Past Classes & Workshops

Ode to Trees / Oda a los Arboles
FREE, in-person workshop at Blue Cactus Press
Sponsored by the Tacoma Tree Foundation
Thursday, December 7, 2023, 5:30 to 7:00 pm
Tioga Building , 1901 Jefferson Ave Office #105, Tacoma, WA 98402

A dozen writers of all ages gathered for this workshop, united by our love of both trees and poetry:

The trees of our cities and towns are some of our most faithful and steadfast neighbors. They continue to grow and flourish (if we care for them) as generations of people grow up and grow old in the houses they shade, as our built environments are transformed around them, and as our climate changes. Join award-winning Seattle based writer and translator, Wendy Call for this workshop, where we will talk about iconic Tacoma trees, we will savor some poems about trees, and we will write our own odes to trees.

Los árboles de nuestras ciudades y pueblos son nuestros vecinos más leales y constantes. Si cuidamos de ellos, crecen y prosperan a la par que nosotros crecemos y envejecemos en las casas y edificios que resguardan con sus sombra. Permanecen constantes aun cuando construimos nuestros desarrollos urbanos a su derredor, y a pesar del cambio climático.

En este taller, la galardonada escritora y traductora Wendy Call nos invitará a conversar sobre los árboles icónicos de Tacoma, disfrutaremos de varios poemas inspirados en los árboles, y escribiremos nuestras propias odas a los árboles tacomeños.

No es necesario tener experiencia previa con la escritura de poemas. ¡Todxs son bienvenidxs! / No experience with poetry is necessary; all are most welcome!

The Faraway Nearby
A writing and yoga retreat, co-facilitated with Yael Flusberg
Ghost Ranch
Abiquiu, New Mexico
Two one-week sessions: April 1-8 and April 9-15, 2023
Seventeen novelists, memoirists, nonfiction writers and poets, from across the U.S. and one Canadian province participated in this retreat. A good time was had by all. Here is the retreat description:

Join writer-editor-educator Wendy Call and poet-yoga therapist-healer Yael Flusberg “at the tail end of the earth” for self-directed literary creativity. We will gather at Ghost Ranch for two weeks—participants are welcome to sign up for one week or two—in a small, warm and welcoming community of writers. Breathe in the incomparable landscape, hike the ranch trails, and delve into your writing practice. Write. Revise. Read. Process. Enjoy!

Daily hour-long free writing sessions and yoga practice will enhance this self-directed writing retreat. Wendy and Yael, who each have more than fifteen years’ experience as workshop leaders and facilitators, will be your hosts for your time up on the Ghost Ranch Mesa.

Registration is by application—all writers are most welcome and encouraged to apply.

"Telling Your Own Story: Crafting the ME in Memoir"
Write on the River Writers Conference
Wenatchee, Washington
Saturday, May 20, 2017
All-day conference
“In nonfiction, the narrator is the only thing you can make up,” my first writing teacher told me. Just who is that slim, upright pronoun – the “I” — poised on the page? And who isn’t s/he? In this workshop, we delve into one of the most important jobs of the memoirist: creating the “me” who appears on the page. Looking at examples from master memoirists, we will discuss the differences among (1) the younger person who appears on the page in your memoir, (2) the first-person who tells that story, and (3) the real-life author – you. All three of these entities are represented with that slim, upright pronoun. In this workshop, you will learn the crucial skill of distinguishing among them! Register for this morning workshop here.

Creative Nonfiction: An Intensive Workshop
Port Townsend Writers' Conference
Centrum
Fort Worden State Park
Port Townsend, Washington
Sunday, July 12 through Saturday, July 18, 2015
I returned to my all-time favorite writers' conference for the sixth time, after a two-year break. For the first time, I taught a a morning workshop, working with 14 brave and beautiful souls. I also gave an afternoon craft lecture and evening reading. It was sublime.
The Port Townsend Writers Conference is a ten-day wonder of literary learning, celebration, and community.

Willamette Writers Conference
Hilton Doubletree Hotel
Portland, Oregon
Friday, August 1 through Sunday, August 3, 2014
my session: Sunday, 3:30 to 4:30 pm
In one short hour, we covered a lot of ground in "Write Your Way to the Writers’ Grant or Residency of Your Dreams."

"Creative Nonfiction: A Workshop in Two Parts"
Write on the River Writers Conference
Wenatchee, Washington
Saturday, May 16, 2014
All-day conference
In this two-part, three-hour workshop, a group of 30+ intrepid writers and I covered a range of issues essential to creative nonfiction writers: story arc, theme, scene-setting, and how to build one's narrative voice. Kudos to Kay Kenyon for creating such an excellent Write on the River conference.

Fifth Annual Environmental Writing Workshop
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
17th Ave NE and NE 45th Street
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington 98103
Saturday, April 26, 2014
10:00 am to 4:00 pm
I was inspired and energized by my day teaching alongside essayist Ana Maria Spagna, and novelist and memoirist Craig Lesley, at this annual, all-day workshop curated by geology writer David B. Williams at the (always fascinating) Burke Museum.

"Self-Editor's Toolkit: Polish Your Own Prose"
PubCamp Seattle
presented by Writer.ly
Center for Urban Horticulture
501 NE 41st Street
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington 98105
Friday, November 22, 2013
2:00 to 2:50 pm
At this all-day conference, I presented a workshop on self-editing for nonfiction writers. Here's the description: Gain powerful tools to improve your prose at all stages of the writing process, from revising a first draft to putting the finishing touches on nearly completed work. Examples from well-known writers and an extensive handout will allow you to take home a personalized self-editing toolkit. Participants will learn: (1) the four different levels of editing (developmental, substantive, copyediting and proofreading), and why it’s important to separate them; (2) a dozen exercises to help writers revise (and improve) their own prose; and (3) how highlighters, scissors, tape, and a tape recorder can become crucial self-editing tools.Thanks to Writer.ly for a lovely afternoon.

A Session with the Artist in Residence
Acadia National Park
SERC (Schoodic Education and Resource Center) Institute
64 Acadia Drive, Schoodic Point
Winter Harbor, Maine
1 pm to 3 pm, Saturday, August 24, 2013
A dozen people from nearly as many states joined me for two-hour exploration of what our national parks in general, and Acadia National Park in particular, meant to us. We taked about freewriting and about nature education, then we decamped to Schoodic Point to try out a few writing and observation exercises. Many thanks to SERC for hosting this event.

