop-in writing circles offer less instruction but a consistent, structured writing time to facilitate craft and community.

community classes

MEDICAL NARRATIVES: A WRITING WORKSHOP FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS SUZANNE EDISON What is, as Dr. Arthur Kleinman says, “the internal, felt experience of doctoring”? One session How can we tell “the story of what it is like to be a healer”? We will use writing as Saturday, June 26 a means for self-reflection, awareness, and increasing empathy through listening 10 am–1 pm and observation. We will read poems and short essays, some by other medical Free professionals, and use visual images as prompts for writing exercises. There will be FREE RESOURCES time for discussion and a couple of short breaks.

FAMILY STORIES JAIMIE LI As Wendell Berry wrote, “The world is full of places. Why is it that I am here?” One session In this single session, you will lay the foundation of your family story—origins, Saturday, August 7 questions, and artifacts. We’ll look at ways to start letting go of what you already 1:10–4:10 pm know about your family history in order to discover what you want to find out. Free Come prepared to read, write, discuss, and embrace the importance of your family story.

CREANDO HISTORIAS: FORTALECIENDO TU MÚSCULO CREATIVO ELIZABETH VILLAMÁN La creatividad no es solo un concepto, es también un músculo que requiere Sábado, 17 de julio entrenamiento. En este taller trabajaremos para potenciar nuestro pensamiento 3–6 pm creativo y nuestra forma de conectar con nuestros procesos de escritura. Un buen Gratis escritor necesita desarrollar la creatividad, porque al final, no es el ¨que¨ sino ¨cómo¨ contamos nuestras historias. En este taller trabajaremos con diferentes disparadores creativos para crear historias de forma diferente. La creatividad más que una herramienta, es una forma de vida. Un taller donde veremos teoría y práctica para conectar con nuestra mente creativa. Todas las personas que escriban y quieran desarrollar su creatividad son bienvenidas a esta experiencia.

drop-in writing circles

WRITE WITH HUGO HOUSE ROTATING INSTRUCTORS Looking for ongoing inspiration, feedback, and ways to connect with other Monthly writers? Attend one of these monthly drop-in writing circles, presented in 6–7:30 pm partnership with the Seattle Public Library. For the time being, Write with Free Hugo House sessions take place virtually, on Zoom. For schedule information, visit bit.ly/WriteHugoHouse.

21 COMMUNITY WRITE-IN ROTATING INSTRUCTORS Join us at this free weekly write-in via Zoom where you’ll get writing prompts, Weekly on Thursdays time to write, and the opportunity to connect with other writers. 5:30–6:30 pm Free July: Sierra Nelson is a poet, essayist, collaborator, and cephalopod appreciator. Poetry MFA from UW (2002). Books include The Lachrymose Report (PoetryNW Editions) and I Take Back the Sponge Cake (Rose Metal Press), poems in Pleiades, Gulf Coast, Crazyhorse, Poetry Northwest.

August: Jaimie Li is a contributing writer at Poetry Northwest and Darling Magazine. She is an MFA candidate at Goddard College and the recipient of the 2019 Goddard/PEN North American Centers Scholarship for her work in fiction and memoir.

lunch break q&as

ASK A MEMOIRIST PETER BACHO Peter Bacho is the author of six books: Cebu, Dark Blue Suit, Boxing in Black Tuesday, July 6 and White, Nelson’s Run, Entrys, and Leaving Yesler. His books have received 12–1 pm several awards, including the 1992 American Book Award. He is an adjunct Free professor at The Evergreen State College Tacoma Campus. Bacho was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in Seattle’s Central District.

