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BREAKING UP WITH FORM: Experimental Essays, taught by Cleaver Editor Tricia Park, February 5 – March 5

Cleaver Magazine Posted on October 10, 2022 by thwackFebruary 8, 2023

BREAKING UP WITH FORM:
Experimental Essays
A Workshop in Creative Nonfiction
Taught by Cleaver Editor Tricia Park
5 weeks
February 5 – March 5
Zoom meetings: 11 AM – 1 PM Eastern Time on Sundays 2/5, 2/12, 2/19, 2/26, 3/5
$300
Questions: [email protected]

 

“Creative nonfiction” is an expansive genre of writing that encompasses a range of styles and techniques to tell life stories. Whether you’re telling a story for the first or hundredth time, it can be in this retelling that we are able to rearrange time, reconsider the nuances of memory, and begin to reorganize the turmoil of the past.  Beginning with the origins of the word, “essay,”—from the French essayer, or to try—we will explore: How can form help us better tell our stories? How can choosing the right container illuminate our essays’ contents? And how can contemporary forms free up our stories and reflect the complex nature of memory? 

Each week, we will explore different essay forms, discuss how these forms impact the reader’s experience of the essay, and experiment as we borrow and integrate new techniques in our own writing. The class will offer weekly readings, writing prompts, and feedback on your writing. 

In this class you will:

  • Experiment with prompts and strategies
  • Read inventive essay examples
  • Generate new writing
  • Receive instructor and classmate feedback

We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for exploration, accountability, structure, and supportive feedback on their work.


Tricia Park is a concert violinist, writer, and educator. Since making her concert debut at age thirteen, Tricia has performed on five continents and received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. She is the host and producer of an original podcast called, “Is it Recess Yet? Confessions of a Former Child Prodigy.” Tricia has served on faculty at the University of Chicago, and the University of Iowa, and has worked for Graywolf Press. She is the co-lead of the Chicago chapter of Women Who Submit, an organization that seeks to empower women and non-binary writers. She is a Juilliard graduate and received her MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2021, Tricia was awarded a Fulbright Grant to Seoul, Korea, where she worked on a literary and musical project. Her writing has appeared in Cleaver Magazine and F Newsmagazine. She was also a finalist for contests in C&R Press and The Rumpus. Currently, Tricia is Associate Director of Cleaver Magazine Workshops where she is also a Creative Nonfiction editor and faculty instructor, teaches for the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, and maintains a private studio of violin students and writing clients.

Learn more about Tricia at: www.isitrecessyet.com. Listen to Tricia play violin at: https://www.youtube.com/c/triciapark


BREAKING UP WITH FORM: Experimental Essays, taught by Cleaver Editor Tricia Park, February 5 – March 5

BREAKING UP WITH FORM: Experimental Essays, taught by Cleaver Editor Tricia Park, February 5 - March 5

THE DISTANCE FROM HERE TO THERE by Tricia Park

THE DISTANCE FROM HERE TO THERE by Tricia Park

THE WRITING LAB: Playful Experiments to Unstuck Your Writing, taught by Tricia Park, Oct 3 – Nov 14, 2021

THE WRITING LAB: Playful Experiments to Unstuck Your Writing, taught by Tricia Park, Oct 3 - Nov 14, 2021

DOUBLE FOLDED by Tricia Park         

DOUBLE FOLDED by Tricia Park         

EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY, Part 2, taught by Tricia Park | May 9-June 6, 2021

EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY, Part 2, taught by Tricia Park | May 9-June 6, 2021

EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY, Part 1 of Two A Workshop to Jumpstart Your Writing | January 10 to February 7, 2021 | Asynchronous

EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY, Part 1 of Two A Workshop to Jumpstart Your Writing | January 10 to February 7, 2021 | Asynchronous

EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY II: A Workshop to Jumpstart Your Creativity, Taught by Tricia Park | Nov 7 to Dec 12, 2020

EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY II: A Workshop to Jumpstart Your Creativity, Taught by Tricia Park | Nov 7 to Dec 12, 2020

EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY II: A Workshop to Jumpstart Your Creativity, taught by Tricia Par, August 8 to September 5, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY II: A Workshop to Jumpstart Your Creativity, taught by Tricia Par, August 8 to September 5, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY, a Workshop to Jumpstart Your Writing, taught by Tricia Park | September 19 to October 17, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

A road

ON THE Q By Tricia Park

On the Q

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Published on October 10, 2022 in Winter 2023 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, October 1 – October 30, 2022

Cleaver Magazine Posted on September 9, 2022 by thwackOctober 10, 2022

MICRO MENTORING
Flash Fiction Masterclass
Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa
4 weeks
Saturday, October 1 – Sunday, October 30; asynchronous with 4 group Zoom sessions, plus an optional one-on-one Zoom consult with each student.
$300
Class limit: 6
This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction.
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. You are invited to begin the class with work you would like to complete and revise, but we will also offer group exercises to generate new work, accountability, and feedback. Previous students are welcome!


 

Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout Rhode Island.


A conversation with Nancy Ludmerer, author of Collateral Damage: 48 Stories by Kathryn Kulpa

A conversation with Nancy Ludmerer, author of Collateral Damage: 48 Stories by Kathryn Kulpa
February 14, 2023
FLASH-WRITERS: TRUST YOUR READER: a conversation with Nancy Ludmerer, author of Collateral Damage: 48 Stories (Snake Nation Press, 2022) by Kathryn Kulpa I had the pleasure of interviewing Nancy Ludmerer, a student in one of my Cleaver flash fiction workshops, about her full-length flash collection Collateral Damage: 48 Stories, published by Snake Nation Press. Nancy’s work, both fiction and nonfiction, has been widely published in journals, and she moves effortlessly from brief, lyrical microfiction to longer, more complex stories that push the boundaries of flash fiction. A master of compression, she can unfold a lifetime in a paragraph, as she does in this piece from the collection, originally published in Night Train: Bar Mitzvah When Benjy started to choke on a piece of celery stuffed with scallion cream cheese, I turned from the buffet table and asked, are you okay, and when he shook his head, I said raise your arms but he kept choking, so I slapped him on the back of his fancy new suit, and then two words clicked in my head Heimlich maneuver so I punched my fist into his stomach even though this was the wrong way to do it, but I couldn’t think, couldn’t ...
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MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, October 1 – October 30, 2022

MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, October 1 – October 30, 2022
September 9, 2022
MICRO MENTORING Flash Fiction Masterclass Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 4 weeks Saturday, October 1 - Sunday, October 30; asynchronous with 4 group Zoom sessions, plus an optional one-on-one Zoom consult with each student. $300 Class limit: 6 This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. Questions: [email protected] This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. You are invited to begin the class with work you would like to complete and revise, but we will also offer group exercises to generate new work, accountability, and feedback. Previous students are welcome! Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout ...
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MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, July 8 — August 6, 2022

MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, July 8 — August 6, 2022
June 22, 2022
MICRO MENTORING Flash Fiction Masterclass Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 4 weeks Friday, July 8—Saturday, August 6; ZOOM meetings on Sunday, July 10; Sunday, July 17; Sunday, July 24; and Sunday, July 31. $300 Class limit: 6 This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. You are invited to begin the class with work you would like to complete and revise, but we will also offer group exercises to generate new work, accountability, and feedback. Previous students are welcome! Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout ...
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MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Sunday, May 1—Saturday, May 28

MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Sunday, May 1—Saturday, May 28
March 25, 2022
MICRO MENTORING Flash Fiction Masterclass Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 4 weeks Sunday, May 1—Saturday, May 28 Asynchronous, with weekly (optional) Zoom meetings on Thursday evenings or Sunday afternoons. $300 Class limit: 6 This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT! This workshop, for experienced flash fiction writers, is limited to six students and will feature a combination of generative writing prompts and in-depth discussion of works in progress. In addition to the optional twice-weekly Zoom meetings, students may also, if desired, schedule a one-on-one Zoom consultation with the instructor. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout ...
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WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Feb 20—March 27 2022

WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Feb 20—March 27 2022
December 6, 2021
WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 5 weeks February 20—March 27 Asynchronous, with weekly (optional) Zoom meetings on Sunday evenings $200 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT Do you tend to procrastinate? Do you often do your best work under pressure? Do you sometimes start stories but never get around to finishing or revising them? Do you find the whole process of submitting work for publication stressful or depressing? This five-week workshop is designed for busy writers who want to put writing time and accountability into their schedule with a combination of online prompts, real-time writing sessions, constructive revision suggestions, submission tips, and a group of writing buddies willing to take the submission plunge with you. We will focus on short flash (up to 500 words) and microfiction (up to 400 words). The first two weeks, we will work on generating new stories; in the third week, we’ll focus on revision; and by the fourth week, everyone will commit to submitting three stories for publication (as your classmates cheer you on). Kathryn Kulpa, THE ART OF FLASH; AFTERBURN; FLASH BOOTCAMP; WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH!, (flash fiction and nonfiction) was a winner of ...
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Five and a Half Questions for Michelle Ross on her new collection SHAPESHIFTING—Interview by Kathryn Kulpa

Five and a Half Questions for Michelle Ross on her new collection SHAPESHIFTING—Interview by Kathryn Kulpa
November 17, 2021
Five and a Half Questions for Michelle Ross on SHAPESHIFTING from Stillhouse Press Interview by Kathryn Kulpa Michelle Ross has published short fiction in Cleaver (“Lessons,” Issue 13; “My Husband is Always Losing Things,” Issue 23; “Night Vision,” with Kim Magowan, Issue 34). She spoke to us recently about her new short story collection Shapeshifting. Kathryn Kulpa: This is such a strong collection! One thing I really like about Shapeshifting is the diversity of points of view, style, and even genre. There are short, flash-like pieces, longer stories, realistic and often funny pieces like “After Pangaea,” with the parents sleeping in cars to keep their place in line to sign their kids up for kindergarten, and darker, more disturbing stories like “Keeper Four” and “A Mouth is a House for Teeth.” Did you worry that the stories might be too divergent, or that publishers might want a more uniform voice? Michelle Ross: Thank you so much, Kathryn, and thanks for talking with me about the book! I can’t say I worried about the range of the stories in that regard. Many years ago, I accepted (and have since embraced) that I’m a writer who needs to work in a variety ...
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WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice, Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa, October 24 to November 21. [SOLD OUT]

WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice,  Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa, October 24 to November 21. [SOLD OUT]
August 14, 2021
WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 4 weeks: Sunday, Oct. 24 to Sunday, Nov. 21 Mostly asynchronous with one weekly Zoom meeting: Sunday, October 24 - Intro; 11 am Thursday, November 4, 6:30 pm Sunday, Nov. 7, 11 am Thursday, Nov. 18, 6:30 pm $200 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT Do you tend to procrastinate? Do you often do your best work under pressure? Do you sometimes start stories but never get around to finishing or revising them? Do you find the whole process of submitting work for publication stressful or depressing? This four-week workshop is designed for busy writers who want to put writing time and accountability into their schedule with a combination of online prompts, real-time writing sessions, constructive revision suggestions, submission tips, and a group of writing buddies willing to take the submission plunge with you. We will focus on short flash (up to 500 words) and microfiction (up to 400 words). The first two weeks, we will work on generating new stories; in the third week, we’ll focus on revision; and by the fourth week, everyone will commit to submitting three stories for publication (as your ...
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FLASH BOOTCAMP, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Four Weekend Sessions in June-July, 2021

FLASH BOOTCAMP, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Four Weekend Sessions in June-July, 2021
May 3, 2021
FLASH BOOTCAMP 4 Summer Weekend Bootcamps Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa June 4 - 6 June 18 - 20 July 9 - 11 July 23 - 25 Saturday and Sunday Zoom sessions 2-4 pm ET $150 for one session; $275 for two sessions; $375 for three Sessions; $425 for all four sessions. *Get focused!* *Get motivated!* *Get writing!* This generative mini-workshop is designed for busy writers who need to carve out some writing time to generate new work, and who crave deadlines and accountability to stay motivated. This class combines writing prompt "homework" you do on your own with group writing and discussion sessions. In just three days (Friday through Sunday), you will have six new micro-stories ready to revise! Format: Combines asynchronous (writing prompts you do on your own time Friday and Saturday) with two, 2-hour Zoom sessions on Saturday and Sunday. Focus:  Flash pieces 500 words and under. The exercises and feedback were excellent. I also appreciated the Zoom classes which helped me connect with other writers and discuss work. The workshop was incredibly helpful. Kathryn's critiques, prompts, and synchronous sessions were marvelous. The community of writers that formed was strong and committed. Plus, three ...
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AFTERBURN: Flash Revision, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | April 4-April 25 2021 [SOLD OUT]

AFTERBURN: Flash Revision, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | April 4-April 25 2021 [SOLD OUT]
January 29, 2021
AFTERBURN A Workshop in the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 3 weeks April 4-April 25 $175 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] Flash fiction may be born in a lightning flash of inspiration, but crafting works of perfect brevity requires time and patience: sometimes cutting, sometimes adding, and sometimes starting all over again. In very short stories, every word must work, and revision is as much a part of writing flash as it is of writing longer prose. In this hands-on workshop, we'll practice the art of revision. Flash fiction writer and editor Kathryn Kulpa will share first drafts, revisions, and published versions of her own work and that of other flash and short fiction writers. Students will learn different revision strategies and how to apply them to their own work. We will create new flash together and work on taking it through several revisions, and students will also have the chance to bring existing stories to the workshop to revise with a goal of publication. I loved having the ability to work on the material at my own pace, at my own time. I met several writers who I will continue to stay in ...
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THE ART OF FLASH, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | Feb. 25-March 28, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

THE ART OF FLASH, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | Feb. 25-March 28, 2021 [SOLD OUT]
January 29, 2021
THE ART OF FLASH A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa Feb. 25-March 28 5 weeks $200 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected]  Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works. In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example-works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class. This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom pop-up or two and bonus prompts for those who are interested). We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella ...
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THE ART OF FLASH, Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction, taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | January 3 to February 7, 2021 SOLD OUT

Neon Lightning Bolt
September 17, 2020
THE ART OF FLASH A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 5 weeks SOLD OUT Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected]  Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works. In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example-works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class. This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom pop-up or two and bonus prompts for those who are interested). We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook ...
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AFTERBURN A Workshop on the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | November 15 to December 12, 2020

AFTERBURN A Workshop on the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | November 15 to December 12, 2020
September 17, 2020
AFTERBURN A Workshop on the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 3 weeks November 15 to December 12, 2020 $175 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] Flash fiction may be born in a lightning flash of inspiration, but crafting works of perfect brevity requires time and patience: sometimes cutting, sometimes adding, and sometimes starting all over again. In very short stories, every word must work, and revision is as much a part of writing flash as it is of writing longer prose. In this hands-on workshop, we'll practice the art of revision. Flash fiction writer and editor Kathryn Kulpa will share first drafts, revisions, and published versions of her own work and that of other flash and short fiction writers. Students will learn different revision strategies and how to apply them to their own work. We will create new flash together and work on taking it through several revisions, and students will also have the chance to bring existing stories to the workshop to revise with a goal of publication. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion ...
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THE ART OF FLASH, Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction, taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | October 3-November 7, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

Neon Lightning Bolt
July 23, 2020
THE ART OF FLASH A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 5 weeks October 3–November 7 $175 Early Bird before September 3, 2020 $200 Regular Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected]  [Sold Out] Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works. In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example-works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class. This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom pop-up or two and bonus prompts for those who are interested). We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and ...
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AFTERBURN A Workshop the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | August 3 to August 22, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

AFTERBURN A Workshop the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | August 3 to August 22, 2020 [SOLD OUT]
May 29, 2020
AFTERBURN A Workshop in the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 3 weeks August 3 to August 22 $125 early bird / $150 regular Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT Flash fiction may be born in a lightning flash of inspiration, but crafting works of perfect brevity requires time and patience: sometimes cutting, sometimes adding, and sometimes starting all over again. In very short stories, every word must work, and revision is as much a part of writing flash as it is of writing longer prose. In this hands-on workshop, we'll practice the art of revision. Flash fiction writer and editor Kathryn Kulpa will share first drafts, revisions, and published versions of her own work and that of other flash and short fiction writers. Students will learn different revision strategies and how to apply them to their own work. We will create new flash together and work on taking it through several revisions, and students will also have the chance to bring existing stories to the workshop to revise with a goal of publication. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has ...
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THE ART OF FLASH, Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction, taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | May 9 — June 6, 2020 and June 20 — July 25, 2020 [both sections sold out]

Neon Lightning Bolt
May 6, 2020
THE ART OF FLASH A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa Both sessions of Kathryn Kulpa's The Art of Flash are sold out—new classes by Kathryn will be announced shortly! Session 2: 5 weeks June 20 — July 25, 2020 $125 early bird / $150 regular Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] [sold out] Session 1: 5 weeks May 9 — June 6, 2020 $125 early bird / $150 regular Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] [sold out] Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works. In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class. This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can ...
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A Conversation with Melissa Sarno, author of JUST UNDER THE CLOUDS

