This workshop is geared toward students who have an interest in creative writing and would like to develop their skills and writing practice across genres. Students read and write free verse poetry, short prose, drama, fiction, and creative nonfiction with the goal of developing a final portfolio of revised work.

Students are introduced to a range of technical and imaginative concerns through creative exercises and discussions, and exposed to all aspects of the writing process, including generating ideas, writing and revising drafts, and editing. Students practice their literary craft with an attentive group of peers under the guidance of an experienced instructor. They write extensively, read and respond to excerpts from outstanding works of literature, and participate in candid, helpful critiques of their own work and that of peers. Students are expected to come to the class with an openness to various approaches toward literature and writing. Classes are supplemented by conferences with the instructor.

How does one write characters who are convincingly deceptive? Is writing fiction an act of deception in itself? In this course, we will explore the various shades of lying in literature, investigate why characters who lie are often more interesting than those who don’t, and identify the nuanced, precarious relationship between lying and fiction, parsing the difference between lies intended to deceive versus fictions crafted to articulate an emotional truth. 

Starting our journey with The Odyssey by Homer and moving through texts like The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, Passing by Nella Larsen, and The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, we will trace the tradition of portraying not only deceptive characters but also the rich emotional charge between the liar and deceived, as well as the change in self-perception and worldview that occurs when one recognizes oneself as someone who can be manipulated. 

Through close readings, class discussions, and writing exercises, students will learn to craft complex characters whose lies shape their identities and relationships. We will explore how deception can serve as a narrative tool to create tension, develop plot, and reveal hidden truths about both the characters and the world they inhabit. Ultimately, this course will offer a deeper understanding of how the art of lying in literature mirrors the human experience, challenging our assumptions about truth, trust, and the boundaries between fiction and reality.

What gives horror stories their power, and what truths can they reveal about the human condition that no other literary genre can?

In this dual seminar-workshop course, students will learn the fundamentals of suspenseful writing from the greats of the horror genre, from Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe to Shirley Jackson, Stephen King, and Victor LaValle. On a craft level, students will be introduced to the formal elements that make suspenseful stories and be provided with prompts that inspire their own spine-tingling “future classics.”

Over three weeks, students will engage deeply with assigned texts, supply feedback to peers, and meet individually with their instructor with a shared goal as a cohort: to reveal the human psyche in its truest form, and to support a creative and inclusive workshop environment while doing so. 

The course culminates in a final project that will include a selection of revised horror stories and one new piece. 

Parallel universes and the supernatural have the power to reveal truths often hidden behind the veil of modern life. Situating oneself in realities other than one’s own imparts lessons in empathy, possibility, and advancement in our real world. From Dune to The Hunger Games, both beloved and feared characters in such fiction have united legions of readers-turned-writers over many continents and generations through the art of world-building. 

The course’s aim is to explore and create immersive, exciting fiction that incorporates the unreal—from surreal short stories to excerpts from epic fantasy novels. In this one-week intensive, students will think and write about the futuristic, uncanny, magical, and speculative, and how these elements mesh with our individual writing goals. 

Students will analyze published works of Science Fiction and Fantasy from a writer’s standpoint, considering: what effect did this have on the reader, and how did the writer create this effect? What draws us to these genres? How can we create work that is compelling, original, artful, and fun? Through discussion and writing exercises, we’ll focus on topics including world-building, hero/villain relationships, plot, magic, and suspense. 

In this course, students will uncover the power of imaginative fiction by reading selections of cornerstone texts in the genre, both past and present, and use the techniques discussed in the pieces to write their own original works. Classes are supplemented by conferences with the instructor.

This dual seminar-workshop course is designed to teach students the essential craft techniques of short fiction, including: micro-fiction, novellas, short stories, and fables. 

In this course, we will consider as a class the following questions, among others: What are the world-building possibilities inherent in short fiction? And how might an economy of language benefit young writers? 

Along with reading and analyzing assigned texts, students will share their writing in a workshop setting and receive in-depth feedback from both their peers and the instructor. The course includes asynchronous work, which students are expected to complete between class sessions. Not only does this course impart a greater understanding of what it means to write short fiction, but it will also help students become stronger writers through the use of economized and well-crafted language. The course will culminate in a final project of revised creative pieces generated over the term.

