Creative Writing Classes

I offer generative classes that help writers tap into the liberating power of constraints, the complexities of aliveness, and creative practices that encourage lifelong learning and artistic expression. My classes are always convened live.

My upcoming classes and workshops include:

• Close Reading (& Writing): “Dead Doe” | Sat, December 13 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. PT | Online ~ Sold out!
  Brigit Pegeen Kelly’s “Dead Doe” is a Necropastoral poem of transformation, grief, and reckoning. The doe, which first appears dead, laying in a field of asters, staggers to life in our imaginations. The fractured line work reflects the writer’s mind in motion as she hesitates, lurches, and digests the sight: the doe who “lent / her deadness to the morning, that the morning might have weight, that / our waiting might matter: be upheld by significance.” We’ll begin with a close reading and discussion of “Dead Doe” followed by writing inspired by the text. $40 (*plus sales tax for WA residents).

• Gardens & Ghosts: Cultivating New Writing in the Pastoral and Necropastoral | Co-led by Jessica Gigot and me! Saturdays, Jan 3, Jan 10, & Jan 17, 2026 ~ 10 to 11:30 a.m. PT | Online
  Where the Pastoral sings the fertile virtues and romance of rural life, including its grief, the Necropastoral revels in the sensuous, spoiled, and spectral ruins wrought by industrial greed and civilizational anxiety: Each mode serves as a foil for the other. How do we decipher entanglements between human and more-than-human creatures, both alive and dead, who share the ecotone of such strange meetings? In this generative writing series, we’ll explore how these mirrored approaches to nature and place-based writing are conjoined by the verdant imagination. Our texts include work by Joe Wilkins, Linda Hogan, Mary Oliver, Tommy Pico, Marie Howe, Lydia Millet, Joyelle McSweeney, Kim Hyesoon, Maya Jewell Zeller, and Jane Wong. $115 for the series (*plus sales tax for WA residents). Seats open! Contact me to register.

• Creative Renewal: Recharge Your Writing Life | Thursdays, Feb 5 to 26, 2026 from 5 to 7 p.m. PT | Hugo House (online)
  A mix of strategic reflection and generative writing in community, this class will help writers deepen self-knowledge and craft artistic habits that nourish. This class is a good fit for writers who want to reimagine their creative life as part of disentangling artistic expression from capitalist production. Each session will offer prompts for reflection and simple practices that unite body, heart, and intellect. We’ll transform intentions into actions and end with a generative session of writing constraints that invite experimentation and play. Member registration opens December 2; general registration opens December 7.

• Spring Writing Circle: Bones to Flesh ~ Writing and Revising Essays in Community | March 2026 | Online
  Writing circles are intimate creative cohorts designed to spark new writing and convivial critical discussion. This series is a mix of generative writing, critical reading, and self-revision. Writers will come away with well considered essay drafts and honed revision skills that extend beyond the pieces we create together. For this offering, expect to read and write both inside and outside of class for three focused weeks. Registration opens in 2026. If you are new to my classes, contact me to be added to the invite list.

• Finishing School: Writing in Community | Online
  Sometimes, to get writing done, we need camaraderie—and a calendar appointment. Finishing School is a space to work on individual projects in community. Think of it as a supportive virtual cafe or an accountability date. We show up, say a warm hello and share what we’re working on, and get crackin’. Finishing School is my gratis offering to the community of writers who join my writing circles each year.
  

• *Sales tax for Washington residents: Beginning October 1, 2025, a new Washington state law (ESSB 5814) requires sales tax to be collected on live and recorded classes and workshops taught by cultural organizations and freelance educators. Sales tax for online classes will be calculated based on the student’s billing location. (If you live outside of Washington state, no sales tax is applied.) As a small business owner, I truly appreciate your patience and continued support as I navigate this unexpected impact to our creative ecosystem. Note: This new tax legislation does not apply to one-on-one coaching or editorial consulting services.