Chuckanut Writers Conference
Whatcom Community College
Bellingham, Washington
11:15 am to 12:15 pm, Friday, June 21, 2013
"You Are Here: Creating a Sense of Place in Your Writing"
I presented a shortened version of the workshop that I originally developed with Midge Raymond for our joint book tour, and then refined while in residence at national parks in the four corners of the continental U.S.

Everglades Artist in Residence Presentation
Rubell Family Collection / Contemporary Arts Foundation
95 NW 29th Street
Miami, Florida
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
As part of my month-long residency in South Florida's Everglades National Park, I discussed my work in the park and offered a ninety-minute writing workshop. An enthusiastic, thoughtul, and hard-working group of two dozen writers gathered for event. Many thanks to Everglades National Park, the AIRIE program, the stunning Rubell Collection, and most of all, Emma Galler, for making this workshop possible. Read my review of the workshop at the Knight Arts blog.

Chuckanut Writers Conference
Whatcom Community College
237 West Kellogg Road
Bellingham, Washington

Faculty Reading and Book Signing
4:00 to 7:00 pm, Friday, June 22, 2012

Panel Discussion: "Writing Real Life"
1:15 to 2:15 pm, Saturday, June 23, 2012

Over two late June days in beautiful Bellingham, I'll take part in this stunningly well-organized writers' conference, organized by Whatcom Community College and indie bookstore extraordinaire Village Books. These events are open only to those attending the writers' conference.

Writing Our Park: Free Writing Workshops
Audubon Center at Seward Park
5902 Lake Washington Blvd South
Southeast Seattle
11:00 am to 1:00 pm, Saturday, June 9, 2012
3:00 to 5:00 pm, Saturday, June 16, 2012
We’ll get outside and explore Seward Park’s geologic, natural, cultural and literary history. (Yes, Seward Park has a literary history!) Details from these distinct histories of this beloved park will form the basis of writing prompts for our workshop. Come with your notebook and pen, dressed for the weather, and we’ll write our way to a deeper understanding of Seward Park and our relationship to it. No experience is necessary and all are most welcome. This workshop is free and will be offered twice. Many thanks to 4Culture and the Seattle CityArtist Program for making these workshops possible and to the 25 writers, storytellers, and park-lovers who came and shared the park with me.

"Make a Scene!"
The Muse and the Marketplace Conference
presented by Grub Street
Boston Park Plaza Hotel
50 Park Plaza at Arlington Street
Boston, Massachusetts
Saturday, May 5, 2012
2:15 to 3:30 pm
Thanks to the great honor of having won Grub Street's 2011 National Book Prize for Nonfiction, I gave a reading and taught a craft class at Grub Street's 2012 writers' conference. This was the craft class: In this fast-paced exploration of scene-setting, nonfiction writers will learn a twelve-step process (except this one is FUN) to make the events we (re)create on the page fuller and deeper. First, we’ll look closely at the work of two master scene-setters. Then, we’ll become playwrights, giving our characters their lines. We’ll be directors, too, moving our characters about the stage. Finally, we’ll work as stagehands to our stories, creating the backdrop that will transform our nonfiction prose into a rich experience for our readers.

I am so grateful to the amazing Grub Street for the lovely experience of being at "Muse and the Marketplace."

"Twenty Ways to Tell The Story"
Get Lit! Festival
9:30 to 11:30 am
Riverpoint Campus, Phase 1 Building
Eastern Washington University
Spokane, Washington
Here's what more than thirty of us did together at Get Lit!...In this fast-paced morning, we zoom through twenty writing exercises, searching for the best way to get those words on the page. If there’s a story (factual or otherwise) you’ve been itching to tell, or a narrative poem prowling your mind, this is your chance to anchor those words to the page. Multimedia writing prompts — questions, answers, lines of poetry, images, even scents — will help us open the dusty drawers of memory and empty them out. Each participant leaves with the raw material for a rough draft. All writers or wannabe writers age 13 and over are welcome!

"Something Lost, Something Gained:
Translation and Multilingualism in a Globalized World"
Split This Rock Poetry Festival
Thurgood Marshall Center
1816 12th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
Saturday, March 24, 2012
9:30 am to 11:00 am
In this writing and translation workshop we explored our relationship(s) to language loss–from the global to the personal levels. (Linguists predict that 50% to 90% of the approximately six thousand languages currently spoken in the world will be extinct by the end of the twenty-first century.) Meanwhile, many of us have lost the languages of our grandparents, because of racism and other forms of oppression in this country. In my first-ever translation workshop, 18 brave souls completed homophonic translations into English and created multilingual translations of poems originally written in English. Thanks to the Split This Rock poetry festival for hosting this event.

Writing Workshop: When the Places We Love Change
Carriage Barn Visitor Center
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
54 Elm Street
Woodstock, VT 05091
this workshop will be offered twice
Friday, September 9, 2011, 5:00 to 7:00 pm
Saturday, September 17, 2011, 12:00 to 2:00 pm
In this two-hour workshop, we will write about how Hurricane Irene, and other huge changes, have affected the our relationship to our home place and to other people. We will spend most of our time together writing. No experience or particular writing expertise required! All are most welcome. This workshop is free and writing tools, ideas, and inspiration will all be provided.

Brown Bag Writing Workshop
Grub Street Headquarters
60 Boylston Street, 4th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
12:30 to 1:15 pm
I will co-lead a lunchtime freewriting blitz with Midge Raymond at one of the country's largest community literary centers. it's free and all are welcome!

"The Art of Research: How Everything from Archives to Interviews Can Feed Your Personal Nonfiction"
Field's End Roundtable
Bainbridge Island Library
Winslow, Washington
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
7:00 to 8:30 pm
Whether it's a person, book, online database, or 250-year-old manuscript that you need, this workshop will help you find and make the most of the resources that can inform your writing. I will share what I learned over a dozen years of researching and writing No Word for Welcome, completing hundreds of interviews and visiting libraries and archives in four countries. Read the resource list I distributed here. Many thanks to the fabulous Field's End for making this event possible.