ASK AN ESSAYIST KATE LEBO Kate Lebo’s writing is anthologized in Best American Essays 2015 and her Tuesday, August 10 first collection of nonfiction, The Book of Difficult Fruit, is forthcoming from 12–1 pm FSG. She’s the author of Pie School and coeditor (with Samuel Ligon) of Pie & Free Whiskey.

other free resources

FREE RESOURCES Join us for one of our free events—we host hundreds every year!—including Lunch Break Q&As with established writers, agents, and editors. Sign up for our eNewsletter or check our website or social media regularly for new and ongoing opportunities.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Hugo House blog has free mini-lessons and exercises from Hugo teachers, as well as interviews with writers in our community. Check them out at hugohouse.org/blog

22 Dilruba Ahmed is the author of Bring Jennifer De Leon is author of Don’t Ask Nicole Hardy is the author of the memoir Now the Angels (Pitt Poetry, 2020). Her Me Where I’m From and White Space: Essays Confessions of a Latter-Day Virgin and the debut book of poetry, Dhaka Dust (Graywolf on Culture, Race, & Writing, and editor of poetry collections This Blonde and Mud Flap Press), won the Bakeless Prize. Her poems Wise Latinas. Girl’s XX Guide to Facial Profiling, a chap- have appeared in New England Review and book of pop-culture inspired sonnets. the New York Times Magazine. Scott Driscoll has an MFA from UW and has taught writing for twenty-five years. Jennifer Haupt’s debut novel, In the Naa Akua is a Ghanaian-Bajan queer poet He is the author of the novel Better You Go Shadow of 10,000 Hills, won an Indie Award and educator. A WITS writer-in-residence Home, winner of the Foreword First Debut for Historical Fiction. Her second novel, and a teaching artist for Young Women Fiction award. Come as You Are, will be published in 2022. Empowered and Hugo House, they were a She has also ghostwritten memoir and pub- Citizen University poet-in-residence and Andrea Dunlop is the author of three lished essays in many publications. Gregory Award-winning actor for their role novels from Atria/Simon & Schuster and has in Citizen: An American Lyric. worked in various parts of the publishing Christine Hemp has aired her work on industry for over fifteen years, including NPR’s Morning Edition, and a poem of hers Steve Almond is the author of ten books, with Random House, Kim Ricketts Book has traveled billions of miles on a NASA including the New York Times bestsellers Events, and as an independent consultant. mission. Chapters from her new memoir, Candyfreak (Harvest Books, 2004) and Wild Ride Home, appeared in the New York Against Football. His newest book is William Suzanne Edison’s most recent chapbook Times and Salon.com. . is . Other poems Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life The Body Lives Its Undoing ABOUT OUR TEACHERS are found in Michigan Quarterly Review, the Darien Hsu Gee is the author of five Jeff Bender is a graduate of Columbia’s Naugatuck River Review, Intima: A Journal novels published by Penguin Random MFA program and winner of Hugo House’s of Narrative Medicine, and Mom Egg Review. House that have been translated into eleven New Works Competition. His fiction and She is a 2019 Hedgebrook alumna. languages. Her recent collection of micro humor have appeared in McSweeney’s, Elec- memoirs, Allegiance, about growing up tric Literature, the Iowa Review, Guernica, Dedi Felman was a member of the Chinese American, was an Editor’s Pick for Points in Case, and Little Old Lady Comedy. inaugural class of the HBO Access Writing BookLife (Publisher’s Weekly). Fellowship, is a graduate of the UCLA Liza Birnbaum’s work has appeared in Web Professional Program in Screenwriting and Ramón Isao is a recipient of the Tim Mc- Conjunctions, jubilat, Open Letters Monthly, teaches TV writing for Script Anatomy. Ginnis Award for fiction. His work has ap- and elsewhere. She is a founding editor of Big Previously, Dedi was a senior editor at peared in the Iowa Review, American Reader, Big Wednesday and holds an MFA from the Simon & Schuster and an executive editor at Ninth Letter, and Hobart. His screenplays University of Massachusetts Amherst. Oxford University Press. include ZMD, Junk, and Dead Body.

