creative writing workshop tennessee

May 2nd Program

Is it your story to tell how diversity issues are impacting publishing.

Learn to avoid common diversity pitfalls in your own writing, with Patricia Hudson!

The Knoxville Writers’ Guild is a non-profit organization offering skill-building opportunities such as monthly public programs, workshops, writing groups, open mic, and networking.

Our public meetings are usually on the first Thursday of every month, at 7 p.m., in Addison’s Book Store, 126 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. $5 donation requested.

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Upcoming Events

Delicious poems: poetry and food.

Examine the cross-cultural significance and history of food with Shlagha Borah! Find out more here!

What people have had to say about our programming

We’re here for writers of all ages & stages.

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Exploring unconventional essays, christie grotheim, wednesdays, 8 weeks, chunk: breaking down the short story, clemintine guirado, thursdays, 8 weeks, the said and the unsaid: writing your characters through dialogue, lauren nossett, writing like a naturalist, melissa jean, mfa prep: crafting the plan, hilary bell, may draft chat, learning to eavesdrop: on writing better dialogue, writing in five-minute sprints, close to the bone: an online memoir workshop, pauletta hansel, mondays, 4 weeks, draft chat, june 3, daniel myers, sports fiction, lucas schaefer, writing rural stories, whitney bryant, june drafting den, josh inocalla, social media for writers, kim baldwin, finding your ya voice: chapter 1, stewart lewis, saturdays, 4 weeks, flash fiction, stephen mortland, ignite a writing camp for adults (day 1: jumpstarting a writing practice with lisa bubert), lisa bubert, ignite a writing camp for adults (day 2: the art of observation with lauren nossett), the art of the shock: stories that go too far, andrew steiner, ignite a writing camp for adults (day 3: stronger together with meredith lyons), meredith r. lyons, ignite a writing camp for adults (day 4: rinse out the shame with minda honey), minda honey, ignite a writing camp for adults (day 5: focus & flow with melissa jean), journaling together, latonya moore, ordinary grace: writing familial love, sketching memories: crafting your graphic memoir, malaka gharib, tortured poets anonymous: taylor swift’s songwriting and the confessional poem, ellie black, tarot and the creative practice, creating a meaningful practice for poets, am ringwalt, novel generator, nathan knapp, writing you on the page, vanessa martir, tuesdays, 4 weeks, july drafting den, humor in fiction, the short(ish) essay, susannah felts, applying to residencies, christina berke, zine-making 101, elise anderson, the ethics of writing about real people, decentering the white gaze, breaking the mold, mathangi subramanian, the art of letter writing, yurina yoshikawa, poetry as witness, ryan varadi, don’t wait for the muse: how great writers actively wield the unconscious, wesley kocurek, writing the teen self, pitch perfect: how to get published in the nashville scene, hannah herner and kelsey beyeler, look again: writing poetry in response to art, nathaniel rosenthalis, we’re saving you a seat., stay connected.

Chattanooga Writers' Guild

Read. Write. Connect.

The Chattanooga Writers’ Guild promotes, encourages, and supports writing and fosters a supportive, caring environment for writers in the Chattanooga community.

Latest News

Winners: April 2024 Monthly Contest

April Monthly Contest Series winner is Cynthia Robinson Young, and the runner-up is Ken Harpe. Chris Wood’is also commended.

Member Book Launch Events

Chattanooga Writers’ Guild President Mark Anderson has just published his book, The Wisdom of Jesus, A Close Look at the Sermon on the Mount, and we are all invited to his launch parties. Sunday May 19th, 3 to 5 pm at Wanderlinger Brewing Company, 1208 King Street Chattanooga. Open to…

IT Specialist needed

The Board of Directors of the Chattanooga Writers’ Guild is seeking someone to manage our information technology department. This person will service our Google Workspace updates and design changes as needed, plus oversee the WordPress account which includes several add-on applications. Currently this is a volunteer position, but we are…

Mountain Heritage Literary Festival

June 21 and 22 will mark our 18th year and we are thrilled to have Harlan Kentucky novelist Robert Gipe (Trampoline; Pop; Weedeater) as our keynote speaker. This year we are offering the most diverse array of writing workshops and opportunities in our history. We will be offering beginner and…

Next Meeting: June 11th

Look for details of our next meeting coming soon!

