Loft Themes

Jan 20–Mar 17 | with Mishka Hoosen

This class will be an exploration of creative nonfiction, introducing students to a range of texts in the genre that explore topics as wide ranging as illness, travel, science, memoir, and more.

Jan 27–Mar 17 | with Patricia Hoolihan

This is a class for those who are ready for the adventure of claiming or reclaiming who you are as a writer. Find out what you have to say!

Jan 27–Apr 21 | with SooJin Pate

This reading seminar will focus around a deep reading and examination of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower.

Feb 3–17 | with Kelsey Daly

During three one-hour long sessions, we’ll explore writing about wilderness adventure, including outdoor sports, the natural world, and environmental justice.

Feb 4–25 | with Kristi Romo

In this class, we will focus on how to create interesting characters by examining some of our favorite heroes and villains to see what makes them so memorable; we will learn what essential qualities they possess as we work to create our own original characters.

Feb 6 | with Lisa Meyers McClintick

Join award-winning travel writer Lisa Meyers McClintick for this three-hour celebration of adventures both near and far. We’ll look at what elements come together for the most memorable and entertaining essays from some of the country’s best travel writers and authors.

Feb 10-Apr 7 | with Sarah Ann Winn

In this class, we'll consider the necessity of wonder and close observation to the poet and the scientist. We'll read and write poems of winged creatures and water dwellers, underwater volcanoes and melting glaciers.

Feb 12, 7 p.m. | with Matthew Kessen

Monster expert Matthew Kessen, the writer and performer of "Reverend Matt's Monster Science," will begin this online session with a short talk and presentation. And then we will allow the audience to pick from a list of creatures and ask Kessen a series of hypothetical questions.

Feb 21 | with Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Using strategies inspired by birdwatching and gardening, this genre-blurring workshop is for all levels of electric writing about nature and the outdoors. Students will give and receive feedback on up to 3-5 pages of writing and leave the class with notes for revision, expansion, and improving their craft.

March 5, 4 p.m. | with Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Carolyn Finney

Many of us in Minnesota revel in the joys of getting outside but the "great outdoors" isn't necessarily as transcendent, as universal, or as one-size-fits-all as it's often been portrayed. Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Carolyn Finney join us for this Big Ideas conversation on the ways our racial identities shape our relationships to the natural world.

Mar 10–Apr 21 | with Anne Elliott

Ekphrasis—the literary response to visual art—often takes the form of poetry, but this class will be geared toward generating narrative prose and/or hybrid texts. All levels of experience are welcome; the goal is to think like a beginner, take risks, and discover new approaches to the page.

Mar 13 | with Aegor Ray

In this class, we will generate poetry using nature and space documentaries including selections from Blue Planet, The Planets, and Planet Earth. This class will expand your sense of lyrical and conceptual adventure without leaving the comfort of your home.

Mar 19–Apr 23 | with Emily Wolahan

Taking chances, common in experimental writing and art, has a lot to offer writers—even non-experimental ones. Experimentation doesn’t mean changing how you write—it means finding a more full understanding of who you are as a writer and where you can go.