Margarita Borrero es una premiada Stacy D. Flood’s work has been published Sonora Jha is the author of the novel novelista y escritora de relatos. Enseña escri- nationally and performed on stages in and Foreign (Random House India, 2013) and a tura creativa en Escuela de escritores, una de beyond the Puget Sound area. He has been collection of linked essays, How To Raise a las instituciones privadas más grandes del a DISQUIET scholar, a Getty Fellowship Feminist Son: Motherhood, Masculinity, and mundo hispanohablante. También ha sido recipient, and an artist-in-residence at The the Making of a Family (Sasquatch/Penguin, profesora en Mount Saint Mary University. Millay Colony of the Arts. His novella, The 2021). She is a professor of journalism at Salt Fields (Lanternfish Press, 02 21), was Seattle University. Sabra M. Boyd’s personal essays and published this spring. journalism have been featured in the Jesse Edward Johnson is a writer and Washington Post, Vice, Psychology Today, Gail Folkins writes about her deep roots artist based in the Pacific Northwest. His HuffPost, Eater, Seattle Times, and more. in the American West. She is the author of most recent novel, The King of Nothing Sabra strives to be a writer’s writer, helping Light in the Trees, named a 2016 Foreword Much, was published by Paul Dry Books others build successful writing careers. INDIES finalist in the nature category, and in 2020. His debut release, Yearbook, was Texas Dance Halls: A Two-Step Circuit. published in 2017. Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello is the author of Hour of the Ox (Pittsburgh, Vievee Francis is the author of, most Ever Jones (they/them) is a queer/trans 2016), winner of the AWP Donald Hall recently, Forest Primeval (Northwestern writer, artist and instructor. Their writing Prize, and co-translator for The World’s University Press, 2016), winner of the Kings- and instruction exists at the intersections of Lightest Motorcycle (forthcoming Zephyr ley Tufts Poetry Award and the Hurston/ identity, nature and place. Ever is a professor Press, 2021). She is the poetry coordinator Wright Legacy Award for Poetry. She is an of creative writing at the UW Tacoma. for Miami Book Fair. associate professor at Dartmouth College and an associate editor for Callaloo. Beth Jusino is an editor, ghostwriter, Chen Chen is the author of When I Grow and consultant helping writers navigate Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities Veronica Golos is author of four poetry the complicated space between manuscript (BOA Editions), which was longlisted for books: A Bell Buried Deep (Nicholas Roerich and book. A former literary agent, she’s the the National Book Award and won the Poetry Prize); Vocabulary of Silence (New author of Walking to the End of the World Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry. He is the Mexico Poetry Prize); Rootwork, and GIRL and The Author's Guide to Marketing. 2018–2020 Jacob Ziskind Poet-in-Residence (Naji Naaman Honor Prize for Poetry.) She at Brandeis University. lives in Taos, New Mexico. Danusha Laméris’s work has been published in The Best American Poetry, Kimberly Dark is the author of two Shelby Handler is a writer and educator the New York Times Magazine, Orion, the essay collections, one novel, and one poetry living on Duwamish land. Recent poems American Poetry Review, the Gettysburg collection—all expressions of memoir. Her have appeared or are forthcoming in Poetry Review, Ploughshares, and Prairie Schooner. most recent book is Damaged Like Me. Her Northwest, PANK, The Journal. A 2020 Her second book, Bonfire Opera (Pitt Poetry work is widely published in academic and Hugo House fellow, they are an MFA Series), was released in 2020. popular online publications alike. candidate at University of Washington.

