Bay Area Writing Workshops While writing groups are a great way to hone your creative skills, sometimes you need a little professional help to get you going! Following is a list of classes and workshops offered by a variety of instutions, from universities to bookstores, home schools to salons. Each workshop has a slighly different flavor, so we hope you'll find a class that appeals to you! While the following list is up to date, it's always a good idea to call ahead and make sure the group will be meeting as planned. Some workshops are free and others require a fee; contact the moderator for more information. If you know of a workshop we haven't listed, email us and we'll post it! Berkeley Art Center Writing Workshop Please join published poet and experienced workshop facilitator Rob Lipton in an ongoing weekly workshop. Participants will read their own work with constructive critique from the group to follow. All levels are welcome. Cost for each three-month segment is $60. The workshop will meet on Wednesdays from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Please call 510.665.1662 with questions. Book Passage University Book Passage, the fabulous bookstore in Marin, hosts an ongoing series of classes and workshops for writers. From one-day classes to week-long workshops, this excellent series features solid, often well-known, authors sharing tips at a reasonable price. City Writing, Walking & Art Workshop Led by Stephen Vincent, poet and teacher: meditate, exercise, observe, write, draw, reflect & socialize during this mobile writing workshop. The group meets at Martha’s Coffee Shop, at the corner of Duncan and Church, and walks to Glen Park via the Harry Street Steps and down through Glen Canyon. Wear/bring: sensible shoes, occasionally an umbrella, a journal/sketch pad, a bag for found objects, a camera (optional), a pen and/or coloring devices. Beginners are welcome. $35 per session/ $125 for five (does not include lunch). Sundays: 11 am – 3 pm. Call Book Studio (415.641.0739, ext. 2) or email Stephen. Creative Writing Workshops: San Francisco Do you want to write regularly but can't seem to find the time and energy? Have you always wanted to write but are unsure of your ablility? Either way, this workshop can help you to produce work and to get feedback on what you're doing well. This creative writing workshop is taught in The Amherst Writers and Artists method created by Pat Schneider, a method that combines free-writing techniques with supportive feedback and reflection, focusing on developing authentic voice. Manuscripts may be submitted to the group for critical feedback, but the group focuses primarily on spontaneous writing exercises. The workshops are held at the moderator's apartment in San Francisco, on Laguna Street. The first session is complimentary, so come and check it out. Tuesday or Thursday nights from 7 pm - 10 pm. Contact Christopher DeLorenzo at delorenzo@usfca.edu or 415.626.3405. EdgeWork Online Writing Classes A new women's publishing collective in Berkeley, EdgeWork Creative Arts also offers several online writing classes with intriguing titles such as, "Telling the Immigrant Story" and "The Dramaturgy of the Screenplay." Each course is comprised of six sessions lasting 12 weeks. Fees are $500 per student. For more information, visit the website or email the instructor. Essential Sensual Poetry This six-week course reveals how sensory awareness cultivates poetic writing. There will be an exploration of taste, touch, sight, smell and sound through a variety of voices such as the Spanish sensual poets, American contemporary writers and Japanese haiku artists. Each week, one sense will be the focus of various poetry and literature that highlights that sensory experience. A writing exercise follows and participants are encouraged to immerse themselves into their essential sensual nature. Facilitated by Terri Glass Classes being on March 18, meeting on Monday evenings from 7 pm to 9 pm at the Center for Art & Soul, 116 Locust, Larkspur. Cost $100.00; if you register by March 1, the cost is $85.00. To enroll, call 415.461.1653 or email Terri. The Harvey Milk Institute These fun, inexpensive evening classes offer courses such as, "Pornwriting for Queer Boys and Girls" and "Queer Journalism 101." For the more serious writer, classes in grammar, copyediting and novel writing are also offered. For more information, website. Jennifer Joseph's Writing Workshop Jennifer Joseph, publisher and editor of Manic D Press and the moderator of Poetry Above Paradise for the last thirteen years, is hosting a writing workshop for poets and fiction writers. All levels of experience are encouraged to discuss current works on the page as well as in performance. There will also be opportunities to talk about touring as a performance poet and getting published. Beginning February 5th, the group meets on Tuesday evenings from 7 pm to 9 pm in the Mission. The fee for the six-week session is $125. For more information, email Jennifer. Kearny Street Workshop Creative Writing Classes From March 4 through April 22, Kearny Street Workshop will be offering a Fiction Writing Class with instructor Sabina Chen. Sabina's multi-level class will study the process of creating character through the elements of fiction: detail, voice, setting, action and dialogue. Students will be expected to produce new writing weekly and complete one story for workshop. Sabina's Fiction Class will take place on Monday evenings (March 4 - April 29) from 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm, at SomArts. The class will cost $130 for KSW members and $150 for non-members. KSW will continue its writing class series in May and June with a multi-level, multi-genre writing class with instructors Roy Kamada and Sue Kwock Kim. Roy and Sue's Multi-genre Class will take place on Monday evenings (May 6 - July 1) from 7 pm - 9 pm at SomArts. For info call 415.503.0520. Linda Watanabe McFerrin's Seminars & Workshops Join poet, travel writer, novelist and columnist Linda Watanabe McFerrin in a seriues of seminars and workshops that will acquaint you with the implements of the writer's craft and show you how to wield them in a way that creates literature. Courses include: "Life into