Enjoy a selection of books from our authors!

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A Marvelous Time

Popcorn Krunchers

The Locust Years

Rustle in the Leaves

Jake The Water Dog

Random Selection

Children Of The Corner: A Corner Scribblers Halloween Special 2020

Crazy Buffet BBQ Edition: A Second Helping Of Stories

Growing Up Without Wifi: Memories Etched On The Heart

Missing Pieces: Poetry by JimmyLee Smith 1993 – July 1997

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Tennessee Resources for Writers

Here you’ll find a collection of resources for writers in Tennessee, from conferences to local critique groups to literary magazines. If you’re looking for writing groups near you, writing workshops near you, creative writing classes near you, or simply a place to hang out with writers or submit your work, these are some Tennessee writing organizations you might want to check out:

WriteByNight

For more than a decade, WriteByNight has helped writers in Tennessee and beyond achieve their literary goals. And we want you to be next! Claim your free consultation  to learn about WBN’s customizable  one-on-one writers’ services , including:

Book Coaching :  If you’re writing a book and want some help along the way.

Manuscript Critique : If you’ve written a book and want a beta read, critique, or writing workshop.

Editing/Proofreading : If you’ve written a book and want someone to polish it for you.

Publication Assistance : If you’ve written a book and want help finding an agent or publisher.

Chattanooga Writers’ Guild

Offers focused regular meetings for specific genres.

Cumberland River Review

A quarterly online publication of new poetry, fiction, essays and art.

An annual literary magazine, each issue features 200 pages of stories and poems, as well as interviews with writers and creative nonfiction devoted to discussions of craft.

Killer Nashville

An annual conference offering intense study, critiquing, networking and opportunities to speak with editors and agents.

Meacham Writers’ Workshop

Each fall and spring, this writing workshop is free and open to the public. The program consists of readings, discussion sessions and group conferences.

The Pinch Journal

One of the longest-running literary journals in the country. Fiction, poetry, nonfiction and artwork. Based at the University of Memphis.

A literary center in Nashville offering writing workshops (eight weeks, six weeks, four weeks, and one-day), readings, writing retreats, and more for adults and children.

Rockvale Writers’ Colony

Offers writing residencies of one to four weeks, as well as monthly retreats and writing workshops, on sixty-five acres of farmland in College Grove, forty minutes outside Nashville. Each writer is afforded a private bedroom and bathroom, as well as kitchen access, in a former bed and breakfast.

Sewanee Review

America’s oldest continuously published literary quarterly. Fiction, poetry, essays and reviews.

Sewanee Spoken Word

A twice-monthly reading series, held the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month at the Blue Chair in Sewanee.

Sewanee Writers’ Conference

This annual conference is one of the most highly regarded of its kind. Offers discussions, seminars, readings and writing workshops.

Southern Lit Alliance

Offers many events and programming for both adult and youth writers. Based in Chattanooga.

A three-semester program in creative writing at Middle Tennessee State offering one-on-one mentorship, a summer writing retreat, and a literary journal, SHIFT.

Help us add to this list, Tennesseans! Do you know of writing groups near you, writing workshops near you, creative writing classes near you, or a Tennessee literary journal we should be aware of? Let us know here

WBN helped me sculpt my story in the best of possible ways, and for that I am eternally grateful. June Day Austin, Texas

Client Credits

WBN has helped writers publish with:

Simon & Schuster Little, Brown & Co. St. Martin’s Press Amazon Slate Threepenny Review Huffington Post

WriteByNight, LLC 235 West End Avenue, 6H New York, New York 10023

646.374.8174 [email protected]

About MTSU Write

MTSU Write is a from-home mentorship program within the English Department.  It is a three-semester program, working with new and experienced writers in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screenwriting, and playwriting  across the nation.