23 Laura Lampton Scott’s work has Charles Tonderai Mudede is a Ingrid Ricks is an NYT-bestselling appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Tin Zimbabwean-born cultural critic, urbanist, author, writing coach, and speaker who is House online, and Hobart, among other. She filmmaker, college lecturer, and writer. passionate about leveraging personal story- is a MacDowell Colony fellow. telling to foster healing, awareness, empathy, Shankar Narayan explores identity, and change. Her memoirs include Hippie Jaimie Li is a contributing writer at Poetry power, mythology, and technology in a world Boy, A Girl's Story, and Focus. Northwest and Darling Magazine. She is an where the body is flung across borders yet MFA candidate at Goddard College and the possesses unrivaled power to transcend them. Annesha Sengupta is a graduate of the recipient of the 2019 Goddard/PEN North Helen Zell Writers’ Program. Her work American Centers Scholarship for her work Sierra Nelson is a poet, essayist, appears in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, in fiction and memoir. collaborator, and cephalopod appreciator. American Short Fiction, Catapult, the Poetry MFA from UW (2002). Books Kenyon Review, and more. She has received Rebecca Makkai is the author of four include The Lachrymose Report(PoetryNW fellowships from Kundiman and the Bread books, most recently The Great Believers, Editions) and I Take Back the Sponge Cake Loaf Writers’ Conference. which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize (Rose Metal Press); poems in Pleiades, Gulf and the National Book Award. Makkai is on Coast, Crazyhorse, Poetry Northwest. Michael Shilling is the author of Rock the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College Bottom. He has taught at Seattle University, and Northwestern University, and she is Theo Pauline Nestor is the author University of Michigan, and University artistic director of StoryStudio Chicago. of How to Sleep Alone in a King-Size Bed of Puget Sound. He’s working on a novel (Crown) and Writing Is My Drink (Simon & involving the crabs of Christmas Island. Seattle-born Rose McAleese is a screen- Schuster). Her work has been published in writer, poet, and journalist. She was a staff Under the Sun, New York Times, and others. Michele L. Simms-Burton is a writer writer for The Quad on BET, Sneakerheads and scholar who, before COVID-19, split on Netflix, a script doctor forAmerican Pie Kevin O’Rourke lives in Philadelphia, her time between Seattle and Washington, 9: Girls’ Rule, also streaming on Netflix. where he works in publishing. His book, the DC. Her writings have appeared in the Rose resides in Los Angeles. essay collection As If Seen at an Angle, was Crisis Magazine, African Voices, and Auburn published by Tinderbox Editions; he’s now Avenue. She also reviews for DownBeat and Lish McBride is the author of funny and working on another, about surviving suicide. DC Metro Theater Arts. creepy YA books such as Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (Henry Holt, 2010); Necro- Alli Parrett is a prose writer with a Beth Slattery is a writer, editor, and writ- mancing the Stone; Firebug; Pyromantic; and master’s in creative writing from University ing coach whose work has appeared in Assay: the upcoming Curses. She has an MFA from of Glasgow. Her work is featured in Crab Fat A Journal of Nonfiction Studies and Southern University of New Orleans. Magazine, Bookends Review, and others. She Women’s Review. Before moving to Seattle, lives in Seattle with her spouse and two dogs. she taught creative writing for eighteen years Wryly T. McCutchen is a writer, inter- at Indiana University East. disciplinary performer, and 2018 LAMBDA Paulette Perhach has written for the Fellow in poetry. Wryly earned a dual-genre New York Times, Marie Claire, and McSwee- Katherine E. Standefer is the author MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles. ney’s Internet Tendency. Poets & Writers of Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover Their debut poetry collection,My Ugly and selected her book, Welcome to the Writer’s the Cost of Saving a Life, which was a Staff Other Love Snarls, was published in 2017. Life, as one of its Best Books for Writers. Pick in the New York Times Book Review. Her writing appeared in The Best American Susan V. Meyers’s first novel,Failing Maya C. Popa is the author of American Essays 2016. the Trapeze, won the Nilsen Award, and Faith (Sarabande, 2019), a recipient of the she has received grants from the National North American Book Prize. She is the J. Ryan Stradal is the author of the New Endowment for the Humanities, Fulbright, poetry reviews editor at Publishers Weekly York Times bestseller Kitchens of the Great 4Culture, Artist Trust, and several and teaches poetry at NYU. Midwest and the instant national bestseller artists’ residencies. She also directs Seattle The Lager Queen of Minnesota. He lives in University’s Creative Writing Program. Hanna Pylväinen is the Whiting Award- California. winning author of We Sinners, a novel; her Danielle Mohlman is a nationally pro- next, The End of Drum-Time, is forthcoming Leigh Sugar is a disabled/ill artist duced playwright based in Seattle, WA. She in 2023. Currently, she is a Cullman Center currently based in Brooklyn. She teaches is an alumna of Playwrights’ Arena at Arena Fellow at the New York Public Library. writing at the Institute for Justice and Stage and the Umbrella Project Writers Opportunity, holds an MFA in poetry from