Literature," "Writing for Publication" and "On Assignment." For more information about fees and schedules, visit Ms. McFerrin's website. Margot Perin's Writing Workshops Novelist, memoirist, short-story writer, personal essayist and performance writer Margo Perin offers a variety of workshops in California, Spain, Italy and Mexico. Whether through a university, a local bookstore or a picturesque setting in another part of the world, the workshops will inspire you to mine the depths of your writing voice and create dramatic, compelling stories, personal essays, novels and memoirs. If you would like more information, please visit Ms. Perin's website. Media Alliance One of the better organizations in town, Media Alliance offers numerous writer's resources, including some practical and inexpensive classes to help you progress in your writing career. Learn HTML, magazine writing or the basics of copyediting for a nominal sum. For a list of current classes, please visit the Media Alliance website. Mission Fiction Learning to simply show up for your writing is often much more difficult than learning about what makes an artful story. This workshop will bribe, inspire, threaten and flatter the writing out of its hiding place. Through weekly writing assignments and rotating discussion of student work, students will discover and strengthen their own unique narrative voice. Experimental writers, flash fiction writers and beginners are encouraged. The next session of Mission Fiction begins on Wednesday, March 20, and runs for eight weeks. The class meets on Wednesday evenings from 6:45 pm to 9:45 pm at Build Community Art Space in the Mission District. The cost is $160. The instructor, Amy Moore, can be reached by email or phone 415.552.8225. Palo Alto Fiction Workshops Fiction workshops taught by an experienced teacher from UCLA, Rutgers and UCBerkeley Extension. Publishing credits include On a Night Like This, Warners, Fall 2002, and The Affair, Heyne, 2001. New ten-week classes will begin in March, June and September. Fees are $450 for each course. Manuscript consulting also offered. For information email Ellen Sussman or call her at 650.559.9954. Ripe Fruit School of Creative Writing The Ripe Fruit School of Creative Writing recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary of providing writers a safe and supportive environment to free their imaginations to go deep, tell the truth, and write what they have never written. Ripe Fruit offers one-day workshops, writing retreats and nine-session workshops, ranging from $95 to $350; work exchange or payment plans available. Each workshop closes with a celebration dinner and reading. For more information, visit the website or call 415.337.4369. Russian Hill Writing Workshop Start off the new year by doing new writing for group critique, one of the best ways to nurture your creative life and develop your craft. This group is for both new and experienced writers. We will do new writing in each session, and then take an exercise home to bring back to the next session for group critique. We will read and discuss model poems and short prose pieces, and use them as springboards for our own work. Time: 7 pm to 9:30 pm, Thursdays, February 21 through March 28. Cost: $150. For more information, email cmiller355@aol.com. Sarah Rosenthal's Poetry Writing Workshops Held in San Francisco's Hayes Valley, the workshops feature generative writing exercises, discussion of craft, and in-depth feedback on student poems. The beginning/intermediate workshop meets Tuesdays 7:30 pm to 10 pm, January 15 to April 16. The intermediate/advanced group meets Thursdays 7:30pm to 10 pm, January 17 to April 18. The classes are offered on a sliding scale of $300 to $425. For full info, including comments by past students, visit Sarah's website. Screen Writing Group Got the perfect screenplay in your head? Need to learn how to get it on paper and make it readable? Have a finished screenplay you want to improve? A six-week course is available to get you started. Learn about format, structure, dialogue, character development, story spines, the do's and most importantly the DON'TS, so you can get your script read. Taught by a successful local writer. Email for more information. SFSU Creative Writing Program If you're checking out Creative Writing programs, you can't do better than the Bachelor's, Master's and Master of Fine Arts programs at San Francisco State University. Taught by respected local and national writers peppered with a few big-name visiting lecturers, classes at SFSU are geared to the adult student, not the trendy post-high school tweaker. For more information, visit the program's website. U.C. Berkeley Extension With campuses in San Francisco and Berkeley, classes at U.C. Berkley Extension couldn't be more convenient. While these short-program evening classes don't come cheap, they are top-quality, often led by big-name authors. For a complete course catalog, visit the website. Voices Summer Writing Workshop The Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation at University of San Francisco invites applications from unpublished as well as published writers and anyone dreaming of writing as a serious pursuit. The Voices Writing Workshop is a special gathering of writers who spend 1-2 weeks working with authors and writers of color. Open to all races, this workshop honors the literary traditions of heritage and culture and promotes the styles, voices, forms and concerns of writers of color and their connections to the literary world. Held on the beautiful Lone Mountain campus of University of San Francisco, the Voices workshop creates a community who exchange and engage. Visit the website for more information. Weaving Words Free-write exercises focusing on unexpected associations and connections between words and images. Participants will also make a collage incorporating a favorite poem or lyric. Free. Please bring scissors, glue, paper and whatever else you might like to incorporate into your collage. Old calendars and magazines will be available for your use as well. Sponsored by the Marin Poetry Center; facilitated by Kate Peper. Located at Sight + Insight Gallery, 616 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, Wednesdays, 