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, risk-taking, and artistic expression.

My classes are always convened live and [mostly] online, which allows us to gather from around the world in a common space. (If you’re curious about why I don’t record classes, read my essay.) Upcoming classes and workshops include:

• Summer Writing Circle: Victoria Chang: Ekphrasis, Epistolary, Elegy | Saturdays, June 6, 13, and 20, 10 a.m. to noon PT | Online ~ 4 seats open!
  Writing circles are intimate creative cohorts designed to spark new writing and convivial critical discussion. This summer, we’ll take inspiration from one of my favorite writers, Victoria Chang. An imaginative craftsperson of constraint-based forms, Chang’s writing is often inspired by the work of visual artists, from Agnes Martin to Pablo Picasso and Hilma af Klint to Alice Neel. This circle will focus on three literary approaches common to Chang’s body of work: ekphrasis, epistolary, and elegies. We’ll read and discuss excerpts from her newest books, then write into forms our own. $120 for the series. Email me at gATgabrieladenisefrankDOTcom to register.

• Oulipian Experiments in Generative Writing | June 29 to 30 | In Person at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology — FULL!
  Formed in France in 1960 by poet Raymond Queneau and mathematician François Le Lionnais, the members of OuLiPo (Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle / Workshop for Potential Literature) found inspiration at the intersection of creative constraints and the freedom to break form. We’ll explore the history of Oulipo and a range of constraints and nontraditional forms with a spirit of experimentation through readings and generative prompts. Attendees will leave this hands-on workshop with a portfolio of new starts that include lipograms, palindromes, anaphora, erasure, “found” texts, intaglio portraits, sestinas, and other constraint-based writing. Together we will become, as Queneau described, “rats who construct the labyrinth from which they plan to escape.”

• Extra/Ordinary: Writing Daily Life | Thursdays, July 9 to August 13 | 5 to 7 p.m. PT - Online via Hugo House
  Close reading is a practice of attention: an antidote to speed and frictionless swipability. It helps us appreciate literature more deeply and shapes us into more deft practitioners of craft. Paisley Rekdal notes, “When we take the same critical care with our own writing that we take with published poems, we are bound not only to see the patterns behind our failings, but (more important) new and more adventurous paths open up in the ways we represent our worlds.” In this generative class we will close-read—and write—alongside works that resist easy classification, including “Everyday Barf” by Eileen Myles, “Dead Doe” by Brigit Pegeen Kelly, “Exhausting a Place in Paris” by Georges Perec, and Rekdal’s “Nightingale: A Gloss.” Writers will come away with sharpened tools of observation, tactile craft practices, a portfolio of fresh writing starts, and a keener sense of the poetic within the everyday—on and off the page.

• Forms of Care: Writing the Mortal Body | Tuesdays, July 30 to Sept 1 | 5 to 7 p.m. PT - Online via Literary Arts
  In this generative writing class, we will explore meaning via the mortal body—the foundation of what it means to be human—as a fruitful landscape for creative reflection, risk-taking, and art making. In each session, we will read and discuss a central text, write with in-class prompts, and share our freshly drafted words as a practice of self-care and care for each other. Writings from Victoria Chang, Alice Wong, Abi Palmer, Richard Siken, Elias Canetti, and Martha Silano will be our primary guides. This class offers opportunities for artistic expression and exploration related to health, disability, illness, grief, and life in a mortal body in a supportive learning environment.

• 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, share what we’re working on, and get crackin’. Finishing School is my gratis offering to the community of writers who participate in my writing circles each year.
  
  

• Sales tax for Washington residents: Beginning October 1, 2025, 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 hosted by me will be calculated based on the student’s billing location. (If you live outside of Washington state, no sales tax is applied.) This sales tax does not apply to one-on-one coaching or editorial consulting services.