5 Sessions, Tuesdays from March 7 to April 4, 7-8:30pm EST

8 Students Max

$300

I love great, sprawling New Yorker stuff and literary magnum opuses, but let’s face it: attention spans just aren’t what they were, especially when reading on the small screen. The Internet runs on short-form nonfiction, from personal essays and cultural pieces on websites and newsletters, to the more experimental flash essay form. In this 5-week generative class, we’ll examine published creative nonfiction of around or under 2,000 words. During class discussions, we’ll analyze how an author can take the reader on an intellectual and emotional journey, making a big impact in a tight amount of space. In addition to this close reading, students will write a short piece a week, and have several opportunities to share their work with the class and receive feedback. Our focus will be on trying new styles and techniques, and writing with excitement, verve, and a sense of fun.

This class is generative, so come prepared to write. Each week, the instructor will share a prompt or two to spark your creativity. Students will not be required to read their peers’ work in advance or provide written responses to it; the only writing you do in this class will be creative. A large portion of class sessions will be devoted to students reading their work aloud and sharing it with the class, and constructive feedback will be given verbally by the class. The instructor will provide short written responses to each submission.

This class is currently sold out.

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(No payment necessary until your enrollment is confirmed.)

Brian Gresko (he/they) is a writer based in Brooklyn, where they co-run Pete’s Reading Series, the borough's longest running literary venue. Their work has appeared in Poets & Writers Magazine, Slate, The Atlantic, Longreads, The Rumpus, and many other publications. Also a stay-at-home parent, they edited the anthology When I First Held You: 22 Critically Acclaimed Writers Talk about the Triumphs, Challenges, and Transformative Experience of Fatherhood. They received their MFA in fiction from The New School, and was the first in their family to attend college, at Oberlin.