A Conversation with Melissa Sarno, author of JUST UNDER THE CLOUDS
August 27, 2018
A Conversation with Melissa Sarno author of JUST UNDER THE CLOUDS published by Knopf Books for Young Readers Interview by Kathryn Kulpa Melissa Sarno reviews children’s and young adult books for Cleaver and has just published her debut middle-grade novel, Just Under the Clouds (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2018). It tells the story of Cora, a middle-school girl trying to find a place to belong. Cora’s father always made her feel safe, but now that he has died, she and her mom and her sister Adare have been moving from place to place, trying to find a stable and secure home they can afford. Cora is also dealing with bullying at school and is sometimes challenged by looking after her sister, who has learning differences. But her life holds some good things, too, like a free-spirited new friend and her father’s tree journal, where he kept notes about the plants he took care of. Cora has kept his book and uses it as a way to record her own observations and feelings as she looks for her own true home in the world. While many children experience homelessness, it’s a subject that is seldom explored in contemporary children’s fiction, ...
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NINETY-NINE STORIES OF GOD by Joy Williams reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa

NINETY-NINE STORIES OF GOD by Joy Williams reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa
September 22, 2016
NINETY-NINE STORIES OF GOD by Joy Williams Tin House Books, 151 pages reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa Joy Williams is an author whose work I sought out because once, in a review, someone compared me to her, and since I hadn’t heard of her before, it seemed like a good idea to read her. It was a happy discovery. Still, she was not an author I associated with flash fiction. Her dense, full short stories seemed more like novels writ small. Things change. In Ninety-Nine Stories of God, Williams has pared away all but the essentials. These very short prose pieces are novels written in miniature, pocket epics and cryptic parables etched on the head of a pin. Most are not more than two pages, some are a single paragraph, and a few are just one or two sentences: simple, even stark, yet weighted. The sixty-first story, “Museum,” for example, is one rueful sentence: “We were not interested the way we thought we would be interested.” Williams’s small stories, like the best flash, keep most of the iceberg under the water, leaving us with as many questions as answers. Each story ends, rather than begins, with a title, which often serves ...
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A CONVERSATION WITH KATHRYN KULPA, author of Girls on Film

girls-on-film-cover
September 15, 2016
A CONVERSATION WITH KATHRYN KULPA author of Girls on Film Paper Nautilus Press, 2015 Vella Chapbook Winner interviewed by Michelle Fost I had the chance to catch up with fellow Cleaver editor Kathryn Kulpa about her chapbook, Girls on Film. It is just out from Paper Nautilus and was a winner of the press’s Vella Chapbook Contest. An intriguing part of the prize is that the writer receives a hundred copies of the beautifully designed chapbook to distribute as she likes. Kathryn will be selling signed copies through her Etsy shop, BookishGirlGoods, and she’ll also have them available at readings, writing workshops, and other events. Paper Nautilus will also have the book on sale. For more about the Vella Chapbook contest and Paper Nautilus Press, have a look at the press’s website.—M.F. MF: Congratulations on winning Paper Nautilus’s Vella Chapbook Contest, and the publication of Girls on Film. I wondered if you might talk a little about the process of writing the chapbook. KK: All the pieces in the chapbook were already written, and most of them had been published by the time I put it together, so it was more a process of selecting and matching complementary stories to create a cohesive ...
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A HOUSE MADE OF STARS by Tawnysha Greene reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa

A HOUSE MADE OF STARS by Tawnysha Greene reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa
August 12, 2015
A HOUSE MADE OF STARS by Tawnysha Greene Burlesque Press, 189 pages, 2015. reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa In the very first scene of A House Made of Stars, Tawnysha Greene’s debut novel, the ten-year-old narrator and her sister are awakened by their mother, who spirits them to a darkened bathroom where all three sit in the bathtub, towels piled over them, while the house shakes with thuds so loud even the narrator’s deaf sister can feel their vibrations. Their mother tells them it’s a game. She tells them they’re practicing for earthquakes. But even at ten, the narrator knows it’s not nature’s rage they need to fear. It’s their father’s. Greene’s voice in this novel is pitch perfect, an eerie and convincing combination of innocence and prescience. The hard-of-hearing narrator is homeschooled and isolated; her mother believes public schools will not teach “Godly things.” Yet her understanding of their family dynamic and her father’s mental illness are intuitive and profound. Without adult labels or filters, we see his depression, his paranoia, his moments of happy, expansive mania that can change in an instant to brutal  outbursts, and the scars he carries from his own violent childhood. We see her mother’s ...
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THE BOOK OF LANEY by Myfanwy Collins reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa

THE BOOK OF LANEY by Myfanwy Collins reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa
June 23, 2015
THE BOOK OF LANEY by Myfanwy Collins Lacewing Books, 200 pages reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa When terrible acts of violence occur—as they do all too often in America—our thoughts naturally turn to the victims and their families. But what about the families of those who commit violent crimes? What if someone you grew up with was a school shooter, a terrorist, a mass murderer? That’s the reality fifteen-year-old Laney is living. Her brother West and his friend Mark, two high school outcasts, boarded a school bus armed with machetes, knives, guns, and homemade bombs. Six people died; twelve were wounded. Mark blew himself up, but West made his way home to kill his mother, and he would have killed Laney, too, if police hadn’t stopped him. Left with the wreckage her brother left behind, Laney feels completely alone, unwanted, even hated. Her father died when she was young, and her mother’s boyfriend is only interested in leaving the state as soon as possible. Strangers phone the house with death threats. This is her only identity now: the killer’s sister. The Book of Laney is a young adult novel about facing the worst things the world can hand out and learning ...
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YVONNE IN THE EYE OF DOG by Kathryn Kulpa

YVONNE IN THE EYE OF DOG by Kathryn Kulpa
December 13, 2013
YVONNE IN THE EYE OF DOG by Kathryn Kulpa If God looked for Yvonne would he find her? If God looked down, past stars and satellites, through storm clouds thick and grey as dryer lint, would he see Yvonne in a stolen van, Yvonne in a darkened shopping plaza with Ma’s Diner and A-1 Hardware, Crafts Basket and Pets Plus? Yvonne is down on options, down on her luck. Listening to the sighs and snores of her dog asleep in the back seat, the beat of rain on the roof. Her world the smell of wet dog. Her face in the mirror, hair wild, curling in the damp. Everything about her seems high-contrast, vampirish. Face white, except for that bruise her cover-up won’t cover. Tired eyes. White eyeliner is the trick for that, Teena had taught her. No white eyeliner in Yvonne’s make-up bag. No black, either. Almost out of tricks. She pats more cover-up on her eyelids, feels the oils in the makeup separate. Always something red and raw to show through. Yvonne likes to think that in this whole world not one person knows where she is right now. A parking lot, a strip mall, two hours ...
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LOCAVORE by Kathryn Kulpa

LOCAVORE by Kathryn Kulpa
March 4, 2013
LOCAVORE by Kathryn Kulpa The streets smell like fried dough and there’s the carnival sound of an outdoor mic, a tinny crackle that makes him think of Little League games and awards day at summer camp. It sounds like the end of summer. The locals are celebrating something, the patron saint of clam cakes. They’re selling raffle tickets, but he’s not buying chances. The sky is dark blue, but he’s not watching the sky. The café door is open, inviting him to a darker world of scratched wooden floors and mismatched tables and hard metal chairs: the world of Latte Girl, whose sweet smile is only for the locals, whose cups she graces with sailboats and dragonflies and long-eared dogs, while his foam never holds more than an indifferent swirl. There’s a line—there’s always a line—but he doesn’t mind. He likes to watch her tamp and pull; he likes that everything is done by hand on one old espresso machine; he likes that they are her hands, small and plump, still childish, with chipped black polish on her short fingernails. As often as he tries to touch those hands, she pulls back. Leaves the change on the counter, slides ...
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Published on September 9, 2022 in Fall 2022 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

SHORTING THE CIRCUITS: A Short Story Workshop with Claire Oleson, October 1 — November 5, 2022

Cleaver Magazine Posted on July 30, 2022 by thwackJuly 30, 2022

SHORTING THE CIRCUITS: A Short Story Workshop
taught by Cleaver Poetry Editor Claire Oleson
October 1—November 5, 2022
Asynchronous with optional Zoom meetings 11 am ET on Saturdays 10/8, 10/5, and 11/5
$250
Class Limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

In this five-week generative short fiction workshop, writers from beginner to advanced will be invited to read and write work that pushes the bounds of the short story. Each week, participants will read an assigned story and have time and space to discuss its successes, failures, and fascinations. They will then be tasked with writing the beginning of their own story that borrows some stylistic element from the week’s reading. In small groups, writers will be invited to respond to one another’s work with constructive feedback. The instructor will respond to each writer’s work each week.

At its core, this is a workshop designed to support a writer’s voice while exposing them to the range of styles and goals the short story can take on. The readings we engage with will all contain a literary leaning, but will do so from completely different positions and perspectives. In the final week of class, participants will choose one of their stories to complete with class feedback in mind while prioritizing their own vision for the work.

The first two optional zoom sessions will serve as a place to absorb more work and engage in timed writing exercises engineered to break down our gut-reflexes in writing. The final zoom session will be a class reading and a space to share one another’s work. There will also be time held for participants to ask questions about the landscape and trials of contemporary publishing.


Claire OleClaire Oleson is a queer writer and 2020 Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction. Her work has been published by the Kenyon Review online, the University of Kentucky’s graduate literary journal Limestone, the LA Review of Books, and Newfound Press, among others. She is the 2019 winner of the Newfound Prose Prize and the Poetry Editor at Cleaver Magazine. Her chapbook, Things from the Creek Bed We Could Have Been, debuted May, 2020. She is represented by Eloy Bleifuss at Janklow and Nesbit.

 

Schedule (October 1—November 5)
New Modules posted on Mondays,
Pieces due by Friday, 11:59,
Feedback from All Due by Sunday, 11:59
Zoom sessions on Saturdays at 11 AM

  • One on Oct 8, one on Oct 15
  • Final zoom reading: Nov 5

 

 

 

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Published on July 30, 2022 in Fall 2022 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

WRITING THE BODY, taught by Marnie Goodfriend, September 21—October 19, 2022

Cleaver Magazine Posted on July 23, 2022 by thwackJuly 23, 2022

WRITING THE BODY
Taught by Marnie Goodfriend
For beginner to advanced nonfiction writers
5 weeks
September 21—October 19
Zoom meetings 7 pm—8:30 pm ET on Wednesday 9/21, 9/28, 10/5, 10/12 and 10/19
$300 Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

We all live in and through our bodies. Connection to the self and how we perceive, and are perceived, by the world around us is intrinsically tied to the vessel we reside in. Bodies can be political battlegrounds, sacred spaces, pleasure palaces, and crime scenes. As creative nonfiction or hybrid writers, how can we deepen our writing and understanding of ourselves by looking at the layered relationship we have with our bodies?

Open to new and seasoned writers, this five-week workshop will focus on points of pressure and alleviation to generate new material from different life experiences: eating, politics, health, intimacy, and positivity. We will read works by writers such as Roxane Gay, Chanel Miller, Melissa Febos, Natalie Lima and Seth Fischer to spark ideas about we can approach our own stories about the body and how we can reclaim ownship over them. 

Each class will include exercises, writing prompts, and discussions of assigned readings. Participants will have weekly writing assignments and will receive feedback on their generative writing in a safe and encouraging environment.

Week One: Eating

What we feed our bodies with shapes the physical vessel we inhabit and affects the way we are seen in the world. Week one explores the stories we have about edible consumption, deprivation, diets, habits, and traditions. We’ll write and share our in-class writing prompt in a safe and supportive space and discuss ways to expand upon generative exercises.

Week Two: Illness and Injury

Our physical and mental maladies — and those that affect our loved ones — can scar and strengthen us. What can we learn from listening to our bodies’ first language? How do we answer back? Week two includes in-class writing, sharing, readings and conversations around it hurts — the very first words we learned to express pain.

Week Three: Sex

Sex can be an act of love, passion, obsession, power, abuse, ectasty, and pain. It’s also arguably one of the trickiest experiences to write about as it requires the same vulnerability necessary to express ourselves through touch. We will approach writing about sex with gentleness, honesty, and, depending on the experience, anger or humor. Week four will explore the often taboo subject and how we mine for the words to articulate our relationship to intimacy or the absence of it.

Week Four: The Body Politic

The choices we make for our bodies are hotly-debated issues that cause division among people and places. What do we do when our bodies become battlegrounds and personal choices are designated a public domain? How do we reclaim our bodies if we never had choices to begin with? Week four explores the body as a political instrument of power, persuasion and fear. We’ll write an impact statement about the body as a larger entity and our personal relationship to other people and institutions invading the skin we live in.

Week Five: Positivity 

Our bodies work so hard for us, yet we often see them as a hindrance, a source of disappointment, shame, and frustration. How can we love our bodies and reauthor narratives with gentleness, love, and respect? Through in-class writing, we will approach a previously explored topic from an empathetic point of view. 


Marnie Goodfriend is a writer, sexual assault advocate, and social practice artist. She is a 2018 VCCA fellow, recipient of the Jane G. Camp scholarship, and a 2016 PEN America fellow. Her advocacy work, Write to Healing, helps sexual assault survivors reauthor their experience through narrative healing. Marnie’s essays, articles, and other writing appear in TIME, Washington Post, The Rumpus, She Knows, Health, and elsewhere.

Read her essay “Fund What You Fear” on Cleaver.

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Published on July 23, 2022 in Fall 2022 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

EKPHRASTIC POETRY: The Art of Words on Art, taught by Cleaver Poetry Editor Claire Oleson, October 15 — November 19, 2022

Cleaver Magazine Posted on July 23, 2022 by thwackSeptember 17, 2022

EKPHRASTIC POETRY: The Art of Words on Art
taught by Cleaver Poetry Editor Claire Oleson
October 15 — November 19, 2022
Asynchronous with optional Zoom meetings 11 am ET on Saturdays 10/22, 10/29, and 11/19
$250
Class Limit: 14
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

In this course, we will read and write ekphrastic work: that is, poetry that responds to, echoes, amplifies, and or converses with works of visual art. This class aims to both expose participants to a wide variety of ekphrastic writings as well as cultivate their own ability to see beyond the literal and bring the personal in conversation with the descriptive. Far more than merely describing a painting or detailing a sculpture, this workshop asks its students to learn how to place their own voice on the paint, on the marble, and come away with far more than a museum plaque is asked to offer.

Each week, we will look at two to three poems that focus on a shared medium of artwork and investigate how they bring something illuminative and transformative to the pieces they draw from. This class is designed to create a platform on which to find, develop, and hone the ability to apply language to art. Navigating the gap between the two, and gaining the sight to selectively amplify and diminish the desired elements, will allow the poet’s voice to not only present a painting, but more vitally, present their own gaze on a specific piece’s role in a specific onlooker’s life.

For five weeks, participants will be encouraged to find themselves within their language and explore the ways in which they may take on an identifiable sense of voice, self, and vision on the works of art they choose to investigate. Fundamentally, this is a workshop about seeing one’s own eyes and inviting readers into that sight.

We will work primarily on generating new work, encouraging participants to push their boundaries and hone their vision to create memorable and authentic writing. The workshop model will facilitate constructive responses from both peers and the instructor. Particular attention will be placed on the spaces between art and writing that the participants bring to class. Works of art will also be provided for prompts, but participants will be highly encouraged to bring works of art to the class that they are attached to and inspired by.

The readings will be brief but rich, with the intent of inviting multiple re-readings, close readings, note-taking and flexibility for everyone’s lives and work. Supplemental reading will be available for those hungry for more plums from the proverbial icebox. Prompts will be provided inspired by the week’s reading, but will be designed more as springboards for beginning rather than hard-and-fast regulations. Work will be submitted weekly for peer and instructor review. One piece will be chosen by the student for revision for the final class. Optional Zoom conferences will be held to discuss the reading for those interested. We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism.

A final optional Zoom meeting will be held as a reading of our work. This will be a veritable museum showcase!


Claire OleClaire Oleson is a queer writer and 2020 Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction. Her work has been published by the Kenyon Review online, the University of Kentucky’s graduate literary journal Limestone, the LA Review of Books, and Newfound Press, among others. She is the 2019 winner of the Newfound Prose Prize and the Poetry Editor at Cleaver Magazine. Her chapbook, Things from the Creek Bed We Could Have Been, debuted May, 2020.

 

 

Schedule (October 15 — November 19)

New Modules posted on Mondays,

Pieces due by Friday, 11:59

Feedback from All Due by Sunday, 11:59

Zoom sessions on Saturdays at 11 AM

  • One on Oct 22, one on Oct 29
  • Final zoom reading: Nov 19

SYLLABUS

1: Introductions: What is Ekphrasis?

