A SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY FOR NONFICTION WRITERS: Atheneum Master Writing Program | Apps due: July 29
We invite all nonfiction writers to apply for this special opportunity in our Atheneum program.
Unexpectedly we have two spots open in nonfiction for the 2019-2020 Atheneum class. Come on up! Send us your applications by July 29.
An annual certificate program, the Attic Atheneum melds independent study under close faculty supervision, student receptions, public readings, and other special Atheneum events created around good food and great conversation, dialogue, and literary community.
Running for just under a year, the Atheneum is designed to advance your writing and seed literary life in the city. Atheneum Fellows form a unique community of literary artists and citizens.
Please Note: In lieu of a letter of reference, we're asking only that you provide only a name and contact for a reference, a person who can speak to your writing and your experience working with a group.
What happens when we expand our creative focus and let go of our expectations? In this workshop, we'll use writing practices and generative techniques, explore poems and strategies, all with the goal of completing the workshop with a handful of new poems. Can we find liberation from the pressures we place on ourselves and our work? Join the experiment and let's find out! Maximum: 12 writers. [Note: This workshop is designed to be paired with Ashley's 
Flash nonfiction, simply put, is true-to-life writing defined by extreme compression: it's saying what you've got to say using as few words, and as much beauty, as possible. An endlessly accessible, playful, potent form, flash nonfiction is evermore popular; from Brevity to River Teeth, The Rumpus to The Sun, legions of great journals are eager to publish great flash. In this prompt-driven workshop, we'll read masters of the flash nonfiction form, including Anna Vodicka, Ross Gay, Brenda Miller, Ira Sukrungruang, Abigail Thomas, and more; we'll talk about what stories are suited for flash, how to tell them well, and where to publish them; and most of all, we'll write, and write, and write, via in-class exercises and take-home prompts. Students will leave the class with reams of new writing and ideas for where to publish. | Maximum: 12 writers
What makes a piece of writing come alive? What gives it emotional resonance, energy, and depth? How do we transform the raw material of our lives—our observations, memories, insights, dreams—into compelling poems, stories or essays that lure in a reader? In this class, we’ll dive into these questions, drawing inspiration from a diverse array of writers as we investigate the craft elements (image, narrative, syntax, metaphor, etc) that make a piece of writing vibrate with feeling and energy. And we’ll dive into our own work, immersing ourselves in our creative processes to find new doorways into ourselves and our writing. Whether you’re new to writing or have been at it for years, this class will provide you with a supportive, inspiring environment in which to explore. | Open to all writers. Maximum: 12 writers.
If you want to fall in love with the short story -- or you already have -- this is the workshop for you. We will practice how the short story form can open up unlimited possibilities for your creative writing as we explore the short story as a form and delve into elements of the writing craft, such as setting, point of view, scene-building, dialogue, plot, and character. We will work on a short story project during the class with the goal of completing a draft by the end of the course. No prior experience with writing workshops is needed and every effort is made to personalize the experience for each writer. The workshop will feature in-class writing, readings during the week, and sharing/group critique in class. | Maximum: 12 writers
This workshop, led by Attic Institute founder David Biespiel, is the kind of study every writer needs, from beginners to the most advanced. It's an opportunity to write from studying your own self-portrait via photos, drawings, snapshots, b&ws, candids, distortions, &c. The workshop approach empahsizes the concept of obseravtional writing as a direct route to achieve new imaginative possibilities, whether you're writng fiction, memoir, or poems. The approach demands careful observation and the translation of those obserations into clear and precise notes, jottings, and studies. Self-protrait writing is one of the foundational skill sets that all writers should practice. It hones your concentrtation on details and the language that comes from those details, and it releases you into new zones for your memories and projections to emerge. Our focus will be almost entirely on making new pieces of writing with hardly any time dedicated to critique or revision. 
This workshop, led by Attic Institute founder David Biespiel, is the kind of study every writer needs, from beginners to the most advanced. It's an opportunity to write from studying your own self-portrait via photos, drawings, snapshots, b&ws, candids, distortions, &c. The workshop approach empahsizes the concept of obseravtional writing as a direct route to achieve new imaginative possibilities, whether you're writng fiction, memoir, or poems. The approach demands careful observation and the translation of those observations into clear and precise notes, jottings, and studies. Self-portrait writing is one of the foundational skill sets that all writers should practice. It hones your concentration on details and the language that comes from those details, and it releases you into new zones for your memories and projections to emerge. Our focus will be almost entirely on making new pieces of writing with hardly any time dedicated to critique or revision. 