The mission of MTSU Write is to celebrate both the art and craft of creative writing through instruction, mentorship, and outreach.  Our program supports the university’s overall mission to generate, preserve, and disseminate knowledge as well as its vision to be a vibrant hub and engine of cultural development through the following activities:

• We recruit high quality mentors who possess both literary qualifications and a commitment to teaching and nurturing student writers
• We provide individualized one-to-one instruction to students that both challenges and encourages them to reach their highest artistic potential
• We nurture a thriving writing community through a vibrant social media presence and regular community literary events
• We celebrate the writing life by providing regular opportunities for publishing and live readings for our students, mentors, and alumni

Values and Vision

MTSU Write values the art of creative writing as a crucial form of human expression that elevates both the writer and the audience.  We are committed to sharing the craft of writing through mentorship, and we recognize the necessity of a writing community to support the creation and dissemination of our art.

Our vision is to be a virtual incubator for the development of creative writing without regard for geographical boundaries, a signature program of MTSU, and a hub for the promotion of creative writing throughout the region.

Please see tabs to left for more information.

Send program enquiries to  [email protected] .

Questions or Comments

Please send an email to  [email protected] .

StarTribune

University of minnesota professor wins $150,000 literary prize.

A Minnesota novelist has won one of the world's richest literary prizes.

V.V. Ganeshananthan, an associate professor of English at the University of Minnesota since 2015, won the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction Monday night for her 2023 novel, "Brotherless Night." Star Tribune reviewer May-Lee Chai called the book, in which a young woman's family is ripped apart during the Sri Lankan Civil War, "a propulsive masterpiece."

Ganeshananthan — who first read Shields' work when she was a teenager — said the experience was "surreal." It was made more special by the fact that she and the other four semifinalists had a chance to meet the family and friends of the late Shields (whose novels include "The Stone Diaries") as well as the star-packed prize jury, which included novelists Laila Lailami and Claire Messud .

Ganeshananthan and fellow finalists Eleanor Catton ( "Birnam Wood" ), Claudia Dey ("Daughter"), Kim Coleman Foote ( "Coleman Hill" ) and Janika Oza ("A History of Burning") spent a couple days together in Toronto before the presentation. The two-year-old award is presented to a female or non-binary writer in the U.S. or Canada in memory of Shields, a fierce advocate for women.

"Women and non-binary folks are certainly not winning a proportionate number of prizes," noted Ganeshananthan, who intends her work to be "explicitly feminist" (her first novel was "Love Marriage").

The professor said she didn't expect to win, so hadn't prepared her 2-minute acceptance speech until "someone I was talking to the night before [the award was presented] said, 'You should really write something down,' and I said, 'I think that's a bad idea.'"

Ganeshananthan, 44, dashed something off, then focused on enjoying time with her fellow writers, which may be why she said, "I'm still a little, 'Really?' And I may feel that way for a while."

Adding to the surreal aspect might be the high profile — and the dollar amount — of the prize. Ganeshananthan has just begun to think about the "respect and care and heft" that come with it.

"I've been fortunate to have a secure job, teaching creative writing to amazing students, and to work with brilliant colleagues. Not all writers have that or want that. But that's quite a bit of privilege," said Ganeshananthan.

She said she's considering a couple ideas for "Brotherless Night" follow-ups. While she's working on that, the writer — who also co-hosts Lithub's "Fiction/Non/Fiction" podcast and is on the boards of the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies and the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop — will have the summer and beyond to decide what's next.

"What everyone wants is more time to write," she said. "The idea that this could go to partly supporting that is encouraging and a stroke of luck."

Review: 'Brotherless Night,' by V.V. Ganeshananthan

Interim books editor Chris Hewitt previously worked at the Pioneer Press in St. Paul, where he wrote about movies and theater.

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• University of Minnesota professor wins $150,000 literary prize • Books
• Review: 'Brotherless Night,' by V.V. Ganeshananthan • Books
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© 2024 StarTribune. All rights reserved.

Sharing stories.

Spark creative writing workshops, for teens ages 13 - 18, mondays 12-1 p.m. july 8, 15, 22, 29, 2024 at the arts building 301 e. 11th street, 37403 free to participants.

Join us for a FREE workshop series exploring the genres of poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. Discover and hone your unique voice as you write without worry about grades or exams. We'll work on elements of craft, share work, edit work, and share it again. Come ready to chase the ideas that spark your imagination, and put words on the page that surprise, amuse, move, and inspire you and others.