We will open with an investigation of what Ekphrasis means as well as how the instructor is applying the term to push participants to explore writing that does more than merely describe. This week will focus on writing inspired by paintings with particular attention paid to how poets may bring their voices to subvert the expectations of what it means to make art about art.

2: Picture This: The Snapshot

This week, we will dive into writing that borrows inspiration from photography. With the intentions of the brush stroke gone, how do we come to understand both the hand behind the camera and behind the keyboard at once? We will ask how we can see voice and vision in a space that may seem objective, but can be anything but, given the right framing and focus.

3: Sculpted Expressions

This module will explore writing on sculpture and physical form. This week will also encourage the participants to write in a poetic form of their choosing, with resources on form provided. In changing our formal approach to a slightly stricter medium, we will get closer to the limitations and the freedoms of what it means to cleave stone with verse.

4: The Personal Canvas

After a week of stricter bounds, this second to last week will ask participants to select a medium of their own choosing to explore in writing and consider how they might translate its emotion, physicality, intention, and impact into their own language.

5: The Final Framing

In this final module, we will take a moment to look at pieces that invite ekphrasis into their stanzas, but do not center on one single piece of art, or even art itself, for their entirety. Poets will be asked to revise one piece from the course and diversify their focus in revision: including their ekphrastic work inside a larger world of writing and reflection. This will allow us to hone the intention of what art to include in our writing, where, and perhaps most crucially—why?

 

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Published on July 23, 2022 in Fall 2022 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, July 8 — August 6, 2022

Cleaver Magazine Posted on June 22, 2022 by thwackJuly 23, 2022

MICRO MENTORING
Flash Fiction Masterclass
Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa
4 weeks
Friday, July 8—Saturday, August 6; ZOOM meetings on Sunday, July 10; Sunday, July 17; Sunday, July 24; and Sunday, July 31.
$300
Class limit: 6
This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction.
Questions: [email protected]

SOLD OUT

This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. You are invited to begin the class with work you would like to complete and revise, but we will also offer group exercises to generate new work, accountability, and feedback. Previous students are welcome!


 

Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout Rhode Island.


A conversation with Nancy Ludmerer, author of Collateral Damage: 48 Stories by Kathryn Kulpa

A conversation with Nancy Ludmerer, author of Collateral Damage: 48 Stories by Kathryn Kulpa
February 14, 2023
FLASH-WRITERS: TRUST YOUR READER: a conversation with Nancy Ludmerer, author of Collateral Damage: 48 Stories (Snake Nation Press, 2022) by Kathryn Kulpa I had the pleasure of interviewing Nancy Ludmerer, a student in one of my Cleaver flash fiction workshops, about her full-length flash collection Collateral Damage: 48 Stories, published by Snake Nation Press. Nancy’s work, both fiction and nonfiction, has been widely published in journals, and she moves effortlessly from brief, lyrical microfiction to longer, more complex stories that push the boundaries of flash fiction. A master of compression, she can unfold a lifetime in a paragraph, as she does in this piece from the collection, originally published in Night Train: Bar Mitzvah When Benjy started to choke on a piece of celery stuffed with scallion cream cheese, I turned from the buffet table and asked, are you okay, and when he shook his head, I said raise your arms but he kept choking, so I slapped him on the back of his fancy new suit, and then two words clicked in my head Heimlich maneuver so I punched my fist into his stomach even though this was the wrong way to do it, but I couldn’t think, couldn’t ...
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MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, October 1 – October 30, 2022

MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, October 1 – October 30, 2022
September 9, 2022
MICRO MENTORING Flash Fiction Masterclass Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 4 weeks Saturday, October 1 - Sunday, October 30; asynchronous with 4 group Zoom sessions, plus an optional one-on-one Zoom consult with each student. $300 Class limit: 6 This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. Questions: [email protected] This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. You are invited to begin the class with work you would like to complete and revise, but we will also offer group exercises to generate new work, accountability, and feedback. Previous students are welcome! Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout ...
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MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, July 8 — August 6, 2022

MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, July 8 — August 6, 2022
June 22, 2022
MICRO MENTORING Flash Fiction Masterclass Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 4 weeks Friday, July 8—Saturday, August 6; ZOOM meetings on Sunday, July 10; Sunday, July 17; Sunday, July 24; and Sunday, July 31. $300 Class limit: 6 This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. You are invited to begin the class with work you would like to complete and revise, but we will also offer group exercises to generate new work, accountability, and feedback. Previous students are welcome! Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout ...
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MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Sunday, May 1—Saturday, May 28

MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Sunday, May 1—Saturday, May 28
March 25, 2022
MICRO MENTORING Flash Fiction Masterclass Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 4 weeks Sunday, May 1—Saturday, May 28 Asynchronous, with weekly (optional) Zoom meetings on Thursday evenings or Sunday afternoons. $300 Class limit: 6 This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT! This workshop, for experienced flash fiction writers, is limited to six students and will feature a combination of generative writing prompts and in-depth discussion of works in progress. In addition to the optional twice-weekly Zoom meetings, students may also, if desired, schedule a one-on-one Zoom consultation with the instructor. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout ...
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WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Feb 20—March 27 2022

WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Feb 20—March 27 2022
December 6, 2021
WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 5 weeks February 20—March 27 Asynchronous, with weekly (optional) Zoom meetings on Sunday evenings $200 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT Do you tend to procrastinate? Do you often do your best work under pressure? Do you sometimes start stories but never get around to finishing or revising them? Do you find the whole process of submitting work for publication stressful or depressing? This five-week workshop is designed for busy writers who want to put writing time and accountability into their schedule with a combination of online prompts, real-time writing sessions, constructive revision suggestions, submission tips, and a group of writing buddies willing to take the submission plunge with you. We will focus on short flash (up to 500 words) and microfiction (up to 400 words). The first two weeks, we will work on generating new stories; in the third week, we’ll focus on revision; and by the fourth week, everyone will commit to submitting three stories for publication (as your classmates cheer you on). Kathryn Kulpa, THE ART OF FLASH; AFTERBURN; FLASH BOOTCAMP; WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH!, (flash fiction and nonfiction) was a winner of ...
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Five and a Half Questions for Michelle Ross on her new collection SHAPESHIFTING—Interview by Kathryn Kulpa

Five and a Half Questions for Michelle Ross on her new collection SHAPESHIFTING—Interview by Kathryn Kulpa
November 17, 2021
Five and a Half Questions for Michelle Ross on SHAPESHIFTING from Stillhouse Press Interview by Kathryn Kulpa Michelle Ross has published short fiction in Cleaver (“Lessons,” Issue 13; “My Husband is Always Losing Things,” Issue 23; “Night Vision,” with Kim Magowan, Issue 34). She spoke to us recently about her new short story collection Shapeshifting. Kathryn Kulpa: This is such a strong collection! One thing I really like about Shapeshifting is the diversity of points of view, style, and even genre. There are short, flash-like pieces, longer stories, realistic and often funny pieces like “After Pangaea,” with the parents sleeping in cars to keep their place in line to sign their kids up for kindergarten, and darker, more disturbing stories like “Keeper Four” and “A Mouth is a House for Teeth.” Did you worry that the stories might be too divergent, or that publishers might want a more uniform voice? Michelle Ross: Thank you so much, Kathryn, and thanks for talking with me about the book! I can’t say I worried about the range of the stories in that regard. Many years ago, I accepted (and have since embraced) that I’m a writer who needs to work in a variety ...
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WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice, Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa, October 24 to November 21. [SOLD OUT]

WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice,  Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa, October 24 to November 21. [SOLD OUT]
August 14, 2021
WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 4 weeks: Sunday, Oct. 24 to Sunday, Nov. 21 Mostly asynchronous with one weekly Zoom meeting: Sunday, October 24 - Intro; 11 am Thursday, November 4, 6:30 pm Sunday, Nov. 7, 11 am Thursday, Nov. 18, 6:30 pm $200 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT Do you tend to procrastinate? Do you often do your best work under pressure? Do you sometimes start stories but never get around to finishing or revising them? Do you find the whole process of submitting work for publication stressful or depressing? This four-week workshop is designed for busy writers who want to put writing time and accountability into their schedule with a combination of online prompts, real-time writing sessions, constructive revision suggestions, submission tips, and a group of writing buddies willing to take the submission plunge with you. We will focus on short flash (up to 500 words) and microfiction (up to 400 words). The first two weeks, we will work on generating new stories; in the third week, we’ll focus on revision; and by the fourth week, everyone will commit to submitting three stories for publication (as your ...
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FLASH BOOTCAMP, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Four Weekend Sessions in June-July, 2021

FLASH BOOTCAMP, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Four Weekend Sessions in June-July, 2021
May 3, 2021
FLASH BOOTCAMP 4 Summer Weekend Bootcamps Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa June 4 - 6 June 18 - 20 July 9 - 11 July 23 - 25 Saturday and Sunday Zoom sessions 2-4 pm ET $150 for one session; $275 for two sessions; $375 for three Sessions; $425 for all four sessions. *Get focused!* *Get motivated!* *Get writing!* This generative mini-workshop is designed for busy writers who need to carve out some writing time to generate new work, and who crave deadlines and accountability to stay motivated. This class combines writing prompt "homework" you do on your own with group writing and discussion sessions. In just three days (Friday through Sunday), you will have six new micro-stories ready to revise! Format: Combines asynchronous (writing prompts you do on your own time Friday and Saturday) with two, 2-hour Zoom sessions on Saturday and Sunday. Focus:  Flash pieces 500 words and under. The exercises and feedback were excellent. I also appreciated the Zoom classes which helped me connect with other writers and discuss work. The workshop was incredibly helpful. Kathryn's critiques, prompts, and synchronous sessions were marvelous. The community of writers that formed was strong and committed. Plus, three ...
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AFTERBURN: Flash Revision, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | April 4-April 25 2021 [SOLD OUT]

AFTERBURN: Flash Revision, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | April 4-April 25 2021 [SOLD OUT]
January 29, 2021
AFTERBURN A Workshop in the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 3 weeks April 4-April 25 $175 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] Flash fiction may be born in a lightning flash of inspiration, but crafting works of perfect brevity requires time and patience: sometimes cutting, sometimes adding, and sometimes starting all over again. In very short stories, every word must work, and revision is as much a part of writing flash as it is of writing longer prose. In this hands-on workshop, we'll practice the art of revision. Flash fiction writer and editor Kathryn Kulpa will share first drafts, revisions, and published versions of her own work and that of other flash and short fiction writers. Students will learn different revision strategies and how to apply them to their own work. We will create new flash together and work on taking it through several revisions, and students will also have the chance to bring existing stories to the workshop to revise with a goal of publication. I loved having the ability to work on the material at my own pace, at my own time. I met several writers who I will continue to stay in ...
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THE ART OF FLASH, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | Feb. 25-March 28, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

THE ART OF FLASH, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | Feb. 25-March 28, 2021 [SOLD OUT]
January 29, 2021
THE ART OF FLASH A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa Feb. 25-March 28 5 weeks $200 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected]  Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works. In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example-works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class. This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom pop-up or two and bonus prompts for those who are interested). We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella ...
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THE ART OF FLASH, Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction, taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | January 3 to February 7, 2021 SOLD OUT

Neon Lightning Bolt
September 17, 2020
THE ART OF FLASH A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 5 weeks SOLD OUT Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected]  Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works. In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example-works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class. This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom pop-up or two and bonus prompts for those who are interested). We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook ...
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AFTERBURN A Workshop on the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | November 15 to December 12, 2020

AFTERBURN A Workshop on the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | November 15 to December 12, 2020
September 17, 2020
AFTERBURN A Workshop on the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 3 weeks November 15 to December 12, 2020 $175 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] Flash fiction may be born in a lightning flash of inspiration, but crafting works of perfect brevity requires time and patience: sometimes cutting, sometimes adding, and sometimes starting all over again. In very short stories, every word must work, and revision is as much a part of writing flash as it is of writing longer prose. In this hands-on workshop, we'll practice the art of revision. Flash fiction writer and editor Kathryn Kulpa will share first drafts, revisions, and published versions of her own work and that of other flash and short fiction writers. Students will learn different revision strategies and how to apply them to their own work. We will create new flash together and work on taking it through several revisions, and students will also have the chance to bring existing stories to the workshop to revise with a goal of publication. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion ...
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THE ART OF FLASH, Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction, taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | October 3-November 7, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

Neon Lightning Bolt
July 23, 2020
THE ART OF FLASH A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 5 weeks October 3–November 7 $175 Early Bird before September 3, 2020 $200 Regular Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected]  [Sold Out] Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works. In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example-works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class. This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom pop-up or two and bonus prompts for those who are interested). We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and ...
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AFTERBURN A Workshop the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | August 3 to August 22, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

AFTERBURN A Workshop the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | August 3 to August 22, 2020 [SOLD OUT]
May 29, 2020
AFTERBURN A Workshop in the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 3 weeks August 3 to August 22 $125 early bird / $150 regular Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT Flash fiction may be born in a lightning flash of inspiration, but crafting works of perfect brevity requires time and patience: sometimes cutting, sometimes adding, and sometimes starting all over again. In very short stories, every word must work, and revision is as much a part of writing flash as it is of writing longer prose. In this hands-on workshop, we'll practice the art of revision. Flash fiction writer and editor Kathryn Kulpa will share first drafts, revisions, and published versions of her own work and that of other flash and short fiction writers. Students will learn different revision strategies and how to apply them to their own work. We will create new flash together and work on taking it through several revisions, and students will also have the chance to bring existing stories to the workshop to revise with a goal of publication. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has ...
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THE ART OF FLASH, Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction, taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | May 9 — June 6, 2020 and June 20 — July 25, 2020 [both sections sold out]

Neon Lightning Bolt
May 6, 2020
THE ART OF FLASH A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa Both sessions of Kathryn Kulpa's The Art of Flash are sold out—new classes by Kathryn will be announced shortly! Session 2: 5 weeks June 20 — July 25, 2020 $125 early bird / $150 regular Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] [sold out] Session 1: 5 weeks May 9 — June 6, 2020 $125 early bird / $150 regular Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] [sold out] Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works. In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class. This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can ...
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A Conversation with Melissa Sarno, author of JUST UNDER THE CLOUDS

A Conversation with Melissa Sarno, author of JUST UNDER THE CLOUDS
August 27, 2018
A Conversation with Melissa Sarno author of JUST UNDER THE CLOUDS published by Knopf Books for Young Readers Interview by Kathryn Kulpa Melissa Sarno reviews children’s and young adult books for Cleaver and has just published her debut middle-grade novel, Just Under the Clouds (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2018). It tells the story of Cora, a middle-school girl trying to find a place to belong. Cora’s father always made her feel safe, but now that he has died, she and her mom and her sister Adare have been moving from place to place, trying to find a stable and secure home they can afford. Cora is also dealing with bullying at school and is sometimes challenged by looking after her sister, who has learning differences. But her life holds some good things, too, like a free-spirited new friend and her father’s tree journal, where he kept notes about the plants he took care of. Cora has kept his book and uses it as a way to record her own observations and feelings as she looks for her own true home in the world. While many children experience homelessness, it’s a subject that is seldom explored in contemporary children’s fiction, ...
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NINETY-NINE STORIES OF GOD by Joy Williams reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa

NINETY-NINE STORIES OF GOD by Joy Williams reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa
September 22, 2016
NINETY-NINE STORIES OF GOD by Joy Williams Tin House Books, 151 pages reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa Joy Williams is an author whose work I sought out because once, in a review, someone compared me to her, and since I hadn’t heard of her before, it seemed like a good idea to read her. It was a happy discovery. Still, she was not an author I associated with flash fiction. Her dense, full short stories seemed more like novels writ small. Things change. In Ninety-Nine Stories of God, Williams has pared away all but the essentials. These very short prose pieces are novels written in miniature, pocket epics and cryptic parables etched on the head of a pin. Most are not more than two pages, some are a single paragraph, and a few are just one or two sentences: simple, even stark, yet weighted. The sixty-first story, “Museum,” for example, is one rueful sentence: “We were not interested the way we thought we would be interested.” Williams’s small stories, like the best flash, keep most of the iceberg under the water, leaving us with as many questions as answers. Each story ends, rather than begins, with a title, which often serves ...
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A CONVERSATION WITH KATHRYN KULPA, author of Girls on Film

girls-on-film-cover
September 15, 2016
A CONVERSATION WITH KATHRYN KULPA author of Girls on Film Paper Nautilus Press, 2015 Vella Chapbook Winner interviewed by Michelle Fost I had the chance to catch up with fellow Cleaver editor Kathryn Kulpa about her chapbook, Girls on Film. It is just out from Paper Nautilus and was a winner of the press’s Vella Chapbook Contest. An intriguing part of the prize is that the writer receives a hundred copies of the beautifully designed chapbook to distribute as she likes. Kathryn will be selling signed copies through her Etsy shop, BookishGirlGoods, and she’ll also have them available at readings, writing workshops, and other events. Paper Nautilus will also have the book on sale. For more about the Vella Chapbook contest and Paper Nautilus Press, have a look at the press’s website.—M.F. MF: Congratulations on winning Paper Nautilus’s Vella Chapbook Contest, and the publication of Girls on Film. I wondered if you might talk a little about the process of writing the chapbook. KK: All the pieces in the chapbook were already written, and most of them had been published by the time I put it together, so it was more a process of selecting and matching complementary stories to create a cohesive ...
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A HOUSE MADE OF STARS by Tawnysha Greene reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa

A HOUSE MADE OF STARS by Tawnysha Greene reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa
August 12, 2015
A HOUSE MADE OF STARS by Tawnysha Greene Burlesque Press, 189 pages, 2015. reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa In the very first scene of A House Made of Stars, Tawnysha Greene’s debut novel, the ten-year-old narrator and her sister are awakened by their mother, who spirits them to a darkened bathroom where all three sit in the bathtub, towels piled over them, while the house shakes with thuds so loud even the narrator’s deaf sister can feel their vibrations. Their mother tells them it’s a game. She tells them they’re practicing for earthquakes. But even at ten, the narrator knows it’s not nature’s rage they need to fear. It’s their father’s. Greene’s voice in this novel is pitch perfect, an eerie and convincing combination of innocence and prescience. The hard-of-hearing narrator is homeschooled and isolated; her mother believes public schools will not teach “Godly things.” Yet her understanding of their family dynamic and her father’s mental illness are intuitive and profound. Without adult labels or filters, we see his depression, his paranoia, his moments of happy, expansive mania that can change in an instant to brutal  outbursts, and the scars he carries from his own violent childhood. We see her mother’s ...
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THE BOOK OF LANEY by Myfanwy Collins reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa

THE BOOK OF LANEY by Myfanwy Collins reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa
June 23, 2015
THE BOOK OF LANEY by Myfanwy Collins Lacewing Books, 200 pages reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa When terrible acts of violence occur—as they do all too often in America—our thoughts naturally turn to the victims and their families. But what about the families of those who commit violent crimes? What if someone you grew up with was a school shooter, a terrorist, a mass murderer? That’s the reality fifteen-year-old Laney is living. Her brother West and his friend Mark, two high school outcasts, boarded a school bus armed with machetes, knives, guns, and homemade bombs. Six people died; twelve were wounded. Mark blew himself up, but West made his way home to kill his mother, and he would have killed Laney, too, if police hadn’t stopped him. Left with the wreckage her brother left behind, Laney feels completely alone, unwanted, even hated. Her father died when she was young, and her mother’s boyfriend is only interested in leaving the state as soon as possible. Strangers phone the house with death threats. This is her only identity now: the killer’s sister. The Book of Laney is a young adult novel about facing the worst things the world can hand out and learning ...
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YVONNE IN THE EYE OF DOG by Kathryn Kulpa

YVONNE IN THE EYE OF DOG by Kathryn Kulpa
December 13, 2013
YVONNE IN THE EYE OF DOG by Kathryn Kulpa If God looked for Yvonne would he find her? If God looked down, past stars and satellites, through storm clouds thick and grey as dryer lint, would he see Yvonne in a stolen van, Yvonne in a darkened shopping plaza with Ma’s Diner and A-1 Hardware, Crafts Basket and Pets Plus? Yvonne is down on options, down on her luck. Listening to the sighs and snores of her dog asleep in the back seat, the beat of rain on the roof. Her world the smell of wet dog. Her face in the mirror, hair wild, curling in the damp. Everything about her seems high-contrast, vampirish. Face white, except for that bruise her cover-up won’t cover. Tired eyes. White eyeliner is the trick for that, Teena had taught her. No white eyeliner in Yvonne’s make-up bag. No black, either. Almost out of tricks. She pats more cover-up on her eyelids, feels the oils in the makeup separate. Always something red and raw to show through. Yvonne likes to think that in this whole world not one person knows where she is right now. A parking lot, a strip mall, two hours ...
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LOCAVORE by Kathryn Kulpa

LOCAVORE by Kathryn Kulpa
March 4, 2013
LOCAVORE by Kathryn Kulpa The streets smell like fried dough and there’s the carnival sound of an outdoor mic, a tinny crackle that makes him think of Little League games and awards day at summer camp. It sounds like the end of summer. The locals are celebrating something, the patron saint of clam cakes. They’re selling raffle tickets, but he’s not buying chances. The sky is dark blue, but he’s not watching the sky. The café door is open, inviting him to a darker world of scratched wooden floors and mismatched tables and hard metal chairs: the world of Latte Girl, whose sweet smile is only for the locals, whose cups she graces with sailboats and dragonflies and long-eared dogs, while his foam never holds more than an indifferent swirl. There’s a line—there’s always a line—but he doesn’t mind. He likes to watch her tamp and pull; he likes that everything is done by hand on one old espresso machine; he likes that they are her hands, small and plump, still childish, with chipped black polish on her short fingernails. As often as he tries to touch those hands, she pulls back. Leaves the change on the counter, slides ...
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Published on June 22, 2022 in Summer 2022, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

POETRY SCHOOL A Workshop in Poetic Movements taught by Cleaver Senior Poetry Editor Claire Oleson, June 4—July 9

Cleaver Magazine Posted on April 6, 2022 by thwackMay 18, 2022

POETRY SCHOOL
A Workshop in Poetic Movements
taught by Cleaver Senior Poetry Editor Claire Oleson
Saturday, June 4—Saturday, July 9
Asynchronous with optional Zoom sessions on June 18 and 25 at 11 am ET
Final Zoom reading July 9 at 11 am ET
$250

Register Now

Have you wanted to dive into the history of American poetry while keeping a focus on your own work? In this course, we will tour poetic schools throughout (mostly) American history, extracting their stylistic staples to apply to our own creative work.

Each week will feature a new school of poetry, from the sweeping metric slopes of Romanticism to the varying, slippery concept of contemporary poetry. The goal of this course is to both expose writers to a large swath of styles and poets as well as encourage them to find their own voice as they consciously adopt the tools and talents of the histories we move through.

At its core, this course juggles two things: providing an education and creating space for a generative workshop. At the end of the day, we are centered on the participants’ work, using the tour of poetic schools as a spine to encourage us to press our usual boundaries and bring intentionality and awareness to our own language, voice, and style. The workshop model will facilitate constructive responses from both peers and the instructor. Particular attention will be placed on adopting elements and tactics gleaned from different poetic historical moments while still preserving the inherent perspective of the participants as contemporary writers.

The two optional zoom class sessions will be used to focus on schools of poetry that invest in elements such as meter and performance: spaces that truly demand sound for full engagement.

The readings will be brief but rich, with the intent of inviting multiple re-readings, close readings, note-taking and flexibility for everyone’s lives and work. Supplemental reading will be available for those hungry for more plums from the proverbial icebox. Prompts will be provided inspired by the week’s reading, but will be designed more as springboards for beginning rather than hard-and-fast regulations. Work will be submitted weekly for peer and instructor review. One piece will be chosen by the student for revision for the final class. We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism.

A final optional Zoom meeting will be held as a reading of our work. This will be a veritable museum showcase!


Instructor Bio 

Claire OleClaire Oleson is a queer writer and 2020 Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction. Her work has been published by the Kenyon Review online, the University of Kentucky’s graduate literary journal Limestone, the LA Review of Books, and Newfound Press, among others. She is the 2019 winner of the Newfound Prose Prize and the Poetry Editor at Cleaver Magazine. Her chapbook, Things from the Creek Bed We Could Have Been, debuted May, 2020.

 

SYLLABUS

1: Introductions: What’s School? I have a Confession…

We will open with an investigation of what is meant by a “school” or movement in poetic history. We will start with the Confessionalist movement of Post-War 20th century America. This school offers us a nice lean in: a clear identifiable style with a great deal of internal variation and a warm invitation to write sincerely about the self.

2: The Imagist Movement

This week, we will dive into writing that borrows inspiration from image. This movement is usually identified as originating in the U.S. and Europe around the 1910s and is nestled into the larger Modernist tradition. We will be invited to consider how language operates to create a picture and how that picture can function as a communicator in and of itself.

3: L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Poetry

In a sharp left turn, this module will explore writing the writing of the Language movement. Born in the U.S. in the 1960s and 70s, this movement leans away from the figurative and imagistic and promotes language as itself. This movement also focuses on the reader’s participation in the creation of meaning.

4: The Beat Generation

With fundamental influences from the Romantic movement, this school is firmly rooted in a tumultuous moment in American history from post WWII to the 1970s. This style is characterized by a rejection of narrative forms, explicit embraces of the human condition, and a fearlessness in the face of obscenity.

5: A New School but not The New School

In this final module, we will take a look at some stylistically innovative contemporary writers and participants will be asked to craft their own “school” or “movement” of poetry, communicate its identifiable features and ethos, and edit a poem previously submitted for the class to illustrate the style and voice they are presenting.

ZOOM 1: The Harlem Renaissance to Spoken Word: Poetry as an Oral form In American History

ZOOM 2: Romantic Poetry (Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries) the Defining Forms

Schedule (June 4- July 9)

New Modules posted on Mondays,

Pieces due by Friday, 11:59.

Feedback from All Due by Sunday, 11:59

Zoom sessions on Saturdays at 11 AM

  • One on June 18 and one on June 25
  • Final zoom reading: July 9

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Published on April 6, 2022 in Poetry Workshops, Spring Summer 2022, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

TELL ME WHAT YOU EAT: Writing About Food and Ourselves, taught by Kristen Martin, June 7-28, 2022

Cleaver Magazine Posted on March 30, 2022 by thwackMay 31, 2022

Writing About Food and Ourselves
taught by Kristen Martin
for beginner to advanced nonfiction writers
Four weeks
June 7–28
Zoom meetings 5:30–7:30 PM ET on Tuesdays 6/7, 6/14, 6/21, 6/28
Class Limit: 12
$250

POSTPONED

 

TELL ME WHAT YOU EAT and I will tell you who you are. Food writing most often calls to mind food criticism: reviews that capture and evaluate the experience of a meal. But the best food writing illuminates beyond food’s immediate appeal, providing insight into identity, culture, memory, and place. A sub-genre of food writing that provides that insight is the food-centric personal essay or memoir. In this four-week course, we will read and discuss work by writers like Toni Tipton-Martin, Francis Lam, Michelle Zauner, Mayukh Sen, and Ruth Reichl, and we will use our own memories of food as lenses into exploring ourselves.

Each week, we will meet on Zoom (5:30–7:30 PM EST on Tuesdays) for synchronous discussions of readings and writing exercises. During the last two weeks, participants will have the opportunity to workshop one essay/memoir piece with their peers. Participants will also receive written instructor feedback on one essay/memoir piece.

Week One: The Proustian Madeline—Using Food as a Doorway to Memory

Week Two: Food and Personality

Week Three: Food and Cultural Identity / Workshop Group 1

Week Four: Smorgasbord / Workshop Group 2


Kristen Martin is working on a narrative nonfiction book that deconstructs myths of American orphanhood for Bold Type Books. Her writing has been published in The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, NPR Books, The Baffler, Lapham’s Quarterly, The Believer, Bookforum, and elsewhere. She received an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Università degli Scienze Gastronomiche in Italy, where she was a Fulbright-Casten Family Scholar. She has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Columbia University, and CUNY Baruch College, as well as for the Philadelphia literary community Blue Stoop.

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Published on March 30, 2022 in CNF Workshops, Spring Summer 2022, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

THE WRITE TIME for practice and inspiration, taught by Andrea Caswell, Sunday, May 22 , 2022

Cleaver Magazine Posted on March 29, 2022 by thwackMarch 29, 2022

THE WRITE TIME
for practice and inspiration
Taught by Cleaver Editor Andrea Caswell

11:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m. ET
Sunday, May 22, 2022

$60 

Register NowTHE WRITE TIME is a generative writing session for writers of all levels and genres. Immerse yourself in this two-hour writing retreat, where we’ll read and discuss short prose, experiment with optional prompts during in-class writing time, and nurture a writing practice rooted in curiosity and creativity. Whether you want to begin new work or simply play in your notebook, you’ll enrich your practice with other writers in a motivational and supportive setting.

What you’ll get from this class:
-real-time meeting with your instructor and fellow writers
-reading and discussion of short inspirational texts
-strategies for building a personal writing practice
-dedicated in-class writing time
-optional prompts that invite experimentation and discovery
-a safe and supportive writing community


Andrea Caswell’s writing has been published widely in print and online. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Tampa Review, River Teeth, The Normal School, Columbia Journal, Atticus Review, and others. She holds a master’s from Harvard University and an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She’s a fiction editor for Cleaver Magazine, and is the founder of Lime Street Writers, a monthly workshop north of Boston. In 2019 her fiction was accepted to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. A native of Los Angeles, Andrea now lives and teaches in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Contact her at www.andreacaswell.com.

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Published on March 29, 2022 in Spring Summer 2022, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Sunday, May 1—Saturday, May 28

Cleaver Magazine Posted on March 25, 2022 by thwackMay 18, 2022

MICRO MENTORING
Flash Fiction Masterclass
Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa
4 weeks
Sunday, May 1—Saturday, May 28
Asynchronous, with weekly (optional) Zoom meetings on Thursday evenings or Sunday afternoons.
$300
Class limit: 6
This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction.
Questions: [email protected]

SOLD OUT!

This workshop, for experienced flash fiction writers, is limited to six students and will feature a combination of generative writing prompts and in-depth discussion of works in progress. In addition to the optional twice-weekly Zoom meetings, students may also, if desired, schedule a one-on-one Zoom consultation with the instructor.


Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout Rhode Island.


A conversation with Nancy Ludmerer, author of Collateral Damage: 48 Stories by Kathryn Kulpa

A conversation with Nancy Ludmerer, author of Collateral Damage: 48 Stories by Kathryn Kulpa
February 14, 2023
FLASH-WRITERS: TRUST YOUR READER: a conversation with Nancy Ludmerer, author of Collateral Damage: 48 Stories (Snake Nation Press, 2022) by Kathryn Kulpa I had the pleasure of interviewing Nancy Ludmerer, a student in one of my Cleaver flash fiction workshops, about her full-length flash collection Collateral Damage: 48 Stories, published by Snake Nation Press. Nancy’s work, both fiction and nonfiction, has been widely published in journals, and she moves effortlessly from brief, lyrical microfiction to longer, more complex stories that push the boundaries of flash fiction. A master of compression, she can unfold a lifetime in a paragraph, as she does in this piece from the collection, originally published in Night Train: Bar Mitzvah When Benjy started to choke on a piece of celery stuffed with scallion cream cheese, I turned from the buffet table and asked, are you okay, and when he shook his head, I said raise your arms but he kept choking, so I slapped him on the back of his fancy new suit, and then two words clicked in my head Heimlich maneuver so I punched my fist into his stomach even though this was the wrong way to do it, but I couldn’t think, couldn’t ...
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MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, October 1 – October 30, 2022

MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, October 1 – October 30, 2022
September 9, 2022
MICRO MENTORING Flash Fiction Masterclass Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 4 weeks Saturday, October 1 - Sunday, October 30; asynchronous with 4 group Zoom sessions, plus an optional one-on-one Zoom consult with each student. $300 Class limit: 6 This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. Questions: [email protected] This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. You are invited to begin the class with work you would like to complete and revise, but we will also offer group exercises to generate new work, accountability, and feedback. Previous students are welcome! Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout ...
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MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, July 8 — August 6, 2022

MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, July 8 — August 6, 2022
June 22, 2022
MICRO MENTORING Flash Fiction Masterclass Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 4 weeks Friday, July 8—Saturday, August 6; ZOOM meetings on Sunday, July 10; Sunday, July 17; Sunday, July 24; and Sunday, July 31. $300 Class limit: 6 This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. You are invited to begin the class with work you would like to complete and revise, but we will also offer group exercises to generate new work, accountability, and feedback. Previous students are welcome! Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout ...
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MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Sunday, May 1—Saturday, May 28

MICRO MENTORING: Flash Fiction Masterclass, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Sunday, May 1—Saturday, May 28
March 25, 2022
MICRO MENTORING Flash Fiction Masterclass Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 4 weeks Sunday, May 1—Saturday, May 28 Asynchronous, with weekly (optional) Zoom meetings on Thursday evenings or Sunday afternoons. $300 Class limit: 6 This class is intended for writers with experience in flash fiction. Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT! This workshop, for experienced flash fiction writers, is limited to six students and will feature a combination of generative writing prompts and in-depth discussion of works in progress. In addition to the optional twice-weekly Zoom meetings, students may also, if desired, schedule a one-on-one Zoom consultation with the instructor. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout ...
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WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Feb 20—March 27 2022

WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Feb 20—March 27 2022
December 6, 2021
WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 5 weeks February 20—March 27 Asynchronous, with weekly (optional) Zoom meetings on Sunday evenings $200 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT Do you tend to procrastinate? Do you often do your best work under pressure? Do you sometimes start stories but never get around to finishing or revising them? Do you find the whole process of submitting work for publication stressful or depressing? This five-week workshop is designed for busy writers who want to put writing time and accountability into their schedule with a combination of online prompts, real-time writing sessions, constructive revision suggestions, submission tips, and a group of writing buddies willing to take the submission plunge with you. We will focus on short flash (up to 500 words) and microfiction (up to 400 words). The first two weeks, we will work on generating new stories; in the third week, we’ll focus on revision; and by the fourth week, everyone will commit to submitting three stories for publication (as your classmates cheer you on). Kathryn Kulpa, THE ART OF FLASH; AFTERBURN; FLASH BOOTCAMP; WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH!, (flash fiction and nonfiction) was a winner of ...
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Five and a Half Questions for Michelle Ross on her new collection SHAPESHIFTING—Interview by Kathryn Kulpa

Five and a Half Questions for Michelle Ross on her new collection SHAPESHIFTING—Interview by Kathryn Kulpa
November 17, 2021
Five and a Half Questions for Michelle Ross on SHAPESHIFTING from Stillhouse Press Interview by Kathryn Kulpa Michelle Ross has published short fiction in Cleaver (“Lessons,” Issue 13; “My Husband is Always Losing Things,” Issue 23; “Night Vision,” with Kim Magowan, Issue 34). She spoke to us recently about her new short story collection Shapeshifting. Kathryn Kulpa: This is such a strong collection! One thing I really like about Shapeshifting is the diversity of points of view, style, and even genre. There are short, flash-like pieces, longer stories, realistic and often funny pieces like “After Pangaea,” with the parents sleeping in cars to keep their place in line to sign their kids up for kindergarten, and darker, more disturbing stories like “Keeper Four” and “A Mouth is a House for Teeth.” Did you worry that the stories might be too divergent, or that publishers might want a more uniform voice? Michelle Ross: Thank you so much, Kathryn, and thanks for talking with me about the book! I can’t say I worried about the range of the stories in that regard. Many years ago, I accepted (and have since embraced) that I’m a writer who needs to work in a variety ...
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WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice, Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa, October 24 to November 21. [SOLD OUT]

WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice,  Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa, October 24 to November 21. [SOLD OUT]
August 14, 2021
WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 4 weeks: Sunday, Oct. 24 to Sunday, Nov. 21 Mostly asynchronous with one weekly Zoom meeting: Sunday, October 24 - Intro; 11 am Thursday, November 4, 6:30 pm Sunday, Nov. 7, 11 am Thursday, Nov. 18, 6:30 pm $200 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT Do you tend to procrastinate? Do you often do your best work under pressure? Do you sometimes start stories but never get around to finishing or revising them? Do you find the whole process of submitting work for publication stressful or depressing? This four-week workshop is designed for busy writers who want to put writing time and accountability into their schedule with a combination of online prompts, real-time writing sessions, constructive revision suggestions, submission tips, and a group of writing buddies willing to take the submission plunge with you. We will focus on short flash (up to 500 words) and microfiction (up to 400 words). The first two weeks, we will work on generating new stories; in the third week, we’ll focus on revision; and by the fourth week, everyone will commit to submitting three stories for publication (as your ...
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FLASH BOOTCAMP, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Four Weekend Sessions in June-July, 2021

FLASH BOOTCAMP, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Four Weekend Sessions in June-July, 2021
May 3, 2021
FLASH BOOTCAMP 4 Summer Weekend Bootcamps Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa June 4 - 6 June 18 - 20 July 9 - 11 July 23 - 25 Saturday and Sunday Zoom sessions 2-4 pm ET $150 for one session; $275 for two sessions; $375 for three Sessions; $425 for all four sessions. *Get focused!* *Get motivated!* *Get writing!* This generative mini-workshop is designed for busy writers who need to carve out some writing time to generate new work, and who crave deadlines and accountability to stay motivated. This class combines writing prompt "homework" you do on your own with group writing and discussion sessions. In just three days (Friday through Sunday), you will have six new micro-stories ready to revise! Format: Combines asynchronous (writing prompts you do on your own time Friday and Saturday) with two, 2-hour Zoom sessions on Saturday and Sunday. Focus:  Flash pieces 500 words and under. The exercises and feedback were excellent. I also appreciated the Zoom classes which helped me connect with other writers and discuss work. The workshop was incredibly helpful. Kathryn's critiques, prompts, and synchronous sessions were marvelous. The community of writers that formed was strong and committed. Plus, three ...
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AFTERBURN: Flash Revision, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | April 4-April 25 2021 [SOLD OUT]

AFTERBURN: Flash Revision, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | April 4-April 25 2021 [SOLD OUT]
January 29, 2021
AFTERBURN A Workshop in the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 3 weeks April 4-April 25 $175 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] Flash fiction may be born in a lightning flash of inspiration, but crafting works of perfect brevity requires time and patience: sometimes cutting, sometimes adding, and sometimes starting all over again. In very short stories, every word must work, and revision is as much a part of writing flash as it is of writing longer prose. In this hands-on workshop, we'll practice the art of revision. Flash fiction writer and editor Kathryn Kulpa will share first drafts, revisions, and published versions of her own work and that of other flash and short fiction writers. Students will learn different revision strategies and how to apply them to their own work. We will create new flash together and work on taking it through several revisions, and students will also have the chance to bring existing stories to the workshop to revise with a goal of publication. I loved having the ability to work on the material at my own pace, at my own time. I met several writers who I will continue to stay in ...
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THE ART OF FLASH, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | Feb. 25-March 28, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

THE ART OF FLASH, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | Feb. 25-March 28, 2021 [SOLD OUT]
January 29, 2021
THE ART OF FLASH A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa Feb. 25-March 28 5 weeks $200 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected]  Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works. In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example-works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class. This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom pop-up or two and bonus prompts for those who are interested). We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella ...
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THE ART OF FLASH, Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction, taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | January 3 to February 7, 2021 SOLD OUT

Neon Lightning Bolt
September 17, 2020
THE ART OF FLASH A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 5 weeks SOLD OUT Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected]  Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works. In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example-works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class. This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom pop-up or two and bonus prompts for those who are interested). We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook ...
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AFTERBURN A Workshop on the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | November 15 to December 12, 2020

AFTERBURN A Workshop on the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | November 15 to December 12, 2020
September 17, 2020
AFTERBURN A Workshop on the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 3 weeks November 15 to December 12, 2020 $175 Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] Flash fiction may be born in a lightning flash of inspiration, but crafting works of perfect brevity requires time and patience: sometimes cutting, sometimes adding, and sometimes starting all over again. In very short stories, every word must work, and revision is as much a part of writing flash as it is of writing longer prose. In this hands-on workshop, we'll practice the art of revision. Flash fiction writer and editor Kathryn Kulpa will share first drafts, revisions, and published versions of her own work and that of other flash and short fiction writers. Students will learn different revision strategies and how to apply them to their own work. We will create new flash together and work on taking it through several revisions, and students will also have the chance to bring existing stories to the workshop to revise with a goal of publication. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion ...
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THE ART OF FLASH, Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction, taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | October 3-November 7, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

Neon Lightning Bolt
July 23, 2020
THE ART OF FLASH A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 5 weeks October 3–November 7 $175 Early Bird before September 3, 2020 $200 Regular Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected]  [Sold Out] Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works. In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example-works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class. This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom pop-up or two and bonus prompts for those who are interested). We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and ...
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AFTERBURN A Workshop the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | August 3 to August 22, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

AFTERBURN A Workshop the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | August 3 to August 22, 2020 [SOLD OUT]
May 29, 2020
AFTERBURN A Workshop in the Art of Flash Revision Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa 3 weeks August 3 to August 22 $125 early bird / $150 regular Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] SOLD OUT Flash fiction may be born in a lightning flash of inspiration, but crafting works of perfect brevity requires time and patience: sometimes cutting, sometimes adding, and sometimes starting all over again. In very short stories, every word must work, and revision is as much a part of writing flash as it is of writing longer prose. In this hands-on workshop, we'll practice the art of revision. Flash fiction writer and editor Kathryn Kulpa will share first drafts, revisions, and published versions of her own work and that of other flash and short fiction writers. Students will learn different revision strategies and how to apply them to their own work. We will create new flash together and work on taking it through several revisions, and students will also have the chance to bring existing stories to the workshop to revise with a goal of publication. Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has ...
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THE ART OF FLASH, Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction, taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | May 9 — June 6, 2020 and June 20 — July 25, 2020 [both sections sold out]

Neon Lightning Bolt
May 6, 2020
THE ART OF FLASH A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa Both sessions of Kathryn Kulpa's The Art of Flash are sold out—new classes by Kathryn will be announced shortly! Session 2: 5 weeks June 20 — July 25, 2020 $125 early bird / $150 regular Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] [sold out] Session 1: 5 weeks May 9 — June 6, 2020 $125 early bird / $150 regular Class limit: 12 Questions: [email protected] [sold out] Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works. In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class. This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can ...
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A Conversation with Melissa Sarno, author of JUST UNDER THE CLOUDS

A Conversation with Melissa Sarno, author of JUST UNDER THE CLOUDS
August 27, 2018
A Conversation with Melissa Sarno author of JUST UNDER THE CLOUDS published by Knopf Books for Young Readers Interview by Kathryn Kulpa Melissa Sarno reviews children’s and young adult books for Cleaver and has just published her debut middle-grade novel, Just Under the Clouds (Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2018). It tells the story of Cora, a middle-school girl trying to find a place to belong. Cora’s father always made her feel safe, but now that he has died, she and her mom and her sister Adare have been moving from place to place, trying to find a stable and secure home they can afford. Cora is also dealing with bullying at school and is sometimes challenged by looking after her sister, who has learning differences. But her life holds some good things, too, like a free-spirited new friend and her father’s tree journal, where he kept notes about the plants he took care of. Cora has kept his book and uses it as a way to record her own observations and feelings as she looks for her own true home in the world. While many children experience homelessness, it’s a subject that is seldom explored in contemporary children’s fiction, ...
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NINETY-NINE STORIES OF GOD by Joy Williams reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa

NINETY-NINE STORIES OF GOD by Joy Williams reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa
September 22, 2016
NINETY-NINE STORIES OF GOD by Joy Williams Tin House Books, 151 pages reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa Joy Williams is an author whose work I sought out because once, in a review, someone compared me to her, and since I hadn’t heard of her before, it seemed like a good idea to read her. It was a happy discovery. Still, she was not an author I associated with flash fiction. Her dense, full short stories seemed more like novels writ small. Things change. In Ninety-Nine Stories of God, Williams has pared away all but the essentials. These very short prose pieces are novels written in miniature, pocket epics and cryptic parables etched on the head of a pin. Most are not more than two pages, some are a single paragraph, and a few are just one or two sentences: simple, even stark, yet weighted. The sixty-first story, “Museum,” for example, is one rueful sentence: “We were not interested the way we thought we would be interested.” Williams’s small stories, like the best flash, keep most of the iceberg under the water, leaving us with as many questions as answers. Each story ends, rather than begins, with a title, which often serves ...
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A CONVERSATION WITH KATHRYN KULPA, author of Girls on Film

girls-on-film-cover
September 15, 2016
A CONVERSATION WITH KATHRYN KULPA author of Girls on Film Paper Nautilus Press, 2015 Vella Chapbook Winner interviewed by Michelle Fost I had the chance to catch up with fellow Cleaver editor Kathryn Kulpa about her chapbook, Girls on Film. It is just out from Paper Nautilus and was a winner of the press’s Vella Chapbook Contest. An intriguing part of the prize is that the writer receives a hundred copies of the beautifully designed chapbook to distribute as she likes. Kathryn will be selling signed copies through her Etsy shop, BookishGirlGoods, and she’ll also have them available at readings, writing workshops, and other events. Paper Nautilus will also have the book on sale. For more about the Vella Chapbook contest and Paper Nautilus Press, have a look at the press’s website.—M.F. MF: Congratulations on winning Paper Nautilus’s Vella Chapbook Contest, and the publication of Girls on Film. I wondered if you might talk a little about the process of writing the chapbook. KK: All the pieces in the chapbook were already written, and most of them had been published by the time I put it together, so it was more a process of selecting and matching complementary stories to create a cohesive ...
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A HOUSE MADE OF STARS by Tawnysha Greene reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa

A HOUSE MADE OF STARS by Tawnysha Greene reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa
August 12, 2015
A HOUSE MADE OF STARS by Tawnysha Greene Burlesque Press, 189 pages, 2015. reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa In the very first scene of A House Made of Stars, Tawnysha Greene’s debut novel, the ten-year-old narrator and her sister are awakened by their mother, who spirits them to a darkened bathroom where all three sit in the bathtub, towels piled over them, while the house shakes with thuds so loud even the narrator’s deaf sister can feel their vibrations. Their mother tells them it’s a game. She tells them they’re practicing for earthquakes. But even at ten, the narrator knows it’s not nature’s rage they need to fear. It’s their father’s. Greene’s voice in this novel is pitch perfect, an eerie and convincing combination of innocence and prescience. The hard-of-hearing narrator is homeschooled and isolated; her mother believes public schools will not teach “Godly things.” Yet her understanding of their family dynamic and her father’s mental illness are intuitive and profound. Without adult labels or filters, we see his depression, his paranoia, his moments of happy, expansive mania that can change in an instant to brutal  outbursts, and the scars he carries from his own violent childhood. We see her mother’s ...
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THE BOOK OF LANEY by Myfanwy Collins reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa

THE BOOK OF LANEY by Myfanwy Collins reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa
June 23, 2015
THE BOOK OF LANEY by Myfanwy Collins Lacewing Books, 200 pages reviewed by Kathryn Kulpa When terrible acts of violence occur—as they do all too often in America—our thoughts naturally turn to the victims and their families. But what about the families of those who commit violent crimes? What if someone you grew up with was a school shooter, a terrorist, a mass murderer? That’s the reality fifteen-year-old Laney is living. Her brother West and his friend Mark, two high school outcasts, boarded a school bus armed with machetes, knives, guns, and homemade bombs. Six people died; twelve were wounded. Mark blew himself up, but West made his way home to kill his mother, and he would have killed Laney, too, if police hadn’t stopped him. Left with the wreckage her brother left behind, Laney feels completely alone, unwanted, even hated. Her father died when she was young, and her mother’s boyfriend is only interested in leaving the state as soon as possible. Strangers phone the house with death threats. This is her only identity now: the killer’s sister. The Book of Laney is a young adult novel about facing the worst things the world can hand out and learning ...
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YVONNE IN THE EYE OF DOG by Kathryn Kulpa

YVONNE IN THE EYE OF DOG by Kathryn Kulpa
December 13, 2013
YVONNE IN THE EYE OF DOG by Kathryn Kulpa If God looked for Yvonne would he find her? If God looked down, past stars and satellites, through storm clouds thick and grey as dryer lint, would he see Yvonne in a stolen van, Yvonne in a darkened shopping plaza with Ma’s Diner and A-1 Hardware, Crafts Basket and Pets Plus? Yvonne is down on options, down on her luck. Listening to the sighs and snores of her dog asleep in the back seat, the beat of rain on the roof. Her world the smell of wet dog. Her face in the mirror, hair wild, curling in the damp. Everything about her seems high-contrast, vampirish. Face white, except for that bruise her cover-up won’t cover. Tired eyes. White eyeliner is the trick for that, Teena had taught her. No white eyeliner in Yvonne’s make-up bag. No black, either. Almost out of tricks. She pats more cover-up on her eyelids, feels the oils in the makeup separate. Always something red and raw to show through. Yvonne likes to think that in this whole world not one person knows where she is right now. A parking lot, a strip mall, two hours ...
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LOCAVORE by Kathryn Kulpa

LOCAVORE by Kathryn Kulpa
March 4, 2013
LOCAVORE by Kathryn Kulpa The streets smell like fried dough and there’s the carnival sound of an outdoor mic, a tinny crackle that makes him think of Little League games and awards day at summer camp. It sounds like the end of summer. The locals are celebrating something, the patron saint of clam cakes. They’re selling raffle tickets, but he’s not buying chances. The sky is dark blue, but he’s not watching the sky. The café door is open, inviting him to a darker world of scratched wooden floors and mismatched tables and hard metal chairs: the world of Latte Girl, whose sweet smile is only for the locals, whose cups she graces with sailboats and dragonflies and long-eared dogs, while his foam never holds more than an indifferent swirl. There’s a line—there’s always a line—but he doesn’t mind. He likes to watch her tamp and pull; he likes that everything is done by hand on one old espresso machine; he likes that they are her hands, small and plump, still childish, with chipped black polish on her short fingernails. As often as he tries to touch those hands, she pulls back. Leaves the change on the counter, slides ...
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Published on March 25, 2022 in Spring Summer 2022, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

WRITING THE BODY, taught by Marnie Goodfriend, May 25—June 22, 2022

Cleaver Magazine Posted on March 25, 2022 by thwackMay 20, 2022

WRITING THE BODY
Taught by Marnie Goodfriend
For beginner to advanced nonfiction writers
5 weeks
May 25—June 22
Zoom meetings 7 pm—8:30 pm ET on Wednesday 5/25, 6/1, 6/8, 6/15 and 6/22
$250
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

SOLD OUT

We all live in and through our bodies. Connection to the self and how we perceive, and are perceived, by the world around us is intrinsically tied to the vessel we reside in. Bodies can be political battlegrounds, sacred spaces, pleasure palaces, and crime scenes. As creative nonfiction or hybrid writers, how can we deepen our writing and understanding of ourselves by looking at the layered relationship we have with our bodies?