"Jump Into Journal Writing"
Sunday, November 14, 2010, 1:00 to 3:00 pm
Saturday, January 22, 2011, 2:00 to 4:00 pm
In this two-hour workshop, we discuss how to begin and maintain a journal-writing practice, then work through a series of writing prompts to get the ink flowing. We’ll conclude with a list of ideas for how to move your writing from private page to public world. The November workshop was in honor of National Novel Writing Month. Read the list of resources (organizations, books, magazines, and websites) that I distributed.
SeattlePublic Libraries
November 14: Capitol Hill Branch Library
January 22: University District Library
Seattle, WA

"Goal-Setting & Time Management in 90 Minutes or Less"
Saturday, November 13, 2010
10:00 am to 11:30 am
New Year’s resolutions and To Do lists won’t help you meet your writing goals -- but careful goal-setting and even more careful management of your time will. Whether you devote two hours a week or ten hours a day to your writing life, this workshop will help you invest that time more wisely, and help you come closer to your ideal writing life. This workshop was part of an excellent series put together by the King County Library System for National Novel Writing Month. Read one participant's review of the workshop -- and the writing that resulted!
North Bend Branch
King County Library System
115 East 4th
North Bend, Washington 98045

"Self-Interrogation: From Question to Revelation
in Personal Nonfiction"
a workshop to benefit Richard Hugo House
part of Write-o-Rama!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
50-minute workshop, offered at 11 am and 4 pm
Ask yourself tough questions about everything from the quotidian to the profound and find powerful answers. We'll
probe the depths of pride and shame, mining for gems that
you can later polish into finished works of personal nonfiction (essay or memoir). We’ll spend most of our time together writing.
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98122

"Finding Your Readers in the 21st Century"
A Conference for Writers at Richard Hugo House
At Hugo House's first writers' conference, the focus was on exploring the changing literary landscape and the options available to writers for getting their work out in the world and into the hands of readers. I taught two workshops and participated in a panel discussion. Thanks to all who made the conference so energizing!
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98122

"Rejection: Get Over It"
a panel with Peter Mountford and Bruce Taylor
Saturday, May 22, 3:30 to 4:45 pm
Misery loves company. Peter Mountford brought an impressive box full of rejection letters, Bruce Taylor brought some inspiring stories, and we all shared what we've learned from rejection.

"Goal Setting and Time Management in 90 Minutes
or Less"
Sunday, May 23, 10:00 to 11:15 am
New Year's resolutions and to-do lists won't help you meet your writing goals—but careful goal-setting and even more careful management of your time will. Whether you devote two hours a week or ten hours a day to your writing, this workshop will help you invest that time more wisely, and help you come closer to your ideal writing life.
Participant Cynthia Hartwig, of Sharp Hartwig, said of the workshop: "It's refreshing to see a presenter who keeps the class on track and has all the information figured out and organized, while making it engaging."
See the course handout (two pages) here.
See the two-page "SMART goals" worksheet here.

"How to Write a Killer Query Letter"
Sunday, May 23, 11:30 am to 12:45 pm
Whether you are approaching a possible agent, a magazine editor or the organizer of a chapbook contest, your query letter is your first impression. Come find out how to put your best face forward and give those letter-readers precisely what they expect, no more or less. Tip sheets and examples of successful query letters included. Appropriate for anyone seeking an agent or editor, or hoping to pitch a freelance piece or win poetry chapbook contest.
See the handout (a two-page list of resources) here.

"Telling True Stories"
A workshop presented by
Nova Southeastern University's
Master's in Writing Program
Thursday, March 25, 2010
5:00 to 6:00 pm
Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences
Nova Southeastern University
3301 College Ave., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314
Students in the Master's in Writing Program at NSU (and a couple of faculty members) attended a free one-hour workshop on the basics of writing narrative nonfiction. And they wrote some wonderful scenes!

Grant Writing for Creative Writers
Hedgebrook Workshops for Writers Program
216 First Avenue South
Grand Central Building third floor conference room
Pioneer Square
Seattle, Washington
6:30 to 8:30 pm
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
In this two-hour, pen-to-paper workshop, you will learn the basics of applying for the grant of your dreams! Please bring the application information for a grant (or similar writers' support program) that you would like to apply for. We'll review some guidelines to keep in mind as you prepare your application, answer all your questions, and complete several writing exercises to get you started. Tips sheets and examples of successful grant applications included.

"Deep Description"
a workshop to benefit Richard Hugo House
part of Write-o-Rama!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
one-hour workshop, offered twice, early in the day
Put your reader there, in the place-moment-environment that your essay-story-poem evokes through your powers of description. Examples from literary masters and everyday household objects will hone our powers of description, which we will unleash on the page!
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98122
Thanks to the thirty-seven writers who attended my workshop and helped raise over ten thousand dollars for Hugo House!

Powerful Schools Workshop:
“Fifteen Ways to Tell the Story”
Two-hour workshop
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
5:00 to 7:00 pm
In this fast-paced session, we'll zoom through fifteen writing exercises, searching for the best way to get those words on the page. If there’s a story (factual or otherwise) you’ve been itching to tell, this is your chance to anchor those words to the page. Multimedia writing prompts – questions, answers, lines of poetry, images, even scents – will help us open the dusty drawers of memory and empty them out. Each participant will leave with the elements of a new story draft and a toolbox full of writing exercises for your writing group or your classroom. This session is geared toward middle-school and high school teachers.
Many thanks to the forty teacher-writers who participated, to Arni Adler for organizing this workshop, and to Richard Hugo House for sponsoring it.

Telling True Stories:
A Nonfiction Writing Workshop
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
7:00 to 9:00 pm
King County Library, Mercer Island Branch
4400 88th Ave. SE
Mercer Island, Washington 98040
In this free workshop, open to everyone, we'll spend most of our time writing, inspired by some of the suggestions and examples offered by the contributors to Telling True Stories.

"What a Character!"
Workshop at Write on the Sound,
Edmonds Writing Conference
Sunday, October 5, 2008
9:15 am to 10:45 am
Frances Anderson Center
700 Main Street
Edmonds, Washington 98020
This workshop was open only to participants in the "Write on the Sound" conference -- perhaps the most affordable writers' conference in the Puget Sound region. See more information about the conference here.

Nonfiction Writing Across Borders:
A Free Workshop at the Seattle Public Library
Saturday, September 20, 2008
2:00 to 4:00 pm
Seattle Public Library, University Branch
5009 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle, Washington 98105
One of the best things about books is that they open up whole worlds, even if readers never leave their living rooms or local libraries. But with new worlds come new borders. In this nonfiction writing workshop, we’ll write and talk about the joys and complications of literary border crossings: writing about cross-cultural communication in a complicated world. Through both writing exercises and discussion, we’ll explore how words and ideas change meaning as they cross borders, and what this means as we try to write "the truth."
Many thanks to Paige Chernow of the Seattle Public Library for organizing this workshop.

