Writing can be a solitary, lonely endeavor that leaves us yearning for camaraderie and collaboration. Some writers enroll in MFA writing programs for this reason: to join a vibrant, supportive literary scene. Of course, most people can’t drop everything to pursue a multiyear degree. With that in mind, this workshop offers a concentrated dose of the close reading, craft analysis, and community you might find in a graduate creative writing program. 

In our first meeting, you’ll distribute copies of a short story or novel chapter you’ve previously written. This might be a piece you’ve never shown anyone, or a story you’ve submitted to multiple literary journals, or a manuscript you plan to use for a residency, fellowship, or graduate school application. Whatever your intention, your fellow writers will carefully read and line-edit your work. Then, every afternoon, we’ll have an extended conversation about each submission, in workshops guided by the writers’ own questions, insights, and aims. We’ll also complete short generative writing exercises during these afternoon sessions, inspired by the pieces writers submit.

This workshop is open to writers at any level of experience who are eager to dig into their craft and receive in-depth responses to their fiction. By week’s end, you’ll have concrete feedback to fuel revision of your work-in-progress and a collection of newly drafted sketches to expand in the future. In addition, you’ll have made connections with fellow writers that might continue beyond the Festival’s close. 

In this workshop, we will generate new writing through guided exercises and prompts; workshop writing you bring from home.