This course is designed for advanced students who seek an intensive experience in the writing of fiction. Students explore diverse styles of and approaches to fiction, and learn essential skills for writing their own short prose works, including stories, flash fiction, novellas, and pieces that may be developed, following the session, into novels. Students participate in rigorous daily discussions on craft and workshops, as well as one-on-one conferences with their instructor. 

The course culminates in a final portfolio composed of carefully revised pieces that implement instructor and peer feedback.

Though this course is intended primarily for older students, it is open to highly qualified rising freshmen and sophomores.

This rigorous one-week course is designed to teach students the ins and outs of novel writing, from conception to outlining to the writing itself. Whether interests lie in literary fiction, young adult, fantasy, or any other genre, students will learn we focus on how to structure and plot a successful novel. Areas of exploration include establishing conflict, world-building, character work, pacing, and how to create an effective scene.

Students share their writing in a workshop setting and receive in-depth feedback from both their peers and the instructor. The course includes asynchronous work, which students are expected to complete between class sessions. Not only does this course impart a greater understanding of what it means to craft a long-form work of fiction, but it will also help students become stronger and more confident in their overall writing skills.

In this intensive course, students are introduced to the key tenets of writing and performing comedy. With the guidance of professional New York City performers and writers, they learn how to generate writing through improvisational comedy. Budding comedians and comedy writers learn how to make people laugh both on and off the page, a skill that can take practitioners down a variety of career paths on stage and in film and television. 

Participants hone their comedic sensibilities with a wide variety of exercises and readings and build confidence by learning the art of “Yes, and…” Areas of exploration include sketch comedy, improvisational comedy, and stand-up. 

Ah, the teenage mind: with its many passions, attitudes, and opinions that have the power to shape culture, change tastes, and build the future. What can teenagers teach us about the way our world works? And in what ways have fictional characters helped foster identity in real-life teenagers, who have gone on to change the world for the better?

In this dual seminar-workshop course, students will study literary works that center on teenage lives, learn the mechanics of YA literature, and try their hands at building their own memorable characters that just might someday inspire adolescents a century from now. Teenagers have stories worth telling, and, in the space of this course, students will empathize with and learn from great works, both classic and contemporary, as well as their peers in regular weekly workshops. The course will culminate in a final project of revised creative pieces generated over the term accompanied by an artist’s statement.

This rigorous one-week course is designed to teach students the essential techniques of short story writing by contextualizing the form throughout history—from Edgar Allan Poe to James Baldwin, to contemporary practitioners, including Joy Williams and Jhumpa Lahiri. By encountering the work of renowned authors from a writer’s perspective, students will utilize the 5 key elements of the short story—plot, character, setting, conflict, and theme—to arrive at what is finally a common goal: to make readers feel through original, compelling, and climactic prose. 

Students will share their writing in a workshop setting and receive in-depth feedback from both their peers and the instructor. The course includes asynchronous work, which students are expected to complete between class sessions. Not only does this course impart a greater understanding of what it means to write short stories, but it will also help students become stronger writers through the use of economized and well-crafted language.

This foundational course, adapted from Columbia's MFA in Writing program, serves as a generative exploration of the creative writing process. Students receive instruction in key genres, idea generation, creation and development of drafts, and basic revision and editing skills. 

Through frequent and diverse readings and writing exercises, students hone elements of craft through the development of voice, imagery, characterization, dialogue, rhythm, and narration. Students work in poetry, prose, fiction, and creative nonfiction. Works produced by acclaimed writers, as well as by students in the class, form the basis of discussion in the workshop process.

A range of technical and imaginative concerns will be introduced through exercises and discussions, where students will produce their own writing for the critical analysis of the class. Students will begin to develop the critical skills that will allow them to read like writers and understand, on a technical level, how accomplished creative writing is produced.

"As it has been said: Love and a cough cannot be concealed. Even a small cough. Even a small love." —Anne Sexton

Of all central themes that have endured through time, most scholars would likely agree that love is the most favored through centuries of literature. But why? What compels humans to write of romance, of love both lost and found? 

Students will study excerpts from great works of literature in multiple genres that center on love and what comes of it. After completion of the course, students will be able to identify and discuss key examples of love in literature and why these stories survive the ages. 

In addition to assigned texts, students will write their own creative pieces, which will be workshopped by both their peers and the instructor. The course culminates in a final creative project accompanied by an artist’s statement.