"Merging the Mundane with the Metaphysical"
a workshop to benefit Richard Hugo House
part of Write-o-Rama!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
one-hour workshop, offered twice
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98122
Freewrite a first draft in 50 minutes or less! The subtitle to this workshop could be, "life is what happens while we’re busy making other plans.” We’ll brainstorm a list of settings and conflicts, then set about crafting a draft. No experience or special tools required.
This workshop was part of a day-long benefit for Richard Hugo House.

Journal Writing:
A Free Workshop at the Seattle Public Library
Saturday, April 5, 2008
1:00 to 3:00 pm
Seattle Public Library, University Branch
5009 Roosevelt Way N.E.
Seattle, Washington 98105
In this two-hour workshop, we will discuss how to begin and maintain a journal-writing practice, then work through a series of writing prompts to get the ink flowing. We'll conclude with a list of ideas for how to move your writing from private page to public world.
Read the journal-writing resource list I distributed here.

"50 Ways to Tell the Story"
a seven-hour writing marathon
to benefit Richard Hugo House
part of Write-o-Rama!
Saturday, December 1, 2007
10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98122

"Where Are We From / De Donde Somos "
An English/Spanish Writing Workshop
with the Rozella Poets and Writers Group
Saturday, October 13, 2007
4:00 to 6:00 pm
Café Rozella
9434 Delridge Way SW
Seattle, Washington 98106
Thanks to Laura Gonzalez, Ricardo Guarnero, Leticia Martinez, and David Preston for a lovely event, where thirty poets -- from first-timers to the former Seattle Poet Populist -- created and read work in English, Spanish, and Spanglish.

"It's Not About You" Workshop at Write on the Sound, Edmonds Writing Conference
Saturday, October 6, 2007
4:00 pm
Frances Anderson Center
700 Main Street
Edmonds, Washington 98020
Comments from participants:
"Wow! Packed with useful stuff, amazing depth of subject."
"I will use this stuff the moment I next sit down at my computer."
"I learned so much; she gave me great tools."

"Dialogo: Las Platicas en Nuestros Cuentos de Ficcion y No-Ficcion"
Biblioteca Central
1000 Fourth Ave. Piso 4, Sala 1
Seattle, Washington
Saturday, October 21, 2017, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

"Talleres de escritura creativa en español"
Biblioteca Central
1000 Fourth Ave. Piso 4, Sala 1
Seattle, Washington
Saturday, February 25, 2017, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. and
Saturday, March 11, 2017, 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Los talleres tratan los siguientes temas:
1. Construye escenas - Parte 1
2. Construye escenas - Parte 2
En estos talleres, aprenderemos un proceso detallado y fácil para elaborar escenas en nuestra escritura creativa: ficción y no-ficción. (Gratuito y la inscripción abierta.)

"Next-Level Creative Nonfiction: Elevating Essays, Memoir, Travel Writing & Literary Journalism"
online at Writers.com
ten-week class
taught twice each year since 2014
Each week, we’ll explore one essential element of creative nonfiction:

crafting good questions,
research strategies,
the narrative arc,
the first-person narrator,
strong character development,
true-to-life scenes,
self-editing techniques, and
that elusive thing called “style.”

We’ll dissect great examples from masters of the genre – including James Baldwin, Jo Ann Beard, Annie Dillard, Joan Didion, Zora Neale Hurston, George Orwell, Luis Alberto Urrea, Alice Walker, and David Foster Wallace, looking at the gorgeous rooms they unlock with these eight keys to fabulous nonfiction. And then you will each roll up your sleeves and get to writing, putting new skills to work in your nonfiction prose. All literary nonfiction genres, from memoir to literary journalism to lyric essay, are welcome. This online course will include short weekly assignments, with feedback from your peers and from the instructor.

"Make a Scene!"
Four-hour workshop
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
Saturday, April 23, 2016, 1:00 to 5:00 pm
Character(s) + Action + Setting = SCENE. In this high-energy exploration of scene-setting, you will learn a twelve-step process (except this one is fun) to (re)create events on the page. We’ll become playwrights, giving our characters lines. We’ll be directors, too, moving our characters about the stage. We’ll work as stagehands, creating the backdrop that will transform our prose into an uninterrupted dream for our readers. Please bring a draft or outline of an important scene from a work-in-progress.
Register at the Richard Hugo House website.

"Telling True Stories"
Four-hour workshop
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
Saturday, April 30, 2016, 1:00 to 5:00 pmWe’ll hone fifteen tools for improving the lyric and narrative qualities of our prose, drawn from my anthology Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide. This workshop offers strategies for facing the blank page, sharpening your sentences, and seeing a long writing project through to completion. We’ll spend equal portions of our time completing writing exercises and considering examples from master word-workers: Sandra Cisneros, Elizabeth Gilbert, Stephen Kuusisto, George Orwell, and Sei Shonagon.
Register at the Richard Hugo House website.

"Authoring Change: Writing Socially Engaged Nonfiction"
Six-session class
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
7:00 to 9:00 pm
taught Spring 2014 and Spring 2015
How can you bring together your literary sensibility and your social conscience? In this new course, we explore what it means to write socially engaged nonfiction. Each session will help you generate (and revise) essay, memoir or commentary inspired by social and political issues. We’ll read stellar examples of social-change literature by Atwood, Baldwin, Cisneros, MLK Jr., Levertov, Neruda, Orwell, and Tolstoy. We’ll discuss the readings (15-20 pages weekly), complete writing exercises, and review out-of-class writing assignments in small groups.

Comments from participant evaluations:

"I feel unlocked. Wendy's guidance left me with a thousand more prompts, ideas for applying them in new ways, and the energy to do it! Wendy has such an energy about the work of writing and such an earnest and true compassion for each of her student's own efforts. It's empowering."

"The way Wendy combined writing exercises, class discussion, and interactive feedback on our writing was excellent."

"The reading homework was always awesome -- great exposure to many new authors. The course touched on challenging subjects and gave me confidence to approach them in my own writing."

"A door and windows have been flung open with the knowledge and creative energy stimulated by the coursework, readings, and class discussion."

"Ten Keys to Nonfiction Prose"
Ten-session class
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
offered Winter 2015
Ten weeks, ten keys. Each week, we’ll explored one essential element of creative nonfiction: story arc, research strategies, first-person narrator, sense of place, strong characters and scenes and dialogue, compelling theme, self-editing, and that elusive thing called “style.” Short readings by master writers ranging from Aristotle to Alexandra Fuller to Alice Walker guided our work. Seventeen writers working in all nonfiction genres, from literary journalism to memoir to biography to lyric essay, came along on the adventure. Each class session included discussion of readings and techniques, as well as in-class and take-home writing exercises. There was no workshopping, but four times during the course I gave participants individual feedback on their work.