Open to new and seasoned writers, this six-week workshop will focus on six pressure points to generate new material from different life experiences: eating, politics, health, intimacy, physical and emotional trauma, and crime. We will read works by writers such as Roxane Gay, Chanel Miller, Kiese Laymon, Maggie Nelson, and Porochista Khakpour to spark ideas about we can approach our own stories about the body.

Each class will include exercises, writing prompts, and discussions of assigned readings. Participants will workshop one essay and receive feedback on their generative writing in a safe and encouraging environment.

Week One: Eating

What we feed our bodies with shapes the physical vessel we inhabit and affects the way we are seen in the world. Week one explores the stories we have about edible consumption, deprivation, diets, habits, and traditions. We’ll write and share our in-class writing prompt in a safe and supportive space and discuss ways to expand upon generative exercises.

Week Two: Illness and Injury

Our physical and mental maladies — and those that affect our loved ones — can scar and strengthen us. What can we learn from listening to our bodies’ first language? How do we answer back? Week two includes in-class writing, sharing, readings and conversations around it hurts — the very first words we learned to express pain.

Week Three: Sex

Sex can be an act of love, passion, obsession, power, abuse, ectasty, and pain. It’s also arguably one of the trickiest experiences to write about. It requires the same vulnerability necessary to shed our clothing and express ourselves through touch. We will approach writing about sex with gentleness, honesty, and, depending on the experience, anger or humor. Week four will explore the often taboo subject and how we mine for the words to articulate our relationship to intimacy or the absence of it.

Week Four: The Body Politic

The choices we make for our bodies are hotly-debated issues that cause division among people and places. What do we do when our bodies become battlegrounds and personal choices are designated a public domain? How do we reclaim our bodies if we never had choices to begin with? Week three explores the body as a political instrument of power, persuasion and fear. We’ll write about seeing the body as a larger entity and our personal relationship to other people and institutions invading the skin we live in.

Week Five: Movement

Movement is another tool to express how we walk through this earth. Like touch, sense or smell, it guides a reader through our personal experience by showing not telling. As life observers and documentarians, how can we use gestures, motion or inertia to deepen a story? In week five, we’ll consider where we can include movement to add depth and dimension to our written narratives.


Marnie Goodfriend is a writer, sexual assault advocate, and social practice artist. She is a 2018 VCCA fellow, recipient of the Jane G. Camp scholarship, and a 2016 PEN America fellow. Her advocacy work, Write to Healing, helps sexual assault survivors reauthor their experience through narrative healing. Marnie’s essays, articles, and other writing appear in TIME, Washington Post, The Rumpus, She Knows, Health, and elsewhere.

Read her essay “Fund What You Fear” on Cleaver.

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Published on March 25, 2022 in CNF Workshops, Spring Summer 2022, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction, taught by Sydney Tammarine, May 29—June 26, 2022

Cleaver Magazine Posted on March 25, 2022 by thwackMay 18, 2022

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY:
Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction
Taught by Cleaver Editor Sydney Tammarine
for intermediate and advanced nonfiction writers
5 weeks
May 29—June 26
Zoom meetings 11 am—12 pm ET on Sundays 5/29, 6/5, 6/12, and 6/19
$250
Class limit: 12

Questions: [email protected]

 

SOLD OUT

Memoirist Patricia Hampl said, “Memoir isn’t for reminiscence; it’s for exploration.” Just as nonfiction writers explore the world and the internal landscape of their lives, they also explore the landscape of language: What is the best way to tell your story? How can the form we choose help us convey complicated ideas and experiences? And how do we know when a structure is working for us, rather than limiting us?

To answer that last question, I’ll borrow a few words from writer Brandon Schrand: “[I]f you have finished reading something experimental and if by the end, you can’t imagine it written in any other way, then the piece was successful.”

In this class, we will explore the boundaries—and boundlessness—of creative nonfiction, diving deeply into questions of memory and language while trying our hands at various innovative forms. Topics will include:

Week One: Found Forms, also known as the “hermit crab essay”
Week Two: The Braided Essay, to help us write what’s too hard to speak about directly
Week Three: Nonlinear Narrative, a breaking-free to flash backward and forward in time
Week Four: The Lyric Essay, where poetry and prose intersect

We will have weekly readings, writing prompts, peer workshops (asynchronous through Canvas), and discussions (synchronous through Zoom: 11am to 12pm EST on Sundays. Students will also revise one essay for instructor feedback. We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and enthusiastic feedback on their work.


Sydney TammarineSydney Tammarine’s work has appeared in Ploughshares, B O D Y, Pithead Chapel, The New School’s LIT, and other journals. Her essay “Blue Hour” was selected as a Notable Essay in The Best American Essays 2021. She is the co-translator of a book of poems, The Most Beautiful Cemetery in Chile. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University and teaches writing at Virginia Military Institute. She has led workshops at The Ohio State University, Hollins University, Otterbein University, and at high schools, including as Writer-in-Residence at Appomattox Regional Governor’s School. She serves as flash and creative nonfiction editor for Cleaver.

 

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction, taught by Sydney Tammarine, May 29—June 26, 2022

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction, taught by Sydney Tammarine, May 29—June 26, 2022

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction, taught by Sydney Tammarine, Feb 5 — March 7, 2022

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction, taught by Sydney Tammarine, Feb 5 — March 7, 2022

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms, taught by Sydney Tammarine | July 18 – August 14 [SOLD OUT]

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms, taught by Sydney Tammarine | July 18 – August 14 [SOLD OUT]

TELLING TRUE STORIES, taught by Sydney Tammarine | May 10 – June 11, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

TELLING TRUE STORIES, taught by Sydney Tammarine | May 10 - June 11, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

NONFICTION CLINIC

NONFICTION CLINIC

TELLING TRUE STORIES, a Workshop in Creative Nonfiction, by Sydney Tammarine | December 7, 2020- January 9, 2021 SOLD OUT

cover image telling true stories a lightbulb on a dark background

TELLING TRUE STORIES A Workshop in Creative Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Editor Sydney Tammarine | October 19–November 20, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

cover image telling true stories a lightbulb on a dark background

TELLING TRUE STORIES, a Workshop in Creative Nonfiction, by Sydney Tammarine | July 27 – August 28, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

cover image telling true stories a lightbulb on a dark background

BARYCENTER by Sydney Tammarine

BARYCENTER by Sydney Tammarine

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Published on March 25, 2022 in CNF Workshops, Spring Summer 2022, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Feb 20—March 27 2022

Cleaver Magazine Posted on December 6, 2021 by thwackJanuary 11, 2022

WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH!
Flash & Microfiction Practice
Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa
5 weeks
February 20—March 27
Asynchronous, with weekly (optional) Zoom meetings on Sunday evenings
$200
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

SOLD OUT

Do you tend to procrastinate? Do you often do your best work under pressure? Do you sometimes start stories but never get around to finishing or revising them? Do you find the whole process of submitting work for publication stressful or depressing?

This five-week workshop is designed for busy writers who want to put writing time and accountability into their schedule with a combination of online prompts, real-time writing sessions, constructive revision suggestions, submission tips, and a group of writing buddies willing to take the submission plunge with you. We will focus on short flash (up to 500 words) and microfiction (up to 400 words). The first two weeks, we will work on generating new stories; in the third week, we’ll focus on revision; and by the fourth week, everyone will commit to submitting three stories for publication (as your classmates cheer you on).


Kathryn Kulpa, THE ART OF FLASH; AFTERBURN; FLASH BOOTCAMP; WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH!, (flash fiction and nonfiction) was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout Rhode Island.

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Published on December 6, 2021 in Winter 2022 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction, taught by Sydney Tammarine, Feb 5 — March 7, 2022

Cleaver Magazine Posted on November 29, 2021 by thwackJanuary 11, 2022

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY:
Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction
Taught by Cleaver Editor Sydney Tammarine
for intermediate and advanced nonfiction writers

Session: 5 weeks
February 6 – March 7
Zoom meetings 11am—12pm ET on Sundays 2/6, 2/13, 2/20, and 2/27
$200
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

 

SOLD OUT

Memoirist Patricia Hampl said, “Memoir isn’t for reminiscence; it’s for exploration.” Just as nonfiction writers explore the world and the internal landscape of their lives, they also explore the landscape of language: What is the best way to tell your story? How can the form we choose help us convey complicated ideas and experiences? And how do we know when a structure is working for us, rather than limiting us?

To answer that last question, I’ll borrow a few words from writer Brandon Schrand: “[I]f you have finished reading something experimental and if by the end, you can’t imagine it written in any other way, then the piece was successful.”

In this class, we will explore the boundaries—and boundlessness—of creative nonfiction, diving deeply into questions of memory and language while trying our hands at various innovative forms. Topics will include:

Week One: Found Forms, also known as the “hermit crab essay”
Week Two: The Braided Essay, to help us write what’s too hard to speak about directly
Week Three: Nonlinear Narrative, a breaking-free to flash backward and forward in time
Week Four: The Lyric Essay, where poetry and prose intersect

We will have weekly readings, writing prompts, peer workshops (asynchronous through Canvas), and discussions (synchronous through Zoom: 11am – 12pm EST on Sundays 2/6, 2/13, 2/20, and 2/27). Students will also revise one essay for instructor feedback. We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and enthusiastic feedback on their work.


Sydney TammarineSydney Tammarine’s work has appeared in Ploughshares, B O D Y, Pithead Chapel, The New School’s LIT, and other journals. Her essay “Blue Hour” was selected as a Notable Essay in The Best American Essays 2021. She is the co-translator of a book of poems, The Most Beautiful Cemetery in Chile. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University and teaches writing at Virginia Military Institute. She has led workshops at The Ohio State University, Hollins University, Otterbein University, and at high schools, including as Writer-in-Residence at Appomattox Regional Governor’s School. She serves as flash and creative nonfiction editor for Cleaver.

 

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction, taught by Sydney Tammarine, May 29—June 26, 2022

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction, taught by Sydney Tammarine, May 29—June 26, 2022

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction, taught by Sydney Tammarine, Feb 5 — March 7, 2022

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction, taught by Sydney Tammarine, Feb 5 — March 7, 2022

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms, taught by Sydney Tammarine | July 18 – August 14 [SOLD OUT]

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms, taught by Sydney Tammarine | July 18 – August 14 [SOLD OUT]

TELLING TRUE STORIES, taught by Sydney Tammarine | May 10 – June 11, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

TELLING TRUE STORIES, taught by Sydney Tammarine | May 10 - June 11, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

NONFICTION CLINIC

NONFICTION CLINIC

TELLING TRUE STORIES, a Workshop in Creative Nonfiction, by Sydney Tammarine | December 7, 2020- January 9, 2021 SOLD OUT

cover image telling true stories a lightbulb on a dark background

TELLING TRUE STORIES A Workshop in Creative Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Editor Sydney Tammarine | October 19–November 20, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

cover image telling true stories a lightbulb on a dark background

TELLING TRUE STORIES, a Workshop in Creative Nonfiction, by Sydney Tammarine | July 27 – August 28, 2020 [SOLD OUT]

cover image telling true stories a lightbulb on a dark background

BARYCENTER by Sydney Tammarine

BARYCENTER by Sydney Tammarine

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Published on November 29, 2021 in Winter 2022 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

EKPHRASTIC POETRY: The Art of Words on Art, taught by Cleaver Poetry Editor Claire Oleson, January 22 — February 26, 2022

Cleaver Magazine Posted on November 28, 2021 by thwackDecember 7, 2021

EKPHRASTIC POETRY: The Art of Words on Art
taught by Cleaver Poetry Editor Claire Oleson
January 22 — February 26, 2022
Asynchronous with optional Zoom meetings 11 am ET on Saturdays 1/29, 2/5, and 2/26
$200
Class Limit: 14
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

In this course, we will read and write ekphrastic work: that is, poetry that responds to, echoes, amplifies, and or converses with works of visual art. This class aims to both expose participants to a wide variety of ekphrastic writings as well as cultivate their own ability to see beyond the literal and bring the personal in conversation with the descriptive. Far more than merely describing a painting or detailing a sculpture, this workshop asks its students to learn how to place their own voice on the paint, on the marble, and come away with far more than a museum plaque is asked to offer.

Each week, we will look at two to three poems that focus on a shared medium of artwork and investigate how they bring something illuminative and transformative to the pieces they draw from. This class is designed to create a platform on which to find, develop, and hone the ability to apply language to art. Navigating the gap between the two, and gaining the sight to selectively amplify and diminish the desired elements, will allow the poet’s voice to not only present a painting, but more vitally, present their own gaze on a specific piece’s role in a specific onlooker’s life.

For five weeks, participants will be encouraged to find themselves within their language and explore the ways in which they may take on an identifiable sense of voice, self, and vision on the works of art they choose to investigate. Fundamentally, this is a workshop about seeing one’s own eyes and inviting readers into that sight.

We will work primarily on generating new work, encouraging participants to push their boundaries and hone their vision to create memorable and authentic writing. The workshop model will facilitate constructive responses from both peers and the instructor. Particular attention will be placed on the spaces between art and writing that the participants bring to class. Works of art will also be provided for prompts, but participants will be highly encouraged to bring works of art to the class that they are attached to and inspired by.

The readings will be brief but rich, with the intent of inviting multiple re-readings, close readings, note-taking and flexibility for everyone’s lives and work. Supplemental reading will be available for those hungry for more plums from the proverbial icebox. Prompts will be provided inspired by the week’s reading, but will be designed more as springboards for beginning rather than hard-and-fast regulations. Work will be submitted weekly for peer and instructor review. One piece will be chosen by the student for revision for the final class. Optional Zoom conferences will be held to discuss the reading for those interested. We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism.

A final optional Zoom meeting will be held as a reading of our work. This will be a veritable museum showcase!


Claire OleClaire Oleson is a queer writer and 2020 Emerging Writer Fellow at the Center for Fiction. Her work has been published by the Kenyon Review online, the University of Kentucky’s graduate literary journal Limestone, the LA Review of Books, and Newfound Press, among others. She is the 2019 winner of the Newfound Prose Prize and the Poetry Editor at Cleaver Magazine. Her chapbook, Things from the Creek Bed We Could Have Been, debuted May, 2020.

 

 

Schedule (January 22 – February 26)

New Modules posted on Mondays,

Pieces due by Friday, 11:59,

Feedback from All Due by Sunday, 11:59

Zoom sessions on Saturdays at 11 AM

  • One on Jan 29th, one on Feb 5
  • Final zoom reading: Feb 26

SYLLABUS

1: Introductions: What is Ekphrasis?

We will open with an investigation of what Ekphrasis means as well as how the instructor is applying the term to push participants to explore writing that does more than merely describe. This week will focus on writing inspired by paintings with particular attention paid to how poets may bring their voices to subvert the expectations of what it means to make art about art.

2: Picture This: The Snapshot

This week, we will dive into writing that borrows inspiration from photography. With the intentions of the brush stroke gone, how do we come to understand both the hand behind the camera and behind the keyboard at once? We will ask how we can see voice and vision in a space that may seem objective, but can be anything but, given the right framing and focus.

3: Sculpted Expressions

This module will explore writing on sculpture and physical form. This week will also encourage the participants to write in a poetic form of their choosing, with resources on form provided. In changing our formal approach to a slightly stricter medium, we will get closer to the limitations and the freedoms of what it means to cleave stone with verse.

4: The Personal Canvas

After a week of stricter bounds, this second to last week will ask participants to select a medium of their own choosing to explore in writing and consider how they might translate its emotion, physicality, intention, and impact into their own language.

5: The Final Framing

In this final module, we will take a moment to look at pieces that invite ekphrasis into their stanzas, but do not center on one single piece of art, or even art itself, for their entirety. Poets will be asked to revise one piece from the course and diversify their focus in revision: including their ekphrastic work inside a larger world of writing and reflection. This will allow us to hone the intention of what art to include in our writing, where, and perhaps most cruciall—why?