Hosted by Kris Whorton

Kris Whorton is an English Lecturer at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. where she teaches Creative Writing, Scientific Writing, and Literature.  A desire to be useful in her community brought her to Hamilton County Jail where she has been teaching Creative Writing as part of Southern Lit Alliance's program, Turn the Page, since 2018. Her own fiction has appeared most recently in Scarlet Leaf Review, Eunoia Review, Askew Anthology, and Driftwood Press where she has also been a guest editor. Her poetry and creative nonfiction have been anthologized and have appeared as both weekly and feature pieces. 

Creative Writing

Program Description

The bachelor of fine arts (BFA) in creative writing offers opportunities for students to write, edit, publish, and develop both craft and technique in small workshops. Courses include fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction genres and special topics such as fantasy and science fiction. Majors also choose from a wide variety of literature electives to build an individualized program of study.

The BFA provides a foundation for a professional life as a writer or advanced study in graduate school. Students take 45 hours, including Composition I and II, and demonstrate proficiency at the intermediate level of a modern language.

Career Opportunites by Degree

• High school teacher
• College professor

Springs of Helicon Literary Magazine

Creative writing students serve as editors of the Springs of Helicon literary magazine. One issue is published per academic year both online and in print, and it offers the staff opportunities to design a perfect-bound, professionally-printed literature and art journal, learn the editing and publication process from start to finish, and publish their short stories, poems, plays, and essays. The literary magazine class also includes publication workshops for creative writing majors to explore national journals and submit their stories or poems. Most BFA students publish in distinguished magazines before they graduate. 

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The 2024 Tennessee Writing Workshop

Get your writing published: april 20, 2024, registration and pricing.

(Please note that this is an in-person event. We at Writing Day Workshops plan both online and in-person events. This next TWW is an in-person event happening in Nashville, TN on April 20, 2024. See you there.)

—————————–

$199 — EARLY BIRD base price for registration to the in-person 2024 TWW and access to all workshops, all days. As of fall 2023, registration is now OPEN. Simply email [email protected] and say you want to register for the Tennessee event.

Add $29  — to secure a 10-minute one-on-one meeting with any of our literary agents in attendance. Use this special meeting as a chance to pitch your work and get professional feedback on your pitch. (Spaces limited.) If they wish, attendees are free to sign up for multiple 10-minute pitch sessions at $29/session — pitching multiple individuals, or securing 20 minutes to pitch one person rather than the usual 10. Here are some testimonials from writers who have signed with literary agents after pitching them at prior Writing Day Workshops events. (Our bigger, growing list of success stories can be seen here .)

Add $69 — for an in-depth, personal critique of your one-page query letter from Brian Klems, one of the day’s instructors. (This rate is a special event value for Tennessee Writing Workshop attendees only.) Registrants are encouraged to take advantage of the specially-priced critique, so they can send out their query letter with confidence following the workshop. Also, if you are meeting with an agent at the event, you’re essentially speaking your query letter aloud to them. Wouldn’t it be wise to give that query letter (i.e., your pitch) one great edit before that meeting?

Add $89 — for an in-depth personal critique of the first 10 pages of your novel. Spaces with faculty for these critiques are very limited, and participating attendees will either 1) get an in-person meeting at the workshop, if the faculty member is attending the live event, or 2) get a 10-minute phone call with the faculty member, and have notes passed along via email, if the critiquer is not attending the live event. Options:

• Middle grade fiction; young adult fiction; and adult fantasy, historical, and romance (in-person meetings) : Faculty member Erica Ivy Rodgers , a writing coach and author, will get your work in advance, critique the first 10 double-spaced pages of your book, meet with you in-person at the event for 15 minutes to discuss her thoughts, and pass along written critique notes before or after the April 20 meeting.
• Romance of all kinds (in-person meetings): Faculty member Anna Harrington , a published author, will get your work in advance, critique the first 10 double-spaced pages of your book, meet with you in-person at the event for 15 minutes to discuss her thoughts, and pass along written critique notes before or after the April 20 meeting.
• Creative nonfiction (think Joan Didion), historical fiction, literary fiction, romantic comedy (no memoir) (in-person meetings) : Faculty member Sara Wigal , a literary journal editor, will get your work in advance, critique the first 10 double-spaced pages of your book, meet with you in-person at the event for 15 minutes to discuss her thoughts, and pass along written critique notes before or after the April 20 meeting.
• Women’s, mainstream, science fiction, fantasy, romance, crime, thriller, mystery (virtual critiques) : Faculty member Michelle McGill-Vargas , a writing coach and author, will get your work in advance, critique the first 10 double-spaced pages of your book, meet with you online (Zoom, etc.) or by phone for 15 minutes sometime before the workshop to discuss her thoughts, and pass along written critique notes before or after the meeting.
• All types & genres of fiction for adults and young adults (virtual critiques) : Faculty member Kristi Belcamino , a published mystery author, will get your work in advance, critique the first 10 double-spaced pages of your book, meet with you online (Zoom, etc.) or by phone for 15 minutes sometime before the workshop to discuss her thoughts, and pass along written critique notes before or after the meeting.
• All types & genres of fiction for adults, young adults, and middle grade readers (virtual critiques) : Faculty member Lorin Oberweger , a writing coach and author, will get your work in advance, critique the first 10 double-spaced pages of your book, meet with you online (Zoom, etc.) or by phone for 15 minutes sometime before the workshop to discuss her thoughts, and pass along written critique notes before or after the meeting.
• Children’s picture books and middle grade (virtual critiques) : Faculty member Brittany Thurman , a published author, will get your work in advance, critique the first 10 double-spaced pages of your book, meet with you online (Zoom, etc.) or by phone for 15 minutes sometime before the workshop to discuss her thoughts, and pass along written critique notes before or after the meeting. If you submit a picture book, it must be 1,000 words or fewer (can have illustrations or not).
• More critique options possibly forthcoming.

How to pay/register — Registration is now open. Reach out to workshop organizer Brian Klems via email: [email protected] , and he will provide specific instructions for payment and registration to get you a reserved seat at the event. Payment is by either PayPal or check. Because Brian plans different workshops, make sure you note that you’re inquiring about the Tennessee workshop specifically.

REGISTRATION:

Are spaces still available? Yes, we still have spaces available. We will announce RIGHT HERE, at this point on this web page, when all spaces are taken. If you do not see a note right here saying how all spaces are booked, then yes , we still have room, and you are encouraged to register.

How to Register : The easy first step is simply to reach out to workshop organizer Brian Klems via email: [email protected] . He will pass along registration information to you, and give instructions on how to pay by PayPal or check. Once payment is complete, you will have a reserved seat at the event. The TWW will send out periodic e-mail updates to all registered attendees with any & all news about the event. Because Brian plans different workshops, make sure you note that you’re inquiring about the Tennessee workshop specifically.

Refunds : If you sign up for the event and have to cancel for any reason, you will receive 50% of your total payment back [sent by check or PayPal]. The other 50% is nonrefundable and will not be returned, and helps the workshop ensure that only those truly interested in the limited spacing sign up for the event. (Please note that query editing payments and manuscript editing payments are completely non-refundable if the instructor has already edited your letter.)

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• Israel-Hamas War

My Writing Students Were Arrested at Columbia. Their Voices Have Never Been More Essential

O n April 30, 56 years after Columbia sent the police in to arrest student protesters who had taken over Hamilton Hall in protest of the Vietnam War—protests the school loves to promote—I was walking my 12-year-old daughter home after her choir performance. We had gone an extra stop on the subway because the stop at 116th, Columbia’s stop, was closed. Instead, we had to walk back to our apartment from the 125th stop. When we got within sight of Columbia, a line of dozens of police blocked our path. I asked them to let us through; I pointed to our apartment building and said we lived there. As a Columbia professor, I live in Columbia housing.

“I have my orders,” the cop in charge said.

“I live right there,” I said. “It’s my daughter’s bedtime.”

“I have my orders,” he said again.

“I’m just trying to get home,” I said.

We were forced to walk back the way we came from and circle around from another block. Luckily, our building has an entrance through the bodega in the basement. This is how I took my daughter up to her room and sent her to bed.