"Six Keys to Nonfiction Prose"
Six-session class
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
offered Spring 2008, Winter 2011, Winter and Fall 2013, Spring and Fall 2014
Six weeks, six keys. In each class session, we'll explore one essential element of creative nonfiction: the first-person narrator, strong character development, the narrative arc, true-to-life scenes, compelling theme, and that elusive thing called “style.” We’ll dissect great examples from masters of the genre – including James Baldwin, Joan Didion, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, George Orwell and David Foster Wallace, looking at the gorgeous rooms they unlock with these six keys. In each class, we’ll also roll up our sleeves and get to writing, putting our new skills to work in our nonfiction prose.

"You Are Here: Creating a Sense of Place on the Page"
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
March 2014 and May 2015
1:00 to 4:00 pm
When your writing has a “sense of place,” what exactly does it have? We’ll trace the concept of “sense of place” back through two centuries, drawing on the work of everyone from architects to theologians. Then, we’ll dig into a big toolbox to help you create a strong sense of place on the page, improving everything from characterization to dialogue in the process. Writers working in all genres – or between them – are most welcome.

"Telling True Stories: Making Literature from Real Life"
four-hour class
The Writers' Workshoppe
234 Taylor Street
Port Townsend, Washington
12:00 to 4:00 pm
Saturday, May 3, 2014
During our four hours together, we’ll hone fifteen tools for improving the lyric and narrative quality of our nonfiction writing. This workshop offers strategies for everything from facing the blank page, to sharpening your prose, to seeing a long writing project through to completion. We’ll spend equal portions of our time completing writing exercises and considering examples from master word-workers, including James Baldwin, Sandra Cisneros, Joan Didion, Eduardo Galeano, Elizabeth Gilbert, Zora Neale Hurston, George Orwell, and Sei Shonagon. Our guidebook for this whirlwind tour will be Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide. (You do not need to have a copy of Telling True Stories for this workshop.)

"Thirty Ways to Tell the Story "
Four-hour workshop
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
single-session, four-hour class
offered July 2007, October 2008, July 2010 and February 2014
In this fast-paced afternoon, we zoom through two-and-a-half-dozen writing exercises, searching for the best way to get those words on the page. If there’s a story (factual or otherwise) you’ve been itching to tell, or a poem prowling your mind, this is your chance to anchor those words to the page. Multimedia writing prompts – questions, answers, lines of poetry, images, sounds, even smells – will help us open the dusty drawers of memory and empty them out. Each participant leaves with the raw material for a rough draft, or perhaps even a completed draft that is ready for revision.

"Six More Keys to Nonfiction Prose"
Six-session class
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
Six Monday evenings, 7:00 to 9:00 pm
November 4 through December 16, 2013
Six more weeks, six more keys. This time around, our keys are tools to build any sort of nonfiction project. You will learn how to: create your own writing prompts, develop a sense of place on the page, research anything, interview effectively and craft pitch-perfect dialogue, edit your own work, and understand Aristotle’s 3,200-year-old Poetics. Master writers including Gretel Ehrlich, Elizabeth Gilbert, Alexandra Fuller, Lucy Lippard, George Orwell, and oh yes, Aristotle, will be our teachers. This class is designed for those who have taken my my “Six Keys” class in the past, either at Hugo House or Centrum. Come join us for six more weeks of reading, discussion, and both in-class and take-home writing exercises.

MFA Program of the Whidbey Writers Workshop
Captain Whidbey Inn
Ebey's Landing National Historic Preserve
Whidbey Island, WA
Sunday, August 11 through Tuesday, August 13, 2013
As a Guest Faculty member, I will offer one nonfiction workshop each day of the residency, as well as a reading on Sunday evening, August 11.

4:30 to 5:30 pm, Sunday, August 11, 2013
Writing Across Borders
As writers, we can open up whole worlds to readers, even if they never leave their living rooms, classrooms, or local libraries. But with new worlds come new borders. In this workshop, we'll write and talk about the joys and dangers of literary border crossings, braving cross-cultural communication in a complicated world. Through writing exercises, discussion, and an extensive resource list, we’ll explore how words and ideas change meaning as they cross borders, and what this means as we try to write "the truth."

4:30 to 5:30 pm, Monday, August 11, 2013
Keeping the Ink Flowing: Your Journal, Your Writing, Your Self
Journal-writing is often our first entry point into writing, early in life. Many of us began keeping journals as soon as we learned how to string words into simple sentences. But now that we’ve committed to the writing life for the long haul, how can journaling continue to feed our work? In this workshop we'll discuss how to keep up a journaling practice, why it’s important, and how our words can make the leap from private journal to public page. Bibliography and resource list included.

4:00 to 5:00 pm, Tuesday, August 12, 2013
Ten Tips for Telling True Stories
The craft anthology I co-edited, with the ponderously long title Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide from the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, is widely used in journalism and creative writing programs across the country and internationally. I’ll share some of my favorite bits of advice from Telling True Stories, including tools for editing your own work, writing prompts, and even relationship advice. We’ll spend about half of our time together writing. Everyone receives writing prompts to take home.

"Six Keys to Nonfiction Prose"
Port Townsend Writers' Conference
Centrum, Port Townsend, Washington
July 8 to 15, 2012
2:00 to 3:30 pm each afternoon
Six days, six keys. In each workshop session, we explored
one essential element of creative nonfiction – tools equally useful to memoir, travel narrative, personal essay, history, or literary journalism. See the description of the 2011 PTWC series below for details.
Many thanks to all who make the Port Townsend Writers Conference such a delight and wonder each July. Make a plan to attend next year! See details here.

Chuckanut Writers Conference
Whatcom Community College
237 West Kellogg Road
Bellingham, Washington

Panel Discussion: "Writing Real Life"
1:15 to 2:15 pm, Saturday, June 23, 2012
In this panel discussion, we covered a lot of ground related to the artistic, practical, and ethical aspects of writing real life. It was an honor to share the stage with Storme Webber and Priscilla Long, and kudos to the amazing Frances McCue for brilliant cat-herding.

Workshop: Self Editor's Toolkit: Improve Your Own Prose
2:30 to 3:30 pm
In this fast-paced hour we discussed tools to improve your prose at all stages of the writing process, from revising a first draft to putting the finishing touches on nearly completed work. The workshop included editing tips from well-known writers, a discussion of the four levels / stages of editing, suggested exercises, and an extensive handout (one given out and one emailed later) to help participants create a personalized self-editing toolkit.

