Classes at the Attic

Poets Studio is based on the idea that focusing on goals is the key to lasting growth as a poet. Poets Studio is a weekly workshop that will run from Sep 22 - May 18 for 30 weeks. It is designed to give form and focus to your poetry writing. The Poets Studio is open to applications from all poets. Poets join the Poets Studio as members and attend for the entire session. This creates the Poets Studio's special experience: a steady, supportive, and comprehensive study of your poetry among other poets.

Read more about the Poets Studio.

To Apply: Please send ten (10) pages of poems and a 250 words "Statement of Goals" to the Attic Institute.

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No matter what genre you work in, there are four skills every writer needs. Think of it as footwork. As methods of balance. Think of it as framing. As if, in your writing, everything is modular. Want to learn the four skills? All writers at every level welcome. Come to this special summer morning workshop with poet, novelist, and memoirist David Biespiel, founder of the Attic Institute, and practice the skills, develop new ways to grow as a writer, and leave the workshop inspired to write more. 

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In this three-hour intensive, we will intentionally spend time with joy — to write from it and write about it. Concentrating on two craft techniques that can reenergize a narrative (and ourselves), everyone will end the morning with something new and with thoughtful, joyful momentum.

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Using prompts, short readings, and discussion, this generative nonfiction workshop will focus on mining our personal histories and crafting them into the form they deserve. We’ll also explore the ways we sometimes get in the way of our own stories — and how to use that to break through and write around the blocks. CNF, personal essays, journaling...all are welcome. Open to all writers.

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You know those poems we grind on?  One way to reinvent and revitalize a poem is to recast it into a form. Forms can help quiet the mind’s intention and open up new realms of discovery. Let’s look beyond traditional forms to see how some modern masters are updating and reinventing poetry forms to suit their needs. We will then apply those lessons to our own poems. Share your work in an environment of acceptance and exploration. Discover how your poems start to take on new vigor and vitality. Reading list: poems from Jericho Brown, Dianne Seuss, Wendy Xu and others. Come join us!

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“Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and other dreams. They are journeys you can make to the far side of the universe and still be back in time for dinner.” ~ Neil Gaiman

Tiny Windows: The Art of the Short Story is a dynamic, six-week workshop for anyone curious about the short story form—from total beginners to seasoned writers ready to sharpen their skills. Through a mix of discussion, reading, and generative writing, we’ll explore how short stories work from the inside out. Each week focuses on a different craft element—like scene-building, POV, character development, dialogue, structure, or revision—and includes short readings and exercises that demystify how great stories are made. This craft-based class will make every effort to personalize the experience to each writer’s needs. Students will begin or continue working on a short story, with the goal of finishing a draft (or portion of one) by the final session. You’ll leave with new tools, greater confidence, and—most importantly—a deeper love for the storytelling process. No prior workshop experience required.

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Using prompts, short readings, and discussion, this generative nonfiction workshop will focus on mining our personal histories and crafting them into the form they deserve. We’ll also explore the ways we sometimes get in the way of our own stories — and how to use that to break through and write around the blocks. CNF, personal essays, journaling...all are welcome. Open to all writers.

Register for this workshop.

Writing has the power to transport us through time. With a few words, we can return to childhood, suspend a moment, see into the future or perhaps write a better one. In this generative workshop, we will practice movements through time based on readings and creative prompts like writing off personal photographs and noticing patterns of change. This workshop encourages writers from all genres and all skill levels. Open to all writers in all genres. A generative morning workshop.

Register for this workshop.