Read More: Columbia's Relationship With Student Protesters Has Long Been Fraught

A week earlier, I had brought some food for the students camping out on Columbia’s West Lawn and had met with similar resistance. Security guards asked whether I was really faculty; I had already swiped my faculty badge that should have confirmed my identity. They asked to take my badge, then they said I hadn’t swiped it, which I had, two seconds earlier, as they watched. They said their professors had never brought food to them before. I didn’t know what to say to this—“I’m sorry that your professors never brought you food?” They called someone and told them the number on my badge. Finally, they were forced to let me through. They said again that their professors had never brought them food. “OK,” I said, and walked into campus. I reported their behavior and never received a reply.

On April 30, after I had got my daughter to bed, my partner and I took the dog down to pee. We watched the protesters call, “Shame!” as the police went in and out of the blockade that stretched 10 blocks around campus. Earlier that day, we had seen police collecting barricades—it seemed like there would be a bit of peace. As soon as it got dark, they must have used those barricades and more to block off the 10 blocks. There were reports on campus that journalists were not allowed out of Pulitzer Hall, including Columbia’s own student journalists and the dean of the School of Journalism, under threat of arrest. Faculty and students who did not live on campus had been forbidden access to campus in the morning. There was no one around to witness. My partner and I had to use social media to see the hundreds of police in full riot gear, guns out, infiltrate Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, where protesters had holed up , mirroring the 1968 protests that had occupied the same building.

In the next few days, I was in meeting after meeting. Internally, we were told that the arrests had been peaceful and careful, with no student injuries. The same thing was repeated by Mayor Adams and CNN . Meanwhile, president Minouche Shafik had violated faculty governance and the university bylaws that she consult the executive committee before calling police onto campus. (The committee voted unanimously against police intervention .)

Read More: Columbia Cancels Main Commencement Following Weeks of Pro-Palestinian Protests

Then, Saturday morning, I got an email from a couple of writing students that they had been released from jail. I hadn’t heard that any of our students had been involved. They told me they hadn’t gotten food or water, or even their meds, for 24 hours. They had watched their friends bleed, kicked in the face by police. They said they had been careful not to damage university property. At least one cop busted into a locked office and fired a gun , threatened by what my students called “unarmed students in pajamas.”

In the mainstream media, the story was very different. The vandalism was blamed on students. Police showed off one of Oxford Press’s Terrorism: A Very Short Introduction . (This series of books offers scholarly introductions that help students prepare for classes, not how-to pamphlets teaching them to do terrorism.)

“I feel like I’m being gaslit,” one of my students said.

I teach creative writing, and I am the author of a book about teaching creative writing and the origins of creative-writing programs in the early 20th century. The oldest MFA program in the country, the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, was funded by special-interest groups like the Rockefeller Foundation and, famously, the CIA, and was explicitly described by director Paul Engle as a tool to spread American values.

Read More: 'Why Are Police in Riot Gear?' Inside Columbia and City College's Darkest Night

The way we teach creative writing is essential because it shapes what kinds of narratives will be seen as valuable, pleasurable, and convincing. Today’s writing students will record how our current events become history. One of the strategies Columbia took with its police invasion was to block access of faculty, students, and press to the truth. It didn’t want any witnesses. It wanted to control the story.

For weeks, Columbia administration and the mainstream media has painted student protesters as violent and disruptive—and though there have been incidents of antisemitism, racism, and anti-Muslim hatred, including a chemical attack on pro-Palestine protesters , I visited the encampment multiple times and saw a place of joy, love, and community that included explicit teach-ins on antisemitism and explicit rules against any hateful language and action. Students of different faiths protected each other’s right to prayer. Meanwhile, wary of surveillance and the potential use of facial recognition to identify them, they covered their faces. Faculty have become afraid to use university email addresses to discuss ways to protect their students. At one point, the administration circulated documents they wanted students to sign, agreeing to self-identify their involvement and leave the encampment by a 2 p.m. deadline or face suspension or worse. In the end, student radio WKCR reported that even students who did leave the encampment were suspended.