Many thanks to Village Books and Whatcom County Community College for a truly enjoyable, fabulously well-organized, and deeply inspiring two days. Learn about this excellent conference here.

We tromped outside (and the rain held off) and explored Seward Park’s geologic, natural, cultural and literary history. (Yes, Seward Park has a literary history!) Details from these distinct histories of this beloved park formed the basis of writing prompts for our workshop. A total of 25 writers penned their way to a deeper understanding of Seward Park and our relationship to it.
Many thanks to 4Culture and the Seattle CityArtist Program for making these workshops possible, and to the Seward Park Audubon Center for hosting!

Literary EDGE: Professional Development for Writers
Artist Trust
Seattle, Washington
Saturdays in February and March, annually
Between 2009 and 2012 I taught four cycles of Artist Trust's Literary EDGE, a six-week (all day each Saturday) comprehensive professional development training for writers throughout the state (who can travel to Seattle). I was extremely lucky to co-teach the program with several brilliant people: writers Waverly Fitzgerald, Angela Jane Fountas and Michelle Goodman; bookseller Karen Allman;editor Jennie Goode; poet Kathleen Flenniken; and intellectual property rights lawyer Mark Wittow. The deadline for program applications falls in December each year.

"The Art of Research"
Field's End
Meeting Room, Bainbridge Public Library
1270 Madison Avenue N.
Bainbridge Island, Washington
Sunday, January 22, 2012
11:00 am to 4:00 pm (with a one-hour lunch break)
Learn how to put files, stacks, and bytes to work for your writing. Whether it’s a new online database, 50-year-old book, 300-year-old manuscript, or 500-year-old map that you need, this workshop will help you find the resources that best inform your writing. It might be an essay, novel, play, or poem you’re creating, but at some point you’ll need to do some old-fashioned research—using newfangled tools. Bring your research questions and your laptop (optional); we'll dig up the answers. A reference librarian will join us for part of the day as we navigate information superhighways and carriage roads. Register at the Field's End website.

"Just Who's Telling This (True) Story, Anyway?"
Writers & Books
740 University Avenue
Rochester, New York 14607
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
7:00 to 9:00 pm
“In nonfiction, the narrator is the only thing you can make up,” my first writing teacher told me. Just who is that slim, upright pronoun poised on the page? And who isn’t s/he? In this workshop, we delve into examples of first-person narrators from master nonfiction writers – discussing the differences among the person on the page (I-character), the storyteller (narrator), and the real-life author. Then we explore ourselves on the page. If you are writing first-person nonfiction, this workshop will give you powerful tools for taming that three-headed monster: the author, the narrator, and the “I-character.” Register via the Writers & Books website.

Writing Workshop: Inspired by the Art of Nature
Carriage Barn Visitors' Center
Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park
54 Elm Street
Woodstock, VT 05091
this workshop will be offered twice
Friday, September 9, 2011, 5:00 to 7:00 pm
Saturday, September 17, 2011, 12:00 to 2:00 pm
In this two-hour workshop, we will write about (and inspired by) several of the Hudson River Valley School paintings in the collection of the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. We will spend most of our time together writing, working through exercises that will allow each of us to create a full poem, extra-short-story, mini-essay, or monologue about the painting we’ve chosen. No experience or particular writing expertise is required! All are most welcome. This workshop is free and writing tools, ideas, and inspiration will all be provided.

You Are Here: Creating a Sense of Place
Grub Street Headquarters
160 Boylston Street, 4th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
Monday, September 12, 2011
6:30 to 9:30 pm
My friend and fellow writer Midge Raymond and I co-taught a writing workshop at one of the country's
largest community literary centers. Here's the course
description: "As authors whose recent books are grounded
in foreign settings, Wendy and Midge will offer tips for how
to offer a strong sense of place no matter where your
scenes unfold, whether it’s a small Mexican village, the
lonely islands of the South Pacific, or a character’s own
living room. We’ll demonstrate what place can reveal
about character and how a single setting can create a
more universal picture—all with plenty of writing prompts
along the way." We had a lovely time -- we're grateful to Grub Street and to the dozen brave writers who joined us in finding a sense of place.

Brown Bag Writing Workshop
Grub Street Headquarters
160 Boylston Street, 4th Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
12:30 to 1:15 pm
I co-led a lunchtime freewriting blitz with Midge Raymond at one of the country's largest community literary centers.

Twenty Ways to Tell the Story: A Free-Writing Fest
The Writer's Center
58 North Main Street
White River Junction, Vermont 05001
Thursday, August 18, 2011
6:00 to 8:30 pm
In this fast-paced evening, we zoom through twenty writing exercises, searching for the best way to get those words on the page. If there’s a story (factual or otherwise) you’ve been itching to tell, or a narrative poem prowling your mind, this is your chance to anchor those words to the page. Multimedia writing prompts – questions, answers, lines of poetry, images, even scents – will help us open the dusty drawers of memory and empty them out. Each participant leaves with the raw material for a rough draft. All writers or wannabe writers age 13 and over are welcome!

"Six Keys to Nonfiction Prose"
Port Townsend Writers' Conference
Centrum, Port Townsend, Washington
July 18 to 23, 2011
2:00 to 3:30 pm each afternoon
Six days, six keys. In each workshop session, we’ll explore
one essential element of creative nonfiction – tools that you
can use whether you are writing memoir, travel narrative,
personal essay, history, or literary journalism. We’ll dissect
examples from creative nonfiction masters and then use
these keys for our own writing projects. These workshops
can be taken independently, or all together – everyone is
welcome to attend just one, all six, or any number in
between!

Monday: Build Your Own Rainbow: Narrative Arc

Tuesday: Just Who’s Telling This Story, Anyway?
First-Person Narrator

Wednesday: What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger:
Character Development

Thursday: Every Page is a Stage: Scene Shop

Friday: What’s the Big Idea? Theme

Saturday: I Love Your Je Ne Sais Quoi... Style

It was, as always, a delight to teach at Centrum: breathtaking location, engaged participants, vibrant community. See the complete workshop descriptions here.

"Telling True Stories:
Delving Into the Literature of Real Life"
The Studios of Key West
Key West, Florida
Thursday and Friday, March 31 and April 1, 2011
1:00 to 4:00 pm each day
During our six hours together, we’ll hone twenty tools for improving the literary and narrative quality of our nonfiction prose. This workshop offers strategies for everything from facing the blank page, to sharpening your prose, to seeing a long writing project through to completion. We’ll spend equal portions of our time completing writing exercises and considering examples of master word-workers, old and new, including Aimee Bender, Sandra Cisneros, Joan Didion, Eduardo Galeano, Elizabeth Gilbert, Rick Moody, George Orwell, and Sei Shonagon. Our guidebook for this whirlwind tour will be Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide. Thanks to The Studios of Key West for making this workshop possible.

