Year-Long Writing Projects
Info Session
The Loft hosted a free info session for the for winter 2025 start dates. Tune in below if you missed the session.
Registration opens on November 13 for Friends of the Loft and November 14 for the general public. Participation is limited to 12 people per project cohort for the year. There is no application for the Year-Long Writing Projects. When registration opens, you can join the waitlist for your genre of choice. Teaching mentors will meet with each person who signs up to determine if your project is a good fit for their year-long project. Payment and final registration will take place after this initial call. Registration is on a first-come; first serve basis. Please note that you can only sign up and be considered for one genre cohort. Placement in the cohort is not guaranteed, and in the rare instance that you or the teaching artist decides decides this is not a good fit, you are eligible for a full refund. Please see our terms and tuition page for more information.
If not now, when?
A year is more than enough time to finish a manuscript, but it takes guidance and determination. And lots of roadblocks can get in the way—Maybe you've had a great idea for a manuscript or poetry collection, but you don't know how to start. Maybe you keep hitting stumbling blocks when you sit down to write. Maybe you've got a draft, but parts of it just aren't working and you don't know how to fix them. Maybe you're unsure about how to polish your manuscript and don't feel confident that you're ready to pursue publication.
The Loft's Year-Long Writing Projects can help you take the next year to make your novel, memoir, or poetry collection the best you can make it. As a participant, you'll join a small cohort for a year of rigorous reading, focused writing, meticulous revising, and deep study of craft. You’ll meet best-selling authors, luminaries in publishing, distinguished booksellers, and literary agents. But most importantly, you’ll develop the resources and relationships to move ahead with a writing life once your project is finished.
After 12 months of studying with instructor Peter Geye (Novel Writing Project), Carolyn Holbrook (Memoir Project), 신 선 영 Sun Yung Shin (Nonfiction Project), Heid E. Erdrich (Poetry Apprenticeship), Alison McGhee (Fiction Project), your manuscript(s) will be submission-ready, and you'll be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to pitch to editors, pursue publication, and move forward with a writing life. All cohorts meet online via Zoom.
Writing Project Information
Upcoming & Current Year-Long Cohorts
Year-Long Writing Instructors