7 pm - 9 pm. Wednesday Night Poets This San Francisco group has been meeting regularly on Wednesday nights, from 7 pm to 9:30 pm, for over a year. Led by Carmen Gimenez-Rosello, each ten-week session consists of a discussion focused on specific writing issues like aesthetic, audience and voice, as well as a regular workshop. The ten-week fee of $300.00 also includes a one-on-one manuscript meeting. For more information, please write: marmoset@att.net. Weekly Poetry Workshop Strengthen your sense of who you are as a poet, learn to discuss poetry in a more sophisticated and incisive manner, and produce poems you love and take pride in! This $100 course consists of 10 weekly sessions in the Mission (close to BART) moderated by local poets with MFA degrees and published work. Participants will submit new work weekly, receive verbal and written commentary on all work, engage in thoughtful discussions surrounding the work of fellow participants, explore topics that include developing voice, inventive use of language, syntax choices, treatment of the narrative, experimental forms, etc., and read and discuss published poetry. If you’d like to sign up or learn more, email weekly_poets@hotmail.com or call 415.601.3176. Wikswo Home School Ms. Wikswo is a writer, editor, and teacher, whose writing has been published extensively. Honored with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and an upcoming Artist-in-Residency in Southern California, Ms. Wikswo has taught fiction at San Francisco State University, and privately in Austin, Australia and San Francisco. Classes are $250 for 13 weeks and can be taken for SFSU credit in the Creative Writing Department. The school has an eight-student maximum per class, so please register well in advance. Please contact Quintan Ana Wikswo at 415.860.5624 or cixu66@hotmail.com A work sample and brief interview are required -- not to assess skill level, but to ensure that the school will be helpful and relevant to your artistic enterprise. Will Dunne Dramatic Writing Workshops Designed for an average attendance of 12 writers per session, each three-hour workshop begins with a mini-lecture and one-hour guided writing exercise to help you develop your characters, explore story ideas, and stimulate creativity. Workshop members listen to new scenes read each week by local actors and give feedback to the writer. Your scene work from home is then presented by professional readers drawn from a talent pool of over 100 Bay Area actors. This reading gives you an opportunity to hear your work off the page and see how it plays. Actors change from week to week so that you can learn what different voices bring to your characters and scene dynamics. Once you have successfully completed a quarterly workshop, you receive priority status for re-enrollment. Many experienced writers use the program as a long-term resource to motivate and guide the ongoing development of their plays and screenplays. Fees and workshop schedules vary, check the website for more information. Women's Poetry Group A lively core group of intense, intelligent writers who always have something to say, this women's poetry group meets monthly on Sunday from 10 am to 2 pm to read and discuss the work of published poets, do a little freewriting, critique one another's work, and share lunch. Led by Jacqueline Berger, a writer and teacher, the group is welcome to all. $25 fee per session. For more info, contact Jacqueline. The Word Party The Word Party is a weekly drop-in class focusing on improvisational writing. Loosely based on the work of Julia Cameron (The Artist’s Way) and Natalie Goldberg (Writing Down the Bones), the Word Party uses verbal games and in-class writing exercises to help generate creativity, offering a friendly, humorous environment for anyone who enjoys writing. Each workshop features a variety of on-the-spot writing assingments lasting between five and twenty minutes. The object is to write non-stop, without lifting pen from paper -- silencing the internal critic, giving the unconscious mind free reign. Afterward, participants have the option of reading their work aloud. Another segment of every session is devoted to the sharing of writing done outside of class, an opportunity to get feedback on works-in-progress. All levels welcome. Wednesday evenings, from 7 pm to 9 pm. Come as often as you like. Near Church/Market. Call 415.863.1261 for exact address. Affordable sliding scale. Writer's Center of Marin The Writer's Center is a nonprofit organization devoted to serving and supporting writers of all genres, offering membership in a community of working writers, a program of workshops and classes, and a resource center assembled and staffed by writers. The courses are small, usually between six and ten people. Course offerings include memoir, travel writing, fiction and screenwriting. Fees vary; for more information, register online. Writing Ourselves Into Knowing For women in therapy. In a writing workshop or group you can enhance your progress in therapy through creativity; write in a safe nurturing space; start or continue keeping a journal; be part of a supportive caring group of women; work on your issues; write spontaneously and freely; and share your favorite poetry and writings. Full-day workshops include structured writing exercises, an opportunity to share your writing, and a positive, supportive emphasis that helps you confront your inner critic. For more information, call 650.324.0336, visit the website or email the doctor. The Writing Salon The Writing Salon, a school of creative writing located in San Francisco's Bernal Heights, offers intimate classes of 6 to 12 students in a warm, informal setting complete with fresh-brewed coffee, tea and cookies. Our five to nine-week courses and one-day workshops, taught by a staff of experienced teachers, include classes in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and journalism. Writers of all ages and levels of experience are invited to learn new skills and improve old ones. For more detailed information on individual classes and teachers, visit the website, send an email, or make a phone call: 415.642.9793. <<< Back to Literary Arts |
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