"Just Who's Telling This (True) Story, Anyway? "
Four-hour workshop
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
Saturday, November 13, 2010
1:00 to 5:00 pm
“In nonfiction, the narrator is the only thing you can make up,” my first writing teacher told me. Just who is that slim, upright pronoun poised on the page? And who isn’t s/he? In this workshop, we delve into examples of first-person narrators from master nonfiction writers – discussing the differences among the person on the page, the storyteller (narrator), and the real-life author. Then we explore ourselves on the page. If you are writing first-person nonfiction, this workshop will give you powerful tools for taming that three-headed monster: the author, the narrator, and the “I-character.”

"Pencil In Productivity: Successful Time Management
for Time-Crunched Editors"
Northwest Independent Editors Guild
Seattle, Washington
Saturday, October 16, 2010, 1:00 to 5:00 pm
Optimizing your time management skills will help you achieve your business goals—whether what you need right now is to follow through with a marketing plan, increase your billable hours, or create the right time and space for family and friends. This workshop leads you through a rigorous approach to time management tailored for professional freelancers already accustomed to managing their own time. You’ll learn to set long-term goals; break them down into achievable, SMART goals; and develop annual and monthly work plans. Wendy will also show you ways to assess time requirements for work projects, review your progress, and manage your work plans as you go. Note: Participants will be asked to track their work time for one week before the session and bring that information to the session.
See the handout from the workshop here.

"Two Times Ten: Twenty Ways to Improve Your Nonfiction"
a two-part workshop
Port Townsend Writers' Conference
Centrum at Fort Worden State Park
Port Townsend, Washington
"First Ten (Part 1)," Monday, July 19, 2010, 2:00 to 3:30 pm
"Second Ten (Part 2)," Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 2:00 to 3:30 pm
In each half of this two-part workshop, we zoom through ten suggestions for improving the literary and narrative quality of nonfiction prose, with examples from some of our best-loved word-workers, old and new: Aimee Bender, Sandra Cisneros, Elizabeth Gilbert, Rick Moody, George Orwell, and Sei Shonogan. Both sessions involve a mix of reading, discussion, and writing exercises.
These short workshops were part of the afternoon workshop program of the Port Townsend Writers' Conference. Learn more about this excellent annual conference here.

In late February and early March 2010 I taught a 16-hour section, titled "The Writing Life," in Artist Trust's Literary EDGE professional development program. It is an honor to co-teach this annual, six-week program for Washington State writers with Karen AllmanFor more information on applying for the 2011 EDGE program, see the Artist Trust website.

"Make a Scene!"
Four-hour workshop
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
Saturday, July 11, 2009, 1:00 to 5:00 pm
A four-hour, high-energy exploration of scene-setting. Writers of both fiction and nonfiction will learn a twelve-step process to make events (re)created on the page richer and deeper. We’ll become playwrights, giving our characters their lines. We’ll be directors, too, moving our characters about the stage. We’ll work as stagehands to our stories, creating the backdrop that will transform our prose into an uninterrupted dream for our readers. Please bring a draft or outline of an important scene from a work-in-progress.
Register at the Richard Hugo House website.

"Twelve Ways to Improve Your Nonfiction Prose"
"Doce Senderos Hacia una Narrativa"
two short workshops (one in English, otro en español)
Port Townsend Writers' Conference
Centrum at Fort Worden State Park
Port Townsend, Washington
"Twelve Ways," Monday, July 13, 2009, 2:00 to 3:30 pm
"Doce Senderos," Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 2:00 to 3:30 pm
In "Twelve Ways," we'll zoom through a dozen suggestions for improving the literary and narrative quality of your nonfiction prose, with examples from some of our best-loved nonfiction word-workers.
En "Doce Senderos" tomaremos nuestra inspiración de algunos de los y las mejores escritores de las Américas. Será una fiesta de ejercicios de "escritura libre."
These short workshops were part of the afternoon workshop program of the Port Townsend Writers' Conference. Learn more about this excellent annual conference here.

While teaching at Pacific Lutheran University in 2008-2009, I taught "Publishing Procedures," a core course in the school's Publishing and Printing Arts program. My students produced excellent marketing campaigns for recently released books by local authors. Read more at the student blogs for:
Amazing Adventures of Working Girl,
Coffeehouse Angel,
House of Hope and Fear, &
Motion of the Ocean.

Whidbey Island Writers Conference
Trinity Lutheran Church, Freeland
South Whidbey High School, Langley
Whidbey Island, Washington

Fireside Chat: "Writing Beyond Borders"
Friday, February 27, 2009

"Self-Editor's Toolkit: Improve Your Own Prose"
Saturday, February 28, 2009

"Thirty Ways to Tell the Story"
Saturday, February 28, 2009

I will be giving one "fireside chat," one two-hour workshop, and one four-hour, evening workshop at this two-day writers' conference sponsored by the Whidbey Island Writers Association.

"Telling True Stories: A Seminar on Narrative"
co-sponsored by the Press Club of Cleveland
and The Plain Dealer
The Plain Dealer offices
Cleveland, Ohio
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
9:00 am to 2:00 pm
In this participatory, four-hour workshop (with a lunch break) for Cleveland area journalists, the focus was on advanced techniques in writing narrative journalism. Forty newspaper reporters, columnists, and editors, along with magazine writers and editors, as well as university professors, gathered for this event.
Many thanks to The Plain Dealer, Kent State University, and the Press Club of Cleveland for hosting this workshop. Read an article about the workshop on page 2 of The Byliner, the Press Club's October 2008 newsletter, here.

"Writing Beyond Borders"
A short workshop
Port Townsend Writers' Conference
Centrum at Fort Worden State Park
Port Townsend, Washington
Monday July 14, or Tuesday, July 15, 2008
2:00 to 3:30 pm
One of the best things about books is that they open up whole worlds, even if readers never leave their living rooms or local libraries. But with new worlds come new borders. Author, performance artist, and cross-border philosopher Guillermo Gómez-Peña says, “for me the border is no longer located at any fixed geopolitical site. I carry the border with me, and I find new borders wherever I go.” In this workshop, we’ll write and talk about the joys and complications of literary border crossings – both those on maps and those in our hearts. Through both writing and discussion, we’ll explore how words and ideas change meaning as they cross borders, and consider the artistic, political, and ethical implications of those crossings.
This workshop was part of the afternoon workshop program of the Port Townsend Writers' Conference. Learn more about this excellent annual conference here.
See the suggested reading list from the workshop here.