ABOUT OUR TEACHERS Group. She is a proud graduate of both Cal Evan Roxanna Ramzipoor is a writer NYU, and formerly performed as a dancer Poly Pomona and Emerson College. based in California. She is the author of The in Seattle. Poems appear in Poetry, jubilat, Ventriloquists from Park Row Books(Harper - Pigeon Pages, and more. Joshua Mohr is the author of the memoirs Collins), and her work has been featured in Model Citizen (MCDxFSG, 2021) and McSweeney’s, Salon, and others. Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum is the Sirens (Two Dollar Radio, 2017) and five author of What We Do with the Wreckage, novels, including Termite Parade, an Editors’ Emily Rapp Black is the author of Poster the 2017 Flannery O’Connor Award in Choice in the New York Times. His novel, Child (Bloomsbury USA), The Still Point of Short Fiction winner (UGA Press, 2018). Get Rich, will be published by FSG in 2022. the Turning World (Penguin Press), Sanctu- Her fiction has appeared in Ploughshares, ary (Random House), and Frida Kahlo and McSweeney’s, One Story, and elsewhere. Peter Mountford’s novel A Young My Left Leg(New York Review of Books). Man’s Guide to Late Capitalism (Mariner Aimee Suzara is a Filipino-American Books, 2011) won a 2012 Washington State Susan Rich is the author of Cloud poet, playwright, and performer. Her Book Award. His second novel, The Dismal Pharmacy and The Alchemist’s Kitchen. A publications include her book, Souvenir Science, was published by Tin House Books Gallery of Postcards and Maps and Blue Atlas (2014), Poem-a-Day, and two anthologies; in 2014. He is on faculty at Sierra Nevada are forthcoming from Salmon Press and Red her theater work is commissioned by Cutting College’s low-residency MFA program. Hen Press, respectively. Ball Theater for a new work in 2021–22.

24 Elizabeth Villamán has two upcoming Rachel Werner is the founder of The Lit- Joshua Marie Wilkinson is the author books, Las islas rotas, a short story collection tle Book Project WI, a bi-annual community of ten books. He was born and raised in slated to be published in 2021, and Sesiones arts and nonprofit collaboration. Her literary Seattle and teaches at Seattle University. de ablepsia, winner of the first Prize for writing and craft essays have been published Young Narrators Ediciones Enriquillo 2020. by Off Menu Press, Digging Through the Fat, Carolyne Wright’s latest book is This She received her MFA in Creative Writing and Voyage YA Literary Journal. Dream the World: New & Selected Poems from Escuela de Escritores in Madrid. (Lost Horse Press, 2017), whose title poem Joe Wilkins is the author of the novel Fall received a Pushcart Prize and was included Jeanine Walker's poetry collection, The Back Down When I Die, praised as “remark- in The Best American Poetry 2009. She is a Two of Them Might Outlast Me, will be pub- able and unforgettable” in a starred review Pushcart Prize contributing editor. lished by Groundhog Poetry Press in 2021. at Booklist, and a memoir, The Mountain and Her poems have appeared in Chattahoochee the Fathers. He has published four poetry Review, New Ohio Review, Prairie Schooner, collections. Third Coast, and elsewhere. ABOUT OUR TEACHERS

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