Classes

Artifacts into Art: Nonfiction Excavation
1/28/23 11am-1pm CT
Lafayette Writers’ Studio via ZOOM
$53.30
Register here

The artifacts we collect have unique, distinct meanings specific to our own experiences. The feathers, the mixtapes, the framed photos, the clothes. The metaphor writes itself: artifacts are a natural complement to our writing practice! In this workshop we will read essays which use artifacts in their construction, we will practice writing essays which lean on artifacts as evidence to corroborate our truth, and we will learn how to turn written artifacts (our own or others’) into essays. Through readings, discussion, in-class assignments, and take-home prompts, writers will appreciate the value of their artifacts anew.

Writing the Experimental Essay
2/1/23-3/1/23 Wednesdays
5:30pm-7pm CT
Writing Workshops via ZOOM
$325
Register here

The essay is arguably the most elastic form of literature, at times allowing journalism, personal recollection, biography, and current events to coexist in a single space. But the essay needs containers to hold its matter which are as bendable and movable as its wide-ranging subjects. We will explore four modes of experimenting with essay structure: The Speculative Essay (the real + the unreal), The Erasure Essay (creating yours from theirs), The Visual Essay (image + text), and The Constraint Essay (form-dependent/hermit crab). Through discussion, readings, and take-home exercises in these 1.5-hour classes, writers will stretch their own limits and explore new frontiers in nonfiction, finding that the methods to examine truth and facts are endless.

Previous Experimental Essay Classes:
SOLD OUT Visual Essay, March 2, 2022, 7-8:30pm
SOLD OUT Erasure Essay, February 2, 2022, 7-8:30pm
SOLD OUT Constraint Essay, January 5, 2022, 7-8:30pm
SOLD OUT Speculative Essay, December 1, 2021, 7-8:30pm
SOLD OUT The Experimental Essay 4 week course (via The Stables), July 10-31, 1:30-3pm

Lectures

Guest Speaker on Publishing
Virtual Speaker Series in Writing, Editing, and Publishing
University of North Dakota
October 2021

Guest Lecturer on Erasure Essays 
ENGL 4860 Modern Familiar Essay
University of Nebraska-Omaha
Fall 2019, Summer 2018

Guest Panelist on Publishing
CWPA 753: Publishing Arts
University of Baltimore
Fall 2022

Guest Panelist on Publishing
ENGL 591 Craft of Creative Writing Bridgewater State University
Spring 2022

Guest Panelist on Publishing
ENGL 357 Editing and Publishing Washington State University
Fall 2022, Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2020

Guest Panelist on Publishing
ENGL 8870 Publishing Nonfiction
University of Nebraska-Omaha
Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Spring 2018

Guest Panelist on Thesis Writing ENGL 8890 Experiments in CNF
University of Nebraska-Omaha, Spring 2019