In a recent statement in the Guardian and an oral history in New York Magazine , and through the remarkable coverage of WKCR, Columbia students have sought to take back the narrative. They have detailed the widespread support on campus for student protesters; the peaceful nature of the demonstrations; widespread student wishes to divest financially from Israel, cancel the Tel Aviv Global Center, and end Columbia’s dual-degree program with Tel Aviv University; and the administration’s lack of good faith in negotiations. As part of the Guardian statement, the student body says that multiple news outlets refused to print it. They emphasize their desire to tell their own story.

In a time of mass misinformation, writers who tell the truth and who are there to witness the truth firsthand are essential and must be protected. My students in Columbia’s writing program who have been arrested and face expulsion for wanting the university to disclose and divest, and the many other student protesters, represent the remarkable energy and skepticism of the younger generation who are committed not only to witnessing but participating in the making of a better world. Truth has power, but only if there are people around to tell the truth. We must protect their right to do so, whether or not the truth serves our beliefs. It is the next generation of writers who understand this best and are fighting for both their right and ours to be heard.

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'Chronicles of Culture' Writing Workshop - Wakefield LitFest 2024

A Creative writing workshop to help aspiring writers build confidence in creating short story narratives.

Date and time

About this event.

We will be bringing people together through story making. Uniting young writers by commissioning them to create short stories and funding their dissemination to an audience in printed and audio form.

In a series of free, open workshops, run by professional writers and creatives, any and all young people will develop the skills to help them build the confidence and knowledge to apply for the commissions. The workshops will give insight into how to get inspired, develop ideas and take stories to final drafts.

The workshops will also connect young people to their local heritage by directly linking the workshops and subsequent stories with places of interest in the district as the inspiration for their stories working in partnership with Wakefield Museum. Suitable for ages 14-25

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Kelly Writers House Summer Workshop Alum Deborah Olatunji featured in Penn Today

Check out this fantastic  Penn Today feature on fourth-year student Deborah Olatunji, whose journey at Penn began with the Kelly Writers House Summer Workshop . Though initially intending to major in nursing, Deb discovered that her true passion lay in exploring identity, vulnerability, and mental health advocacy.  

Four years later, Deb has changed her major, started a podcast , studied abroad in South Africa, and launched the Black Storytellers Collective, a transnational project that connects Black writers across the diaspora. Through it all, the Kelly Writers House has remained a source of community and Deb's "third place" at Penn.

Read more about Deb's extraordinary path at the link below.

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TENNESSEE YOUNG WRITERS' WORKSHOP 2022

 june 5-11, 2022 |  east tennessee state university | johnson city, tn.

High School students (incoming Fall 2022 Freshmen through outgoing Spring 2022 Seniors ages 14-18 as of June 2022) who have a sincere interest in creative writing and would like to hone their craft with peers and professionals.

Is that you?! I think it might be you ... Yes!

Classes take place at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City and students stay in dorms on the campus.

* Transportation (via bus) from/to Nashville will be provided for those who'd like it*

\\\\ ONLINE ONLY OPTION \\\ will also be available if meeting in-person isn't in the cards for you at the moment. Please note your interest in the 'Online option' in the application and we'll be in touch with details.

The maximum number of students to teacher ratio at the workshop is 12:1.

This ensures that all students receive personal attention and instruction from the Workshop’s exceptional faculty and staff.

Residential life at YWW is in supervised residence halls with workshop mentors on the campus of East Tennessee State University.  

With incredible support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Tennessee Arts Commission and individual donors, this year's workshop fee is reduced to $300* per student. This includes room and board, all class materials, t-shirt, class instruction and transportation from/to Nashville.

*If that figure is not compatible with your current financial situation, tuition support (full or partial) is available. Please tick the box in the application noting your interest in tuition support and we'll be in touch with further details.

A typical day at YWW: 

9:00-11:30 a.m.

Warm Up & Morning Class

1:00-3:00 p.m.

Afternoon Class

3:00-4:00 p.m

(Optional) Office Hours

Dinner 6:00 p.m.

Evening Program/Activities

To apply to the 2022 workshop, please fill out the form below. All applications must include a recent writing sample (no more than 2,500 words). This may be a poem, short story, creative nonfiction essay, play, piece of some epic tale, etc. This piece does not have to be something from school.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. So, please appy ASAP! The initial deadline this year is April 2, 2022.

