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The Stacks Coffeehouse: October 2021 Writing Class
October 1, 2021 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
$20Generative, Drop-in Writing Class
@ The Stacks Coffeehouse
$20 for 4 weeks
This class will be focused exclusively on creating new work, with prompts sent out every Friday morning via email (starting October 1st) and live student readings via Zoom every Thursday at 7pm PST, where everyone will be encouraged to share their works-in-progress in answer to the prompt (The last class reading will be October 28th). All levels are welcome. Prompts are geared toward flash fiction, but we love nonfiction and poetry too.
Generative:
This class is generative, which means we’ll be focused on generating new work rather than polishing existing work. Prompts will be emailed on Fridays, and the class with meet live every Thursday at 7pm to share work.
Unlike a traditional workshop, we will only give brief positive feedback to the writer (time depending), rather than going into detailed feedback about each piece. The idea is to start the year with a handful of great pieces, so we want to encourage everyone to keep going, keep writing, and keep leaning in to the parts that are working.
Drop-In:
This just means that you’re welcome to participate as much or as little as you like. The prompts are sent to your email, and the Thursday readings are live (online). If you aren’t interested in sharing your work, or hearing your classmates work, you’re welcome to just take the prompts and write on your own. But we hope you’ll join us! It can be a great motivator to get your work ready to share with others, and it can also be really helpful to see the wide variety of ways that other people will have interpreted the prompts.
Instructor:
Mary Milstead will be leading the class. She has an MFA in Fiction from Portland State University, where she has also taught, and her work has been published in The Rumpus, Gay Magazine, and Portland Review, among other journals.
FAQs:
Are the classes in person or virtual?
Totally virtual. Prompts will be emailed, and the class will meet to share work on Zoom. Future versions of this class may include an in-person reading, but for now, everything is online.
What if I don’t live in Portland?
No problem! See above. Since everything is virtual, anyone can join, although the readings will be on Thursdays at 5pm PST, so if you want to participate in those, make sure that time will work in your timezone.
Will I get a lot of feedback on my writing?
No. Feedback will be limited to the Zoom readings, where we can share brief, positive feedback about the work, so this is not the class to take if you’re looking for more in-depth or more critical feedback. Check back later for more Workshop opportunities at The Stacks.
What if I have more questions?
Please send us an email at writing @ thestackscoffeehouse.com, and we’ll be happy to answer any questions!