 

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Published on November 28, 2021 in Winter 2022 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH! Flash & Microfiction Practice, Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa, October 24 to November 21. [SOLD OUT]

Cleaver Magazine Posted on August 14, 2021 by thwackSeptember 10, 2021

WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH!
Flash & Microfiction Practice
Taught by Cleaver Senior Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa
4 weeks: Sunday, Oct. 24 to Sunday, Nov. 21

Mostly asynchronous with one weekly Zoom meeting:
Sunday, October 24 – Intro; 11 am

Thursday, November 4, 6:30 pm
Sunday, Nov. 7, 11 am
Thursday, Nov. 18, 6:30 pm
$200
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

SOLD OUT

Do you tend to procrastinate? Do you often do your best work under pressure? Do you sometimes start stories but never get around to finishing or revising them? Do you find the whole process of submitting work for publication stressful or depressing?

This four-week workshop is designed for busy writers who want to put writing time and accountability into their schedule with a combination of online prompts, real-time writing sessions, constructive revision suggestions, submission tips, and a group of writing buddies willing to take the submission plunge with you. We will focus on short flash (up to 500 words) and microfiction (up to 400 words). The first two weeks, we will work on generating new stories; in the third week, we’ll focus on revision; and by the fourth week, everyone will commit to submitting three stories for publication (as your classmates cheer you on).


Kathryn Kulpa, THE ART OF FLASH; AFTERBURN; FLASH BOOTCAMP; WRITE, REVISE, PUBLISH!, (flash fiction and nonfiction) was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 and 2021 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Flash Frog, 100 Word Story, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as chief flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout Rhode Island.

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Published on August 14, 2021 in Fall 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

WRITING THE BODY, taught by Marnie Goodfriend, October 13 to November 17, 2021. [Cancelled]

Cleaver Magazine Posted on August 13, 2021 by thwackSeptember 26, 2021

WRITING THE BODY
Taught by Marnie Goodfriend
6 Weeks
October 13 through November 17
Zoom meetings 6:30pm to 8:30pm ET on Wednesdays October 13, 20, 27, November 3, 10, 17
$300
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

Cancelled

We all live in and through our bodies. Connection to the self and how we perceive, and are perceived, by the world around us is intrinsically tied to the vessel we reside in. Bodies can be political battlegrounds, sacred spaces, pleasure palaces, and crime scenes. As creative nonfiction or hybrid writers, how can we deepen our writing and understanding of ourselves by looking at the layered relationship we have with our bodies?

Open to new and seasoned writers, this six-week workshop will focus on six pressure points to generate new material from different life experiences: eating, politics, health, intimacy, physical and emotional trauma, and crime. We will read works by writers such as Roxane Gay, Chanel Miller, Kiese Laymon, Maggie Nelson, and Porochista Khakpour to spark ideas about we can approach our own stories about the body.

Each class will include exercises, writing prompts, and discussions of assigned readings. Participants will workshop one essay and receive feedback on their generative writing in a safe and encouraging environment.


Marnie Goodfriend, WRITING THE BODY is a writer, sexual assault advocate, and social practice artist. She is a 2018 VCCA fellow, recipient of the Jane G. Camp scholarship, and a 2016 PEN America fellow. Her advocacy work, Write to Healing, helps sexual assault survivors reauthor their experience through narrative healing. Marnie’s essays, articles, and other writing appear in TIME, Washington Post, The Rumpus, She Knows, Health, and elsewhere.

Read her essay “Fund What You Fear” on Cleaver.

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Published on August 13, 2021 in Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

Masterclass in Visual Narrative Memoir with Cleaver Visual Narrative Editor Emily Steinberg, October 2 to November 6, 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on August 11, 2021 by thwackAugust 11, 2021
Visual Memoir
VISUAL MEMOIR
Masterclass in Visual Narrative Memoir
with Cleaver Visual Narrative Editor Emily Steinberg
6 weeks
Zoom meetings Saturdays 12:00-2:00 ET, 10/2, 10/9 , 10/16 , 10/23 , 10/30, 11/6
$300 
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]
Register Now
Visual Narrative, both ancient and of the moment, is a powerful and unique way of storytelling that employs words and images to maximize the communication of thoughts and ideas. 
Join Cleaver Visual Narrative Editor Emily Steinberg this fall for a 6-week advanced workshop in visual narrative memoir. Bring a project you are already working on or one you have been wanting to dive into for a long time. This class offers creative community and feedback for students looking to deepen their craft and move to the next level. All visual mediums are welcomed including drawing, video, collage, photography, and anything else you can think of. 
Bring your curiosity, enthusiasm, and a desire to find out what happens at the intersection of words and images.

Emily Steinberg, MFA, is a multi-disciplinary artist with a focus on painting and comics and serves as Cleaver’s Visual Narrative Editor.  Her work has most recently been published by The New Yorker Magazine and is included in Menopause: A Comic Treatment, which won the Eisner Award for Best Comics Anthology, 2021. Since 2013, her visual narratives have been regularly published in Cleaver Magazine. Her memoir, Graphic Therapy, was published serially in Smith Magazine. Steinberg is a lecturer in Fine Arts at Penn State University, Abington College, and Artist in Residence Drexel College of Medicine where she teaches visual narrative to medical students. 

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Published on August 11, 2021 in Fall 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

THE WRITING LAB: Playful Experiments to Unstuck Your Writing, taught by Tricia Park, Oct 3 – Nov 14, 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on August 10, 2021 by thwackSeptember 12, 2021

THE WRITING LAB:
Playful Experiments to Unstuck Your Writing
Taught by Tricia Park
A 6-week Generative Writing Boost
6 weeks: Oct 3 – Nov 14
Mostly Asynchronous with two Zoom Meetings:
10-11 am ET on Sunday, Oct 3 and
10-11 am ET on Sunday, Nov 14
$300
Class Limit 12
Questions: [email protected]

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”

—Anne Lamott

Register Now

Stuck in a writing rut? Don’t know how to get started? Together, we’ll give ourselves permission to start where we are, with curiosity, no matter how stuck we may feel. In this class, we’ll discover the “play” of writing, with prompts and generative exercises that’ll get you unstuck and boost your writing practice into high gear.

THIS CLASS IS OPEN TO WRITERS OF ALL LEVELS AND GENRES. In this workshop, we’ll generate new writing through exercises and assignments; provide and receive feedback on writing you produce in our workshop. We welcome new and experienced writers, who are looking for structure, guidance, and support with your writing practice.

This class offers weekly deadlines and assignments but you can work at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom check-in or two to provide additional support and inspiration.)

What you’ll get in this class:

  • Gently intriguing prompts to jumpstart your creativity
  • Reading and discussion of texts by inspiring writers.
  • A safe and supportive environment to cultivate your writing.
  • Small, clearly defined weekly assignments to keep you motivated.
  • New writing that you can continue to nurture and grow at home.

 

Each week, we’ll explore exercises/prompts that I hope will generate work that will surprise and delight you. We’ll also read and discuss texts that I’ll provide for you as examples to emulate and prompt new writing. Most importantly, I am looking forward to the community we’ll create together so that you may feel free to loosen up and take new, playful risks in your writing.

There will be space to share your work and receive feedback on your writing. I’ll provide clear guidelines for constructive feedback on new and early drafts. The focus of this class is to develop your practice and generate new writing!

If possible, I encourage you to write long-hand for your generative work and then transcribe to the Canvas discussion board but a laptop or tablet is also fine.

Note: The Canvas platform works best with the Chrome and Firefox browsers. If you are experiencing technical difficulties in Safari, try accessing the class in a different browser. There is also a Canvas Student App available through Apple or Google Play.

CLASS OVERVIEW:

Week One: Getting Started

Natalie Goldberg advises, “Whether you’re keeping a journal or writing as a meditation, it’s the same thing. What’s important is you’re having a relationship with your mind.” Getting started is often the hardest part. We’ll answer prompts to remind ourselves that writing is just thinking out loud and that we already do it every day.

Week Two: Freewriting and Playfulness

Elizabeth Gilbert writes, “I made a decision long ago that if I want creativity in my life – and I do – then I will have to make space for fear, too.” We’ll find ways to move through resistance as we approach our writing with playfulness and curiosity. We’ll dive into freewriting and whimsical exercises/prompts.

Week Three: Using our Senses

Maya Angelou reminds us that “once you appreciate…one of your senses, your sense of hearing, then you begin to respect the sense of seeing and touching and tasting, you learn to respect all the senses.” Sensory details infuse our writing with richness and dimension. We’ll respond to prompts that encourage us to take in our surroundings and connect with our senses.

Week Four: “Gaming” our Writing

In this class we will explore ways we can “game” our writing, approaching it obliquely with a light-hearted touch. We’ll see how prioritizing “play” through constraints and rules can, paradoxically, free up our writing.

Week Five: Following Our Obsessions

We all have core obsessions that keep us up at night, occupying our minds in a constant and regular way. Why not put our obsessions to good use? Rather than controlling our fascinations, we’ll channel them into our writing.

Week Six: Writing Down Memory Lane

Lois Lowry says, “I’ve always been fascinated by memory and dreams because they are both completely our own. No one else has the same memories. No one has the same dreams.” We’ll delve into our unique memory banks to mine our past and present, generating writing that is bound to surprise us.


Tricia Park Author PhotoTricia Park is a concert violinist, writer, and educator. She is a music graduate of The Juilliard School and received her MFA in writing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Tricia is a  Fulbright Grant Awardee in Creative Writing and currently resides in Seoul, Korea, where she’s working on a literary and musical project. Her writing has appeared in Cleaver Magazine and F Newsmagazine. She was also a finalist for contests in C&R Press and The Rumpus. Since making her concert debut at age thirteen, Tricia has performed on five continents and has received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. She is the host and producer of an original podcast called, “Is it Recess Yet? Confessions of a Former Child Prodigy.” Tricia has served on faculty at The Juilliard School, the University of Chicago, and the University of Iowa. She has taught creative writing for the Iowa Summer Writing Festival at the University of Iowa and is on faculty for Cleaver Magazine, where she teaches writing workshops and is a Creative Non-Fiction editor. She is the co-lead of the Chicago chapter of Women Who Submit, an organization that seeks to empower women and non-binary writers. Tricia also maintains a private studio of violin/viola students and writing clients.  Learn more about Tricia and listen to her podcast at: www.isitrecessyet.com. Listen to Tricia play violin at: https://www.youtube.com/c/triciapark

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Published on August 10, 2021 in Fall 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

REVISING *IS* WRITING: Unlocking the Creative Potential of Self-Editing in Creative Nonfiction, a Master Class in Craft by Lise Funderburg, Sunday November 21, 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on August 9, 2021 by thwackAugust 18, 2021

REVISING *IS* WRITING:
Unlocking the Creative Potential of Self-Editing in Creative Nonfiction
A Master Class in Craft
with Cleaver Creative Nonfiction Editor Lise Funderburg
Sunday, Nov 21, 2021, 12-pm to 2 pm ET
$50
Class limit: 18
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

The unsung hero of the creative process is revision, but the aversion to it that so many of us feel can be laid at the feet of most of our experiences of formal schooling, wherein NO ONE ever showed us how to engage with work past the first draft. In this technique-based master class, Lise will teach you strategies and practices that will take your creative nonfiction projects from their jumbled beginnings to polished, publishable gems.


Lise Funderburg HeadshotLise Funderburg’s latest book is Apple, Tree: Writers on Their Parents, a collection of all-new work by twenty-five writers, which Publishers Weekly deemed a “sparkling anthology” in its starred review. Previous books include the memoir, Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home, and the recently reissued collection of oral histories, Black, White, Other: Biracial Americans Talk About Race and Identity. Her work has been published in the New York Times, TIME, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Nation, MORE, Chattahoochee Review, Oprah Magazine, and Prevention. Lise has been awarded residencies at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, MacDowell, Thurber House, and Blue Mountain, among others, and she won a Nonfiction Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She teaches creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania and teaches at the Paris Writers’ Workshop.

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Published on August 9, 2021 in Fall 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

Crafting a Great Personal Essay, taught by Lise Funderburg, October 10-31, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

Cleaver Magazine Posted on August 9, 2021 by thwackSeptember 16, 2021

Crafting a Great Personal Essay
Taught by Cleaver Senior Nonfiction Editor Lise Funderburg
4 Weeks
October 10-31
Synchronous with asynchronous writing assignments
12-pm to 3 pm ET on Sundays, October 10, 17, 24, 31
$200
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

SOLD OUT

Writing from personal experience is always a double-edged sword in Creative Nonfiction: on the one side, we have almost limitless access to material. On the other, familiarity often breeds blind spots, cheating the work of dimension, resonance, and narrative drive. In this generative and reflective series of workshops, we will build strategies and craft practices that help you to hone your personal essays/memoirs until they shine.

SYLLABUS

In addition to the time we’ll have together in Zoom, expect to spend 2-3 hours each week on readings and writing assignments. And while it is not detailed below, there will be many opportunities to give and receive feedback on the work everyone creates for the class.

Week One: What Makes A Great Personal Essay Great?

We’ll start off by sharing and dissecting several short personal essays from great practitioners of the craft. This will help everyone identify the components and potential of personal essays, and at the same time, amass an arsenal of strategies and techniques to experiment with in your own work. With explicit guidance and writing prompts, you’ll also have the chance to generate your own material.

Week Two: Experimenting with Form

Any essay can be lyrical, but not all essays can be lyric. Lyric refers to approach and form: generally speaking, lyric essays push past conventional boundaries by enlisting formal aspects of poetry and unusual structures. Examples include Braided essays, Collage essays, and this week’s celebrity guest star, The Hermit Crab essay. This week we consider the essay’s exoskeleton, the way a writer’s choice of form creates possibilities and limitations. You’ll have several exemplary short essays to read, all of which use recognizable, conventional modes of communication….then subvert them through unlikely content. After that, you’ll have a go at it.

Week Three: Revising Your Way to Greatness

We’ll have an in-class freewrite, of course, but beyond that, this week is all about strategies for revision, methods and action steps and critical-distance-creating exercises that are meant to refresh your perspective on the work at hand and offer new ways of accessing it, even after you’ve read it over for the umpteenth time.

Week Four:

In this, our final week, you are asked to look both behind and ahead. You’ll consider where you are in your writing practice and how it’s grown, some of which will be made evident in a supersized workshop. You’ll also create a plan of attack for what to do next and how to keep your creative engine running.


Lise Funderburg HeadshotLise Funderburg’s latest book is Apple, Tree: Writers on Their Parents, a collection of all-new work by twenty-five writers, which Publishers Weekly deemed a “sparkling anthology” in its starred review. Previous books include the memoir, Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home, and the recently reissued collection of oral histories, Black, White, Other: Biracial Americans Talk About Race and Identity. Her work has been published in the New York Times, TIME, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Nation, MORE, Chattahoochee Review, Oprah Magazine, and Prevention. Lise has been awarded residencies at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, MacDowell, Thurber House, and Blue Mountain, among others, and she won a Nonfiction Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She teaches creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania and teaches at the Paris Writers’ Workshop.

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Published on August 9, 2021 in Fall 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

VOICE LESSONS Identifying and Creating Perspective in Poetry, taught by Claire Oleson, October 16 – Nov 20, 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on August 7, 2021 by thwackAugust 9, 2021

VOICE LESSONS
Identifying and Creating Perspective in Poetry
Taught by Cleaver Senior Poetry Editor Claire Oleson
October 16 – Nov 20
Asynchronous with optional Zoom meetings 11 am ET on Oct 23,30 and Nov 20
$200
Questions: [email protected]
Class Limit: 14

Register Now

In this course, we will plunge into the murky waters of what is meant by “voice” in poetry. Each week, we will look at two to three poems by a single poet and investigate how they bring something of the same perspective, tone, specificity, and selfhood to different poetic projects. In light of this investigation, participants will be invited to work on their uses of voice in their own poetry. This class is designed to create a platform on which to find, develop, and hone the connective tissue between different works by the same writer. For five weeks, participants will be encouraged to find themselves within their language and explore the ways in which they may take on an identifiable style while maintaining flexibility across different pieces.

We will work primarily on generating new work, encouraging participants to push their boundaries and hone their voice to create memorable and authentic work. The workshop model will facilitate constructive responses from both peers and the instructor. Particular attention will be placed on the spaces between poems that the participants bring to class.

We will read a few selections of poetry weekly that demonstrate the application of different uses of voice in poetry. By the end of the course, participants will have a better handle on how and where their voice exists in their own work, allowing for more intention and awareness of its application. Far from considering poems as singular revelations in a void, this class is one that is fundamentally about context. Inevitably, we bring our lives and ourselves to the page when we might not mean to: how can we begin to do this with consciousness, control, and thought to how our poems talk to each other?

The readings will be brief but rich, with the intent of inviting multiple re-readings, close readings, note-taking, and flexibility for everyone’s lives and work. Supplemental reading will be available for those hungry for more plums from the proverbial icebox. Prompts will be provided inspired by the week’s reading, but will be designed more as springboards for beginning rather than hard-and-fast regulations. Work will be submitted weekly for peer and instructor review. One piece will be chosen by the student for revision for the final class. Optional Zoom conferences will be held to discuss the reading for those interested. We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism.

A final optional Zoom meeting will be held as a reading of our work.


