Writing Co-Lab

This is no ordinary book club. In Reading Like a Writer, we will read closely and deliberately, dissecting literature to reveal its secrets. Together, we will examine how accomplished writers use language, structure, and voice to create powerful effects on readers. The practice of reading closely, of paying attention to the craft decisions on the page, makes us stronger, more intentional writers in our own work. 

This series welcomes everyone, whether you are a seasoned or emerging writer or a passionate reader who enjoys good books. This workshop can be experienced as a year-long study or on a monthly basis. Each session is designed to stand alone, allowing writers to join for individual books or commit to the full twelve-month journey.

Book Club Purpose & Approach 

Our approach is to understand what makes outstanding literature work. Rather than just discussing what happens in a book, we will explore how it happens. How might reading closely inform our own writing practice?

Each session will combine: 

● Close reading of each author's distinctive style and language. 

● Group discussion to uncover techniques and craft choices 

● Generative writing exercises to help you explore your own relationship to writing. 

Our reading list is carefully curated to inspire, not intimidate, so that every session leaves you eager to write. 

What You'll Walk Away With 

● Sharper reading skills: You will develop a new way of reading. Every book becomes a masterclass in technique. 

● A comprehensive toolkit: Specific techniques you can immediately apply to your own writing: methods for managing time and pacing, strategies for building distinctive voice, approaches to structuring complex narratives, and ways to layer meaning through language. 

● Fresh pages: Every session ends with writing prompts drawn from our discussion, so you leave with new work brewing. 

● Deeper craft understanding: How language, form, and style work together to create powerful writing.

Reading List 

Winter Quarter: Foundations of Voice 

Mastering perspective, narration, and world-building 

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (1993) 

Spring Quarter: Structural Innovation 

Exploring non-linear narratives and interconnected stories 

How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster by Muriel Leung (2024)

Summer Quarter: Language as Art 

Celebrating poetic prose and experimental form 

A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (2020) 

Fall Quarter: Contemporary Boundary-Pushers 

Discovering new frontiers in fiction 

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (2018)