"Self Promotion for the Chronically Humble Writer"
Four-session class
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
4:00 to 6:00 pm, Monday through Thursday
offered the week of July 7, 2008
So, you’ve had your work published in a handful of magazines and done a reading or two. How can you take your writing career to the next level? This one-week marketing blitz is the boost your literary life needs. We’ll start on Monday with time management and goal-setting. On Tuesday we’ll tackle queries to publishers and book proposals. Wednesday, we grapple with grant-writing. We’ll finish up on Thursday by writing our way to a writers’ conference or residency. (The dizzying pace will keep us from remembering we’re actually shy, introverted writers!) Each class session includes hands-on practice, examples, and resource lists.

"Creative Nonfiction in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico"
One-week intensive workshop
Casa Chepitos
San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico
10:00 am to 2:00 pm each day
offered the last week of June 2008
Delve into the fine craft of creative nonfiction in the town of San Miguel de Allende. Our base will be Casa Chepitos, a charming home on a hillside overlooking the spires of Mexico’s most famous colonial town. In this one-week intensive writing seminar, we’ll explore the essential elements of nonfiction prose. Daily four-hour sessions will be devoted to short lectures, writing exercises, group discussions, and manuscript review. We’ll focus on a different element of craft each day: character development, the first-person narrator, story arc, theme, and voice. With a maximum of ten participants, each writer’s work will receive ample attention. Partial scholarships available.

"Special Seminar in Prose”
Tuesday evening workshop
Columbia City, Seattle
offered September 2007 through May 2008
For a group of six writers who have taken other classes or workshops with Wendy, this seminar will offer both fiction and nonfiction writers a small-group setting for honing their narrative nonfiction, essays, memoir, and short stories. During each workshop session, short excerpts from four writers' work are reviewed. Wendy reads and comments on fifty manuscript pages (ten per week) from each writer during the session.

“It's Not About You: Writing Other People's Stories”
Six-session class
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
offered Spring 2007 and Winter 2008
Let’s go out and find the story. Reporting needn’t lead to dry journalism. In fact, it’s the raw material of the very best creative nonfiction, from Ernest Hemingway to Susan Orlean. We’ll learn through practice the basics of “immersion reporting” – sinking into someone else’s world, taking it all in, then writing it all down. We’ll focus on the basic tools of reporting and rendering scenes on the page, and we’ll also read great examples and wrestle with the challenges (ethical and otherwise) of displaying private lives on public pages. This course requires “reporting time” outside of class time.

“Contando Cuentos Verdaderos” (Telling True Stories)
Two-day intensive seminar
a.m. Newspapers
León, Guanajuato, Mexico
offered August 2007and December 2007
This fifteen-hour intensive seminar, conducted entirely in Spanish for twenty emerging and mid-career Mexican journalists, includes a comprehensive overview of storytelling techniques in daily journalism. Through a combination of preparatory readings, lecture, group readings & discussions, and writing practice, we will focus on reporting techniques, story structure, and four key elements of narrative writing: use of dialogue, scene-setting, detail, and action.

"Fifty Ways to Tell the Story"
a seven-hour writing marathon
to benefit Hugo House
part of Write-o-Rama!
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
Saturday, December 1, 2007, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
In honor of Hugo House's biannual Write-o-Rama fundraiser, I will devote seven consecutive hours to a writing marathon. (OK, actually I'm going to take a ten-minute bathroom/refueling break each hour.) We’ll zoom through fifty multimedia writing prompts -- questions, answers, lines of poetry, images, sounds, even smells – helping you find the best way to get words on the page. Drop in for ten minutes, come for an hour, or stay for the whole gory, glorious day. Here's the whole plan:

10 am • Get the Juices Flowing
Seven writing prompts will get you started for the day.

11 am • Climb up and Down the Ladder of Abstraction
Give your writing more specificity and deeper meaning.

12 pm • Smell O Rama
all nontoxic, but not for the chemically sensitive…..

1 pm • Hora Bilingue
Write in response English-Spanish bilingual prompts.

2 pm • Thanks, Dick!
Richard Hugo himself will be our muse.

3 pm • Have Writing Prompts, Will Travel
We'll get out into the Hugo House environment.

4 pm • Merge the Mundane with the Metaphysical
Life is what happens while we’re busy making other plans.

“Master Class in Nonfiction Prose”
Ten-week class
Richard Hugo House
Capitol Hill, Seattle
offered Fall 2007, 7:00 to 9:00 pm
Bring that long project to fruition. If you have a memoir, history, essay collection, biography, or sheaf of true travel stories that you’ve been slaving over, this class will help you (re)consider your manuscript as a whole. We’ll focus on two of the biggest challenges in writing book-length nonfiction: building a sound structure and developing a compelling narrator. In class, we will consider short excerpts of one another’s work as well as examples from nonfiction literature of the last century. The instructor will hold two individual conferences with each participant, at the beginning and end of the ten-week term.

"Writing Where We're From"
One- or two-hour workshop
Youth and Adult Detention Centers
San Antonio, Texas and Red Wing, Minnesota
offered August and September 2007
In this short workshop (first planned and co-taught with poet Yael Flusberg), we introduce poems built around the theme of "where I'm from." Each participant writes his or her own poem, and then shares them with the group if they wish. Freewriting techniques are also introduced.

“Creating an Artist's Journal”
Two-session class
Columbia City, Seattle
offered Spring 2006
Delve into the world of artist's journals. In the first class session we will begin making our soft-bound journals: measure, cut and fold paper for pages; prepare pages for binding, and sew the folios together to create a book block. We'll also learn a bit about the history of the book, with examples of traditional African, Asian and European binding styles. We'll finish sewing our book blocks at home. In the second session we will choose endpapers, closures, covers; prepare the book block and covers for final assembly; and attach the covers. We'll talk a bit about journals and look at examples from well-known writers and other artists.

University courses I've taught:
• Autobiographical Writing
• Freelance Writing
• Personal Essay
• Lyric Essay
• Publishing Procedures
• Literary Jounalism
• Contemporary Authors in Context
• Introduction to Creative Writing (multi-genre: fiction - poetry - essay)
• Intermediate and Advanced Creative Nonfiction
• Indigenous Literatures of Mexico (taught in Spanish in Mexico and in Colombia)
• US-Mexico Borderlands
• Producing and Editing a Literary Journal