Current Class List

Are you interested in teaching writing in community? The Loft seeks teaching artists to propose new classes year round. This one day class will cover the building blocks of submitting a Loft class proposal, including tips on how to write a class description that reflects class content and a teaching artist bio that best showcases your skill set. A portion of class time will be spent crafting a class proposal. We’ll also discuss how teaching is valuable to career development, enriches the creative process, and fosters community.

Love book clubs but wish they were a little bit more focused on the book? Month to month, join Loft staffers for elevated discussions on books that relate to our programming. Through guided discussions at the beautiful Finnegan’s Brewery, read some amazing books by authors coming to the Loft this year.

This class will once again investigate the formation of American identity as told by writers. We'll dissect poems made into minstrel shows, books that fed Fake News, and other ways artists have shaped history. We'll also write poems challenging our own mythologies and redefine our relationships with the literary canon.

In this class, open to writers of novels, short stories, screenplays, or teleplays, we’ll discover the best way for each student to develop and accentuate their own voice, in order to create unique work that stands out regardless of fictional medium or genre.

Covering the basics of characterization, setting, and so much more, this class will result in the beginnings of a book-length memoir or a longer personal essay. Weekly exercises and readings along with a field trip and DVD will inspire new writing. Constructive feedback provided by class members and teaching artist.

Do you have trouble knowing when your work is “done?” Participants will bring ten poems to class that they feel are close to being candidates for submission. Among other topics related to being a public writer, we’ll talk about revision strategies, putting together a submission, and choosing places to submit. By the end of class, each participant will have submitted at least one set of poems, and will leave with a new set of prompts and ideas for staying engaged with their work.

Writing is NOT an art. When done well it might rise to a form of art, but first comes craft. If you want to write a novel, first you must master the basics—plot, conflict, character development, setting, dialogue, voice, point-of view. That's what this course will teach you.

This class is for students who feel ready to expand their range of expression by exploring a wide variety of forms. We read samples by master poets, try them out, and share formal explorations in workshop designed to support risk-taking.

You begin with an idea. As you write, the subject swells, new territory opens up. Suddenly the problem of structure becomes urgent. Learn three strategies to bring coherence, focus, and emotional resonance to your essay. For writers with some experience in writing essay, memoir, or creative nonfiction.