Write your memoir with award-winning author Edgar Gomez! In this intensive, you will learn about the art of creative nonfiction and be given the tools to ready your memoir or memoir-in-essays for publication. Format We will begin our time together with discussions about essential craft elements, such as structure, voice, audience, setting, characterization, navigating time, […]
Write your memoir in 9 months! If you're finally ready to write the memoir of your heart, we invite you to join longtime writing teacher and author Diane Zinna for her new class, Memoir Maker. This will be Diane’s 12th time leading a book-in-a-year course, which has helped bring so many writers to a finished […]
Write your novel in a year with bestselling author Kristen Arnett! Are you looking for an exciting, fun, collaborative way to get your writing brain into gear? Are you ready to finally sit down and write that novel that you’ve been thinking about forever? Do you wish you had a confident, cheerful writing coach to […]
Join us for five months of craft lessons, workshops, editor visits, and personal editorial feedback! This small and inclusive class meets bi-weekly on Zoom, with the goal of creating an intimate, writer-based community of essayists who learn and grow together.
You’ll read, brainstorm, and write drafts. You’ll explore different essay forms and practice a variety of narrative techniques. You’ll learn tangible self-editing tools, then revise, workshop, and revise some more! You’ll discover the publications you love, whether literary or freelance in nature (or both!), and you’ll create a plan to get those bylines! You’ll receive supportive, thoughtful peer workshop feedback on six drafts. You’ll have three personal one-on-one meetings (with detailed line edits) from your instructor. You’ll meet editors, attend panels, and participate in a final online reading event to celebrate your hard work! You’ll discuss next steps in publication, including how to pitch editors and begin forming a full collection.
This workshop is for writers who already have some experience publishing personal essays in either literary or freelance publications. The workshop model will be carefully scaffolded and writer-centric, evolving as the class evolves. Writers will finish the class with ten complete drafts and a path forward for publication.
Bring your novel to life with best-selling author Susan Coll! Whether you have been thinking about writing a novel for years but are not sure how to get started, or are already published but embarking on a new project, this year-long workshop is intended to help get the next book off the ground. Watch the […]
Through reflection, community, and practice, you’ll awaken the artist within and build a creative life that feels aligned and alive. This year-long journey through The Artist’s Way offers a sustained path for creative reawakening and artistic growth. Writers, artists, and creative seekers will move chapter by chapter through Julia Cameron’s classic text, reconnecting with their […]
Work on your memoir with bestselling author Nicole Chung! This intensive workshop is open to writers working on a memoir or memoir-in-essays. You’ll have the opportunity to participate in lively craft discussions, generative exercises, and in-depth workshops designed to help you identify and hone your strengths as a writer. If you have an idea for […]
Journeys, relationships, hardships, love, and loss—these are just a few of the subjects personal essays explore. In this workshop we’ll examine essays from magazines, literary journals, and newspapers to illuminate the ways imagery, dialogue, scene, and crafting an “I” narrator transform a personal experience into a compelling story. You’ll generate new material each week through […]
The Writer’s Center welcomes Susan Scheid and Burgi Zenhausern for a launch of their respective new books, True Blue and White Door. FREE & open to the public. RSVP below. Susan Scheid is the author of After Enchantment, which was inspired by beloved fairy tale characters. Scheid’s poetry has appeared in The Southern Quill, Blue Heron Review, The Mid-Atlantic Review, The Orchards […]
The Writer’s Center welcomes novelist Justin Collmann for a reading from his debut new novel, Thirteen Fallen Horses. FREE & open to the public. RSVP below. Justin Collmann lives in Washington, DC where he enjoys spending time with family, friends, and his cat, Clementine. He loves music and plays the guitar and sings. He has […]
Jumpstart your novel and writing practice in this ten-month intensive! If you're wondering how to write a novel and sustain a writing practice in the midst of everything, Novel Club is for you. Together, with the guidance of an experienced mentor and author and the camaraderie of your Novel Club cohort, this is the year […]
Jumpstart your novel and writing practice in this ten-month intensive! If you're wondering how to write a novel and sustain a writing practice in the midst of everything, Novel Club is for you. Together, with the guidance of an experienced mentor and author and the camaraderie of your Novel Club cohort, this is the year […]
You will transform your day into poetry and fiction. You will make poems and stories from everyday details of your life. We will read and then write poems and stories starting from close observation of our day, from waking to preparing coffee and bread, to recalling a dream, to answering a nagging question from the […]
The Writer’s Center welcomes writer and Writer's Center Emerging Writer Fellowship awardee Matthew Pitt for a reading of his debut novel, Tear Here. Matthew is in conversation with poet Monica Prince. FREE & open to the public. RSVP below. Matthew Pitt is the author of the novel Tear Here and two collections of short fiction: […]