Questions: Email Patrick .  

THE APPLICATION

If having trouble viewing the application please email [email protected] ​

Writers' Workshop

Jayne anne phillips wins 2024 pulitzer prize for fiction.

Written by Sara Epstein Moninger

University of Iowa alumna Jayne Anne Phillips has won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and three other Iowa Writers' Workshop graduates were named finalists for Pulitzer literary awards, which were announced May 6.

Phillips, who earned an MFA in 1978, was recognized for her novel Night Watch . The Pulitzer judges described the book as “a beautifully rendered novel set in West Virginia’s Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in the aftermath of the Civil War where a severely wounded Union veteran, a 12-year-old girl, and her mother, long abused by a Confederate soldier, struggle to heal.”

Yiyun Li, who graduated with a Master of Science in 2000 and two MFAs (fiction and nonfiction) in 2005, was a finalist in fiction for her book of short stories Wednesday’s Child . Li’s short stories and novels have won numerous awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award for A Thousand Years of Good Prayers and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for The Book of Goose . She currently serves as director of Princeton University’s creative writing program.

Additionally, two alumnae were recognized as finalists for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry:

Jorie Graham, who graduated with an MFA in 1978 and won a Pulitzer in 1996 for The Dream of the Unified Field , was named a finalist for To 2040 . Graham, one of the most celebrated poets of her generation, is a former longtime faculty member in the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Among her poetry collections are The End of Beauty , Place , and Sea Change . She currently is the Boylston Professor of Oratory and Rhetoric at Harvard University.

Robyn Schiff, who graduated with an MFA in 1999, was named a finalist for Information Desk: An Epic , a book-length poem in three parts set in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Schiff, who has been a visiting faculty member in the UI Department of English, also is the author of Worth , Revolver , and A Woman of Property , which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She teaches at the University of Chicago and co-edits Canarium Books.

Pulitzer Prizes are awarded annually to honor achievements in journalism, literature, and music. See the full list of 2024 Pulitzer winners .

Tech’s Appalachian Center for Craft announces 2024 summer workshop season

• Published Wednesday May 8, 2024
• By Ashley Lusietto
• Media Resources

Tennessee Tech University’s Appalachian Center for Craft will host more than 30 workshops beginning this month and continuing through August as part of its 2024 summer workshop season. Fine craft artists of all disciplines will converge at the Craft Center from across the country, sharing techniques with workshop attendees while also celebrating the spirit of craft in Appalachia. The Craft Center seeks to provide the public with access to quality craft education and artists. Over the summer, teaching artists will cover topics in fiber, wood, glass, metal, clay, blacksmithing and other special topics that provide an immersive creative experience among a diverse group of people coming together to learn. “We are particularly excited for this year’s lineup of workshop instructors from throughout the region and beyond,” said Ashley Lusietto, program manager at the Craft Center. "Summer workshops are an exciting opportunity for our community to learn from exceptional makers and spend a day, weekend or week with uninterrupted time for creativity and experimentation.” Workshops are open to adults of all skill levels ages 18 and up. Most workshops can accommodate a variety of skill levels, though several workshops are designated for those at beginning, intermediate or advanced levels. Tech's Craft Center is a campus of the nationally accredited School of Art, Craft & Design within Tech's College of Fine Arts. The center is located off Highway 56 between Silver Point and Smithville on the northeast side of Hurricane Bridge. Situated on more than 500 wooded acres, its campus overlooks Center Hill Lake in scenic Middle Tennessee. The Craft Center has more than 87,000 square feet of spacious studios, a retail store, exhibition galleries, a café, on-campus housing and more. Weekend and week-long workshop participants are invited to purchase room-and-board and stay in the Craft Center's cabins. Workshop meals will be catered courtesy of Chartwells. Workshops require online registration and a payment of at least 50% of workshop tuition. Participants are also responsible for room-and-board and material fees, if applicable. For more information, including workshop policies, room-and-board information and a schedule with workshop descriptions and instructor bios, visit https://www.tntech.edu/fine-arts/craftcenter/workshops/summer.php  

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