7 Sessions, Wednesday October 4 to November 15, 7-9pm Eastern Time

9 students max

If you’ve taken part in traditional workshop protocol—where the author sits silently while the class dissects their work—and found it frustrating or less-than-helpful in your development as a writer, then this workshop is for you. Essayists, memorists, and other nonfiction writers are welcome, though please note this is not a generative class. You may find it most helpful to enter with a couple of pieces prepared for workshopping.

We’ll spend the first class discussing published work and getting to know one another. The subsequent six classes are all workshop focused, during which we’ll engage in deep, accountable, author-led discussions about the work at hand. Authors will be asked to think about their audience as well as the intentions and aims of their piece, and will have the opportunity to pose questions about their work to the table. We’ll make space to talk process, not in order to label strategies “right” or “wrong,” but to share and brainstorm effective ideas and practices. Each student should have two opportunities to workshop.

In the margins of our workshops, we’ll take time to discuss craft and also, if students are interested, the publishing process. Even in the topics we cover, this class will be student-centric! At the end of our time together, authors will walk away with greater knowledge about what elements of their writing are meeting their goals, and with more confidence, enthusiasm, and insight that they can bring to bear on edits and revisions.

Writers will submit their work (no more than 10 double-spaced pages of nonfiction writing) to their classmates and instructor ahead of their workshop slot. Participants will be expected to read their peers submissions thoroughly prior to class. Students will provide their peers feedback in the form of written notes to the author, as well as verbally during class time. The instructor will provide written feedback on every piece.

Meet Your Instructor

Brian Gresko (he/they) is a writer based in Brooklyn, where they co-run Pete’s Reading Series, the borough's longest running literary venue. Their work has appeared in Poets & Writers Magazine, Slate, The Atlantic, Longreads, The Rumpus, and many other publications. Also a stay-at-home parent, they edited the anthology When I First Held You: 22 Critically Acclaimed Writers Talk about the Triumphs, Challenges, and Transformative Experience of Fatherhood. They received their MFA in fiction from The New School, and was the first in their family to attend college, at Oberlin.

7 Week Author-Centric Creative Nonfiction Workshop with Brian Gresko