The Writers Studio

This six-week class is open to all writers of poetry and prose, including new and returning Writers Studio students.

This session of Online Writing About Childhood will examine techniques and voices crafted by celebrated writers of poetry and prose Ray Bradbury, Sandra Cisneros, Seamus Heaney, Patrick McCabe, and Jacqueline Woodson. Students who wish to take the class again but who have been exposed to these exercises may wish to wait for the next session which will feature selections from an entirely different set of writers. The two sessions are comparable in difficulty so either can be taken first.

Childhood from the perspective of an adult writer can seem like "another country," a strange land where our powers, responsibilities and perceptions were vastly different. And yet it is the place we all come from. And while the lens through which we viewed the world as children may have seemed innocent and magical, our sensibilities were always vulnerable to the hard truths of encroaching adulthood.

How have successful writers used imagination and memory to regain a foothold in childhood’s not-so-distant realm, conjuring its wonder, joy, and pain? Whether working in poetry, prose, or creative nonfiction, can we apply similar voices and techniques to our own unique material? Let’s bring the world and experience of childhood to vibrant life again through our creative work.

Each week, students write a two-page exercise based on the week's model. Then, during a two-hour, live Google Meet session, students present their work and receive feedback from their fellow classmates and from the teacher. The last fifteen minutes of the class are spent reading and discussing the following week’s model, using the Writers Studio method of analyzing persona and narrative technique. The Google Meet sessions are not recorded.

Students who have taken three or more terms of a six-week class are eligible for Level 2 or an Intermediate class.