Prose, poetry, and spoken word Open Mic @ The Writer’s Center! All writers are welcome to come and share 4-5 minutes of their latest work. Sign-up starts at 6:45pm, and readings begin promptly at 7pm. Limited to 20 readers, so arrive early if you plan to read. Sponsored by Poet Lore, America’s oldest poetry magazine. […]
The Writer’s Center welcomes poet Brittany Rogers to our monthly Virtual Poetry Book Club for a discussion of her collection, Good Dress. Brittany is joined by Book Club Host, Hannah Grieco. We encourage you to order a copy of the book from your local, independent bookseller or online » FREE & open to the public. […]
Poet Lore and The Writer’s Center present a FREE virtual chat about the craft of poetry! We’re joined by poets Asa Drake to discuss her debut poetry collection, Maybe The Body and Laura Cresté, author of In the Good Years. These poets are in conversation with Emily Holland, poet and editor of Poet Lore, America’s oldest poetry journal. […]
The Writer’s Center welcomes Tamar Shapiro and John Vercher f for a conversation about exploring the impact of wanted and unwanted legacies in their novels. About the event Home means many things to many people. It can be a source of comfort and familiarity. It can be serve as a connection to people we love and […]
The nation's capital is full of readers, and the DC LIT FEST will give those readers a chance to mix, mingle, and meet the city’s literary organizations all in one place. Organized by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation and the Goethe-Institute Washington, this FREE event will start with an open house and a pop-up book sale, then conclude with a panel discussion* featuring some of DC literary leaders and a wine reception for […]
The Writer’s Center is pleased to present SUTRA, an exhibition of drawings and paintings by artist Deborah Tomlin, on display in the Center’s Joram Piatigorsky Gallery, January 29–March 23, 2026. Artist Talk is FREE & open to the public. RSVP below. In 2022, Deborah Tomlin was diagnosed with breast cancer from a routine mammogram. She […]
Women writers of DC! Join us for an informal gathering at The Writer’s Center! It’ll be a chance to talk shop, network, and hang out with other writers. Please bring a drink or an appetizer that serves six, and bring a friend, too. See you there! FREE & open to all women writers from the […]
Journal techniques are like tools in a writer’s toolbox. Just as a hammer is the right choice for placing a nail in the wall, so a particular journal method can be exactly the right tool to use to advance the dialogue in a story, to help craft the end of a novel, or to create […]
Journal techniques are like tools in a writer’s toolbox. Just as a hammer is the right choice for placing a nail in the wall, so a particular journal method can be exactly the right tool to use to advance the dialogue in a story, to help craft the end of a novel, or to create […]
The Writer’s Center presents a FREE virtual chat about the craft of fiction! We’re joined by author Luke Kennard for a discussion of his new novel, Black Bag. Luke is in conversation with Zach Powers, novelist and Executive & Artistic Director at The Writer’s Center. RSVP below to receive login information (our virtual events are held […]
Prose, poetry, and spoken word Open Mic @ The Writer’s Center! All writers are welcome to come and share 4-5 minutes of their latest work. Sign-up starts at 6:45pm, and readings begin promptly at 7pm. Limited to 20 readers, so arrive early if you plan to read. Sponsored by Poet Lore, America’s oldest poetry magazine. […]
Writers often hear about “the revision process” as if it’s a singular thing. It’s not. Revising your work entails several processes and sub-processes, from the “30,000 feet” view to macro-strategies to micro-editing. If all you’re doing is going over it “from the top” again and again, a manuscript may need up to fifty revisions before […]
Writers often hear about “the revision process” as if it’s a singular thing. It’s not. Revising your work entails several processes and sub-processes, from the “30,000 feet” view to macro-strategies to micro-editing. If all you’re doing is going over it “from the top” again and again, a manuscript may need up to fifty revisions before […]
The Writer’s Center presents a FREE virtual chat about the craft of nonfiction! We’re joined by author Aaron Fountain for a discussion of his new publication, High School Students Unite! Aaron is in conversation with Amy Freeman, author and Development Director at The Writer’s Center. RSVP below to receive login information (our virtual events are held via […]
This workshop is a two-hour seminar for those who want to better understand the genre of memoir and the craft elements required to write it well. In this course we will: Explore the tensions inherent in being author, narrator, and subject all at once; Unpack the subjectivity of truth; Commit to treat all characters fairly; […]
The Writer’s Center welcomes Maria Karametou for a book launch celebration of her debut novel, The Amalgam. Maria is in conversation with author Frances Park. FREE & open to the public. RSVP below. About the Book Athens, 1984. All Meta wants is to escape her tyrannical father and the future he demands of her. But […]
Poet Lore and The Writer’s Center present a FREE virtual chat about the craft of poetry! We’re joined by Cortney Lamar Charleston to discuss his new collection, It's Important I Remember. Cortney is in conversation with Emily Holland, poet and editor of Poet Lore, America’s oldest poetry journal. RSVP below to receive login information (our virtual […]
The Writer’s Center welcomes Poets Claudia Gary and Roderick Deacey for a reading and discussion of their new collections, Time and Other Solvents, and Birds Flew In, respectively. FREE & open to the public. RSVP below. Claudia Gary teaches workshops on Sonnets, Villanelles, Natural Meter, Persona Poems, Poetry vs. Trauma, etc., at The Writer’s Center […]