This workshop is for people who want to grow their work, whether that’s churning out new pages or shaping and deepening a full draft. Get feedback on pages, ask questions, and work though places where you’re stuck. Each week you’ll come with five double-spaced pages of your work in progress. Every other week you’ll share your pages with the group; on alternate weeks you’ll give me a copy for comments and to keep going. We'll work on setting goals, and discovering and clearing obstacles. Come find a supportive, inspiring environment to develop your work, whatever stage you're at in this journey. | Maximum: 8 writers
A reader falls into a book by seeing through a character’s eyes, and that means feeling what the character is feeling. But how many times can a character’s heart pound in their chest, or a shiver run down their spine? In this workshop we’ll explore fresh, effective ways of expressing emotion. Each week we’ll focus on a method or two, including physical signs, using the surrounding scene, metaphor, dialogue tricks and tools, and even naming emotions outright. We’ll do exercises in class to explore and break through some barriers. Then you’ll go home and use the techniques on your work-in-progress (or a new piece inspired by your explorations). By the end of the workshop you’ll have a big toolbox to use in conveying emotion, practice in putting the tools to use, and a stronger work-in-progress. For writers at all levels. | Maximum: 12 writers
Where can revision take us when we're not too attached to our creative work? What new avenues can we discover by taking risks and having the courage to experiment? In this workshop, we'll share works-in-progress and engage deeply with each other's drafts as we write our way into new poems. You'll learn different ways of looking at your own work, acquire new strategies for tackling creative indecision, and come away with a more concrete understanding of how to know when a poem is "finished." | Maximum: 12 writers
What do we do with a piece of writing that feels stuck, stagnant, that we want to transform? Revision can be difficult: we don’t want to lose the raw energy, the life-blood, of our original draft, yet sometimes we need to let go of our original ideas and inspiration in service of the poem or story. Too often revision is thought of as a process refinement and clarification, but revision literally means to “see again,” and in this class we’ll do just that: seeking out ways to enliven old drafts and see them from a fresh perspective, with a sense of curiosity and wonder. Through both in-class exercises and critique, we’ll explore a wide variety of revision strategies designed to bring our drafts to life again. Open to all writers. Maximum: 12 writers
How does being queer shape the stories we write and the way we write them? Does character, plot, or theme make a narrative queer or is it something in the way a queer writer sees the world that colors a narrative? This class will invite writers to explore and express their identity and how it informs what they write and the way they write it. Whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction, or just writing for yourself this class will help you make connections between who you are becoming and what you are imagining through your writing. Writers with little or a lot of experience are welcome to this workshop-style class. Bring something you’re already working on or start from scratch, but either way our goal will be to have a completed piece at the end – it could be a paragraph, a multi-page piece, or something in-between. All genres are welcome. Supportive in-class critique and revision will be a strong part of the process. At the end of the class, you’ll have a better sense of who you are and why you are writing.
Being able to write joyfully in an encouraging environment without the constant fear of negative critique can be incredibly freeing. In this workshop, led by Attic Institute founder David Biespiel, short, timed, directed writing sessions allow you to quickly make dramatic pieces of writing--in fiction, memoir, or poems--that encourage your personal sense of expression. These exercises are designed to establish easy-to-follow strategies that free up your imagination and let you discover something new, or something long percolating. These writing or "sketch" sessions build confidence, enabling you to concentrate on the material that's right before you. Our focus will be almost entirely on making new pieces of writing with hardly any time dedicated to critique or revision.
Being able to write joyfully in an encouraging environment without the constant fear of negative critique can be incredibly freeing. In this workshop, led by Attic Institute founder David Biespiel, short, timed, directed writing sessions allow you to quickly make dramatic pieces of writing--in fiction, memoir, or poems--that encourage your personal sense of expression. These exercises are designed to establish easy-to-follow strategies that free up your imagination and let you discover something new, or something long percolating. These writing or "sketch" sessions build confidence, enabling you to concentrate on the material that's right before you. Our focus will be almost entirely on making new pieces of writing with hardly any time dedicated to critique or revision.