Classes at the Attic

Looking for new poetic territory to explore? Maybe it's time to move beyond the “I” in your poems. Tools like persona, mask, and re-framing language and worldview can help poets look through and beyond the self. They help create distance and refraction between poet and subject. We will explore how some modern masters use these tools to reveal truths the self resists. We’ll then try them in our own work. Share your work in an atmosphere of acceptance and celebration. Reading list: poems from Ai, Patricia Smith, Louise Glück, and others. Come join us!

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Poetry is as much a practice in observation as it is in writing. In this generative workshop we will cull our daily environments for sensory details and inspiration—letting the mundane move us. We will engage in readings, writing prompts, and activities that encourage us to see the humor and beauty of the everyday. No prior experience with poetry is needed, just a curiosity in capturing moments.

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“Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.” – Henry David Thoreau

The short story is one of the oldest, most flexible and interesting forms of storytelling. From flash fiction to experimental to more traditional the short story gives writers a wide latitude to explore the many possibilities of narrative. This class will combine seminar and workshop. Ideally students should be prepared to workshop their work twice. The first for initial feedback; the second to take that feedback and finish a revision. Students will be required to read assigned stories outside of class and be prepared to lead discussions about issues surrounding techniques such as form, voice, point of view, plot and character. By reading the work of a variety of accomplished short story writers, my hope is you will explore both traditional and nontraditional narrative structures to help find an effective framework the feelings that serve as the original impetus for your creativity. This workshop is open to anyone but is ideally suited for students with a few stories under their belt. Space is limited.

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Who says the art of letter-writing is dead? In this workshop, we'll study beautiful letters and attempt to write 30 letters in 30 days for National Letter-Writing Month. We will look at the history of mail art, and take inspiration from powerful examples of the epistolary form, from the incendiary “letters” written by James Baldwin and Ta-Nehisi Coates to missives by Lydia Davis and Emily Dickinson. Through generative writing, reading and discussion, we’ll explore the ways letter-writing can survive the digital age, strengthening our writing practices, sharpening our skills of observation, and enriching our lives.

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Writing in the age of distraction and dire news often requires a Herculean effort to stay focused. What does it mean to reclaim our attention and what kind of revolutions can we mount with a pen, a notebook and renewed focus?  In this workshop we’ll pay attention to what we pay attention to, retool our writing practices and cultivate the concentration needed to do deep work. All genres welcome.

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Some of us grew up far too early for many different reasons. And some of us struggle with what it means to grow up before we make it to the grave!  In this generative workshop we will explore how we each take “responsibility for our lives”.  “Being our own parent” can engender a great sense of agency and joy.  Likewise, “adulting” can be a tremendous burden.  In what ways have we learned to “stand on our own two feet”?  In what ways have we learned to be held by a community as we grow?  Our writing can be a source of inspiration and hope when it comes to these difficult realities.  In this workshop, we’ll explore samples from all genres and write stories we haven’t yet been able to tell about how it is we all manage to “raise ourselves”.  To be sure, this course is appropriate for new and seasoned writers alike.  

Led by Ed Sage, Teaching Fellow at the Attic Institute.

Ed Sage's writing appears in ZYZZYVA, Verseweavers, The Portland Review, 4th Street Journal, The Ponder Review, Plainsongs, BULL Lit and The Passionfruit Review.

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