Pathway: Expand & Discuss

Expand & Discuss Offerings

For readers and writers who love digging in, this pathway offers rich conversations and craft-focused discussions centered around books and big ideas. Grow, question, and engage with others who love to think critically about stories and storytelling.

Blog image for Reading Like a Writer column featuring the title and a pencil lying on top of a notebook on a table.
Reading Like a Writer: Real Within the Surreal

In this post, Aimee Johnson takes over Allison Wyss’s Reading Like a Writer column. In her analysis of You Too Can Have a Pass Rate Like Mine, she explores how Swati Sudarsan fuses surreal humor with stark classroom realities.

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Graphic featuring Jim Moore and Carmen Gimenez and Jim Moore's new book cover for Enter
An Evening with Jim Moore | May 2

Join The Loft Literary Center and Graywolf Press for an evening with Jim Moore, celebrating Jim's new book Enter. Jim Moore will be in conversation with his Graywolf editor and publisher Carmen Giménez.

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Graphic depicting the upcoming Mentor Series reading with the headshots of the two mentors and three fellows.
Mentor Series Reading with Anaïs Duplan and Chris Stark | Jun 27

The Loft Literary Center Presents a 2025-2026 Loft Mentor Series Reading with mentors Anaïs Duplan and Chris Stark and fellows Michelle Jayne, Angelina Nguyen, and Mary Beth Becker.

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Expand & Discuss Classes
Online
Double Session
Fiction Toolkit: Postcolonial Fantasy and Horror Writing
Date
Jun 19, 2025 - Jul 3, 2025
Time
Thursday, 1 p.m. - Thursday, 3 p.m.
Price
$74.00
$66.60 (Friend)
Anaïs Duplan
Online
Single Session
Divinatory Poetics: Using Tarot and Images to Generate Poems Intuitively–A Class for Writers of Color and Indigenous Writers (Online)
Date
Time
Saturday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Price
$40.00
$36.00 (Friend)
신 선 영 Sun Yung Shin
Online
Single Session
Writing Your Debut: The Powerful Beginning
Date
Time
Saturday, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Price
$55.50
$49.95 (Friend)
Samina Ali
In-Person
8 Week
8-Week: Heat, Escalation, Danger, Delusion: Re-thinking the Short Story
Date
Jun 18, 2025 - Aug 13, 2025
Time
Wednesday, 6 p.m. - Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Price
$296.00
$266.40 (Friend)
Josh Cook
Online
Single Session
poeTRYhealing
Date
Time
Saturday, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Price
$55.50
$49.95 (Friend)
Cassie Premo Steele
Online
6 Week
From Novice to Novelist in 6 Weeks
Date
Jun 25, 2025 - Jul 30, 2025
Time
Wednesday, 6 p.m. - Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Price
$222.00
$199.80 (Friend)
John DeDakis
Online
Single Session
Organic Poetry
Date
Time
Saturday, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Price
$55.50
$49.95 (Friend)
Michael Curran-Dorsano
Online
Single Session
Not a Love Poem, but Something Close
Date
Time
Saturday, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Price
$55.50
$49.95 (Friend)
Asa Drake
Online
8 Week
8-Week: Writing for Kids 101
Date
Jun 17, 2025 - Jul 22, 2025
Time
Tuesday, 6 p.m. - Tuesday, 8 p.m.
Price
$296.00
$266.40 (Friend)
Tina Tocco
Online
Single Session
The Power of Retelling in Fiction
Date
Time
Saturday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Price
$74.00
$66.60 (Friend)
Kate Heartfield
Online
Single Session
Developing a Daily Creative Writing Practice
Date
Time
Saturday, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Price
$55.50
$49.95 (Friend)
Heidi Newbauer
In-Person
8 Week
Variations on a Theme: An 8-Week Generative Poetry Workshop
Date
Jun 19, 2025 - Aug 7, 2025
Time
Thursday, 6 p.m. - Thursday, 8 p.m.
Price
$296.00
$266.40 (Friend)
Amy Sailer
Online
Single Session
Summer Sampler: Publishing with Shawna Kenney
Date
Time
Saturday, 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.
Price
$8.00
$7.20 (Friend)
Shawna Kenney
In-Person
8 Week
8-Week: Writing Oral Histories
Date
Jun 17, 2025 - Aug 5, 2025
Time
Tuesday, 4 p.m. - Tuesday, 6 p.m.
Price
$296.00
$266.40 (Friend)
Victoria Blanco
Online
Single Session
Crafting Authentic Dialogue in Children's and Young Adult Lit
Date
Time
Tuesday, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Price
$55.50
$49.95 (Friend)
Jake Maia Arlow
In-Person
Single Session
Research Tools for Authentic Historical Nonfiction and Fiction
Date
Time
Saturday, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Price
$55.50
$49.95 (Friend)
Holly Day
Online
Single Session
Plot: Creating Urgency in a Story
Date
Time
Saturday, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Price
$37.00
$33.30 (Friend)
Karen Bender
Online
Single Session
Summer Sampler: Fiction with Jenee Skinner
Date
Time
Wednesday, 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.
Price
$8.00
$7.20 (Friend)
Jeneé Skinner
In-Person
Single Session
Writing Birds
Date
Time
Saturday, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Price
$55.50
$49.95 (Friend)
Greta Gaard
In-Person
6 Week
6-Week: The Mother Writer
Date
Jun 18, 2025 - Jul 30, 2025
Time
Wednesday, 6 p.m. - Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Price
$222.00
$199.80 (Friend)
Kaia Preus
In-Person
Single Session
The Poetics of Hope: Writing and Reading Poetry
Date
Time
Saturday, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Price
$222.00
$199.80 (Friend)
Marlin M. Jenkins
Online
4 Week
4-Week: The Art of Dialogue
Date
Jul 10, 2025 - Jul 31, 2025
Time
Thursday, 6 p.m. - Thursday, 8 p.m.
Price
$148.00
$133.20 (Friend)
Piper Lane
In-Person
Single Session
Writing Characters That Walk Off the Page for Writers of Color and Indigenous Writers
Date
Time
Saturday, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Price
$37.00
$33.30 (Friend)
Carolyn Holbrook
Online
8 Week
8-Week: Short Story Nitty Gritty
Date
Jun 18, 2025 - Aug 13, 2025
Time
Wednesday, 6 p.m. - Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Price
$444.00
$399.60 (Friend)
Troy Wilderson
In-Person
4 Week
4-Week: Writing Novels for Middle Grade
Date
Jul 24, 2025 - Aug 14, 2025
Time
Thursday, 6 p.m. - Thursday, 8 p.m.
Price
$148.00
$133.20 (Friend)
Kat Shepherd