Instructor Bio

Claire OlesonClaire Oleson is the winner of the 2019 Newfound Chapbook Prize and a graduate of Kenyon College, where she studied English and Creative Writing. She has participated in graduate writing workshops with the Kenyon Review, where she also worked for the entirety of her undergraduate career. She has worked as a TA for Northwestern University’s summer creative writing courses. Her work has been published by the Kenyon Review online, the University of Kentucky’s graduate literary journal Limestone, the LA Review of Books, and Sugar House Review, among others. She currently serves as the poetry editor for Cleaver and lives and works in NYC.

 

Schedule (October 16 – Nov 20)

New Modules posted on Mondays,

Pieces due by Friday, 11:59,

Feedback from All Due by Sunday, 11:59

Optional Zoom sessions on Saturdays at 11 am ET

SYLLABUS

1: Introductions: What is voice?

We will open with an investigation of what “voice” means and how its both employed (and oftentimes, entirely ignored) in poetry. This week will focus on learning to see how the voice of a poet can be seen across different works of theirs that have totally different goals, but still carry the same author in their stanzas.

2: Joy and Grief

We will take a look at how the same poet approaches heartbreak and celebration. We will explore what places change and what uses of language and mood are maintained between two different emotional extremes captured by the same artist.

3: The Picture and the Lecture

This module will invite an analysis of poems that “show” and poems that would rather drag out their soap box and have you sit down, no pictures included. We will ask how the same voice illuminates the imagistic and the didactic and what survives or dies off between these modes of communication.

4: Caged and Free-Range

In this second to last week, we will dive into two poems: one that embraces a strict form and one that shirks most formal elements in favor of free verse. We’ll ask what it looks like to dress a voice in constraints and what it might mean to let it lead itself, and the language, on instinct and whim.

5: A New Tone

In this final module, we will take a moment to look at pieces by an author that look completely different in both project and voice by the same poet. This week, participants will be invited to make work that encapsulates something totally outside the voice they’ve begun to develop, allowing both the use of voice, and its absence, to become intentional.

 

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Published on August 7, 2021 in Fall 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

TELLING STORIES OF DISABILITY AND ILLNESS taught by Michelle Hoppe, October 7-28, 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on August 4, 2021 by thwackAugust 9, 2021

TELLING STORIES OF DISABILITY AND ILLNESS
A Generative Open-Genre Course
4 Weeks October 1 to 29th
Zoom meetings Thursdays October 7, 14, 21 28 at 7:30-8:30 pm ET
$200
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

“Illness is a part of every human being’s experience. It enhances our perceptions and reduces self-consciousness. It is the great confessional; things are said, truths are blurted out which health conceals.”―Virginia Woolf, “On Being Ill”

How do we represent our community while building community? How do we confront ableism in literature? When can we be better practitioners of the disability and chronic illness narrative?

In this workshop, we’ll interrogate the ways illness has been used as a trope or misrepresented in literature (think Jane Eyre) to the ways we have and are moving toward a less ableist representation of disability (think “His Last Game” by Brian Doyle). We’ll explore the ways disabled lives are being featured and honored in literature today, including works by major authors like Alice Wong, Maysoon Zayid, and Temple Grandin and emerging writers.

Week One: A brief discussion of the history of ableism in literature. Generative poetry prompts.
Week Two: We’ll use evidence-based research to enhance and elucidate the disability narrative. Generative essay prompts.
Week Three: Internalized ableism. What is it? What does it look like in a work of literature, and how can we confront and interrogate it? Generative fiction prompts.
Week Four: Workshop day. Where to submit. Book and column recommendations. Eclectic and multimedia generative prompts.

Each week we’ll read together, respond to prompts, and participate in both peer workshops (asynchronous through Canvas), and discussions (synchronous through Zoom on Thursday.) Students will also revise one essay/poem/short story with instructor feedback. We welcome both new and experienced writers, anyone identifying as disabled or chronically ill, or anyone looking to write about illness and disability. Personal disclosures of illness and disability are neither required nor discouraged. We hold everything disclosed in class as confidential, and workshop members will be asked to affirm a confidentiality statement.

“Storytelling can be more than a blog post, essay, or book. It can be an emoji, a meme, a selfie, or a tweet. It can become a movement for social change.”
― Alice Wong, Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-first Century


Michelle Renee Hoppe’s special education teaching outcomes helped to win court cases against the NYCDOE. She holds a partial MSED in special education and is a candidate for an MA in TESOL from MIIS. As founder and creative director of Capable Magazine, Michelle publishes stories of disability and illness. For twenty years, she has created scholarships for disabled students, authors, and artists to attend workshops and seminars. Her writing appears in Saw Palm, Cleaver Magazine, and South 85 Journal, among others.

Michelle lives with bipolar disorder, complex trauma, and celiac disease. She holds disability disclosure as sacred and individual.

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Published on August 4, 2021 in Fall 2021 Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

AFTERBURN: Flash Revision, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | August 8-29

Cleaver Magazine Posted on May 3, 2021 by thwackMay 3, 2021

AFTERBURN
A Workshop in the Art of Flash Revision
Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa

3 weeks
August 8-29
$200
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

Flash fiction may be born in a lightning flash of inspiration, but crafting works of perfect brevity requires time and patience: sometimes cutting, sometimes adding, and sometimes starting all over again. In very short stories, every word must work, and revision is as much a part of writing flash as it is of writing longer prose. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll practice the art of revision. Flash fiction writer and editor Kathryn Kulpa will share first drafts, revisions, and published versions of her own work and that of other flash and short fiction writers. Students will learn different revision strategies and how to apply them to their own work. We will create new flash together and work on taking it through several revisions, and students will also have the chance to bring existing stories to the workshop to revise with a goal of publication.

I’m no longer afraid of the revision process. Kathryn arms you with resources, tools, and exercises that build confidence, then puts you in the editing chair with your own work and others. A well-paced, excellent class.

I loved having the ability to work on the material at my own pace, at my own time. I met several writers who I will continue to stay in touch with.

This was a great workshop that led me places I wouldn’t have otherwise gone. It also resulted in a recent publication. Woot!

I loved the prompts! And Kathryn’s astute feedback, of course!

Revisions are something I tend to ignore. I write pieces and let them sit and gather dust. This workshop helped me to think about writing as a process and not a one and done activity.

Some amazing exercises that I will use over and over for other projects!


Kathryn Kulpa workshop leader photoKathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Jellyfish Review, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout Rhode Island.

 

 

 

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Published on May 3, 2021 in Summer 2021 Workshops, Thwack. (Click for permalink.)

FLASH BOOTCAMP, taught by Kathryn Kulpa, Four Weekend Sessions in June-July, 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on May 3, 2021 by thwackMay 28, 2021

FLASH BOOTCAMP
4 Summer Weekend Bootcamps
Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa
June 4 – 6
June 18 – 20
July 9 – 11
July 23 – 25

Saturday and Sunday Zoom sessions 2-4 pm ET

$150 for one session; $275 for two sessions; $375 for three Sessions; $425 for all four sessions.

Register Now

*Get focused!* *Get motivated!* *Get writing!*
This generative mini-workshop is designed for busy writers who need to carve out some writing time to generate new work, and who crave deadlines and accountability to stay motivated. This class combines writing prompt “homework” you do on your own with group writing and discussion sessions. In just three days (Friday through Sunday), you will have six new micro-stories ready to revise!

Format: Combines asynchronous (writing prompts you do on your own time Friday and Saturday) with two, 2-hour Zoom sessions on Saturday and Sunday.
Focus:  Flash pieces 500 words and under.

The exercises and feedback were excellent. I also appreciated the Zoom classes which helped me connect with other writers and discuss work.

The workshop was incredibly helpful. Kathryn’s critiques, prompts, and synchronous sessions were marvelous. The community of writers that formed was strong and committed. Plus, three pieces I wrote for the workshop have been published or are forthcoming in different journals!

Great exercises, good zoom meetings, interesting writing, all jump started me, as I have been languishing a bit during the pandemic.

I enjoyed the readings and thought provoking questions. The prompts were challenging. The high quality of the other writers raised the bar and pushed me to write better.


Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and received the First Series Award in Short Fiction for her story collection Pleasant Drugs(Mid-List Press).  Her work has appeared in Jellyfish Review, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Evansville Review, and she serves as flash fiction editor for Cleaver magazine. Kathryn leads writing workshops in public libraries throughout Rhode Island and has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College. She was born in a small state, and she writes short stories.

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Published on May 3, 2021 in Summer 2021 Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

PLAYING WITH POINT OF VIEW A Workshop for Fiction Writers, taught by Cleaver Founding Editor Karen Rile, June 9-30

Cleaver Magazine Posted on April 17, 2021 by thwackJune 4, 2021

PLAYING WITH POINT OF VIEW
A Workshop for Fiction Writers
Taught by Cleaver Founding Editor Karen Rile
June 9, 16, 23, 30, and July 7, 6:30 – 8:30 pm ET
Class Limit: 12
$200
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

“Point of view” is more than just the vantage point of the narrative voice telling your story. It’s the filter that colors and controls your readers’ experience of the characters and plot you create. The possibilities are infinite. In this generative, craft-focused workshop you’ll experiment and explore, creating new work each week to share and discuss in a supportive online group.

Each week we’ll read a few stories and/or novel excerpts illustrating different approaches to point of view. Story discussions take place in a private online discussion group. During our Wednesday workshops we will write to prompts, followed by discussion and optional sharing.

This class is appropriate for prose writers of all levels, including prose-curious poets.


Karen RileKaren Rile is the author of Winter Music (Little, Brown), a novel set in Philadelphia, and numerous works of fiction and creative nonfiction. Her writing has appeared in literary journals such as The Southern Review, American Writing, Creative Nonfiction, Other Voices, Superstition Review, Tishman Review, and has been shortlisted among The Best American Short Stories. Karen has published articles and essays in The San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and others. She is the founding and chief editor of Cleaver and the Director of Cleaver Workshops.

Karen lives in Philadelphia and teaches fiction and creative nonfiction at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, an MFA from Bennington College, and a certificate in satire from The Second City. She is also the mom of four adult daughters with more interesting careers than her own: an aerialist, a glass artist, a violist, and a playwright.

Follow her on Instagram @whatkindofdog.

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Published on April 17, 2021 in Summer 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

VOICE LESSONS Identifying and Creating Perspective in Poetry, taught by Claire Oleson, July 10 – August 14

Cleaver Magazine Posted on April 13, 2021 by thwackApril 17, 2021

VOICE LESSONS
Identifying and Creating Perspective in Poetry
Taught by Cleaver Senior Poetry Editor Claire Oleson
July 10 – August 14, 2021
Asynchronous with optional Zoom meetings 11 am ET July 17 and 24
$200
Questions: [email protected]
Class Limit: 12

Register Now

In this course, we will plunge into the murky waters of what is meant by “voice” in poetry. Each week, we will look at two to three poems by a single poet and investigate how they bring something of the same perspective, tone, specificity, and selfhood to different poetic projects. In light of this investigation, participants will be invited to work on their uses of voice in their own poetry. This class is designed to create a platform on which to find, develop, and hone the connective tissue between different works by the same writer. For five weeks, participants will be encouraged to find themselves within their language and explore the ways in which they may take on an identifiable style while maintaining flexibility across different pieces.

We will work primarily on generating new work, encouraging participants to push their boundaries and hone their voice to create memorable and authentic work. The workshop model will facilitate constructive responses from both peers and the instructor. Particular attention will be placed on the spaces between poems that the participants bring to class.

We will read a few selections of poetry weekly that demonstrate the application of different uses of voice in poetry. By the end of the course, participants will have a better handle on how and where their voice exists in their own work, allowing for more intention and awareness of its application. Far from considering poems as singular revelations in a void, this class is one that is fundamentally about context. Inevitably, we bring our lives and ourselves to the page when we might not mean to: how can we begin to do this with consciousness, control, and thought to how our poems talk to each other?

The readings will be brief but rich, with the intent of inviting multiple re-readings, close readings, note-taking, and flexibility for everyone’s lives and work. Supplemental reading will be available for those hungry for more plums from the proverbial icebox. Prompts will be provided inspired by the week’s reading, but will be designed more as springboards for beginning rather than hard-and-fast regulations. Work will be submitted weekly for peer and instructor review. One piece will be chosen by the student for revision for the final class. Optional Zoom conferences will be held to discuss the reading for those interested. We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism.

A final optional Zoom meeting will be held as a reading of our work.


Instructor Bio

Claire Oleson is the winner of the 2019 Newfound Chapbook Prize and a graduate of Kenyon College, where she studied English and Creative Writing. She has participated in graduate writing workshops with the Kenyon Review, where she also worked for the entirety of her undergraduate career. She has worked as a TA for Northwestern University’s summer creative writing courses. Her work has been published by the Kenyon Review online, the University of Kentucky’s graduate literary journal Limestone, the LA Review of Books, and Sugar House Review, among others. She currently serves as the poetry editor for Cleaver and lives and works in NYC.

 

Schedule (July 10 – August 14)

New Modules posted on Mondays,

Pieces due by Friday, 11:59,

Feedback from All Due by Sunday, 11:59

Optional Zoom sessions on Saturdays at 11 am ET

SYLLABUS

1: Introductions: What is voice?

We will open with an investigation of what “voice” means and how its both employed (and oftentimes, entirely ignored) in poetry. This week will focus on learning to see how the voice of a poet can be seen across different works of theirs that have totally different goals, but still carry the same author in their stanzas.

2: Joy and Grief

We will take a look at how the same poet approaches heartbreak and celebration. We will explore what places change and what uses of language and mood are maintained between two different emotional extremes captured by the same artist.

3: The Picture and the Lecture

This module will invite an analysis of poems that “show” and poems that would rather drag out their soap box and have you sit down, no pictures included. We will ask how the same voice illuminates the imagistic and the didactic and what survives or dies off between these modes of communication.

4: Caged and Free-Range

In this second to last week, we will dive into two poems: one that embraces a strict form and one that shirks most formal elements in favor of free verse. We’ll ask what it looks like to dress a voice in constraints and what it might mean to let it lead itself, and the language, on instinct and whim.

5: A New Tone

In this final module, we will take a moment to look at pieces by an author that look completely different in both project and voice by the same poet. This week, participants will be invited to make work that encapsulates something totally outside the voice they’ve begun to develop, allowing both the use of voice, and its absence, to become intentional.

 

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Published on April 13, 2021 in Summer 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

GRAPHIC PSYCHE: A Workshop in Visual Narrative Memoir taught by Emily Steinberg, June 5-26, 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on April 13, 2021 by thwackApril 13, 2021

GRAPHIC PSYCHE
A Workshop in Visual Narrative Memoir
taught by Cleaver Visual Narrative Editor Emily Steinberg

Four Saturdays on Zoom
12-2 pm ET

June 5,12,19,26
$200
Class Limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

Visual Narrative, the marriage of words and images, both ancient and modern, is a potent mode of storytelling that can often be more gripping than either practice on their own. In this workshop, we will discuss the history of visual narrative and the myriad ways of composing with text and image. By the end of our time together, you will create your own short graphic narrative response to the bizarre, upside-down covid, quarantine, lockdown, political circus world of 2020.

In 1996, I worked my way out of a deep painter’s block/depression by writing obsessively about the events of my daily life. In 2005, I pulled the writings out and started drawing them. And I’ve been hooked ever since by the immediacy and vitality of this generous practice that beckons you to write, draw, be playful and explore absolutely anything in the world that captivates you. There are no limits here.  —Emily Steinberg, MFA


Emily Steinberg is a multi-disciplinary artist with a focus on painting and visual narrative and her work has been shown across the United States and Europe. Most recently, her first cartoon and Daily Shouts story were published by The New Yorker. Since 2013, her visual narratives have been regularly published in Cleaver Magazine. In 2019 she became Visual Narrative Editor at Cleaver and now curates submissions. Her memoir, Graphic Therapy, was published serially in Smith Magazine. Steinberg teaches visual narrative at Penn State University, Abington College, and Drexel College of Medicine, where she is Artist-in-Residence. She did her undergraduate and graduate work at The University of Pennsylvania where she received an MFA in painting and lives just outside Philadelphia.

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Published on April 13, 2021 in Summer 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

PRESENTATION AND PERFORMANCE: The Art of Reading Your Work in Public, taught by Dinah Lenney, June / July 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on March 19, 2021 by thwackJuly 19, 2021

PRESENTATION AND PERFORMANCE:
The Art of Reading Your Work in Public

A Series of Clinics by Author and Actor Dinah Lenney
Taught on Zoom


Sunday, June 27, 3-5 pm ET $100 [SOLD OUT]
Sunday, July 25, 3-5 pm ET $100 [SOLD OUT]
Limit 6 participants per clinic
You may attend both clinics, but must register for each one
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now
What’s the secret to a great public reading? Do you worry about losing your place, stumbling over the words, or boring your listeners? In these workshops we’ll discuss the differences between reading and acting, as well as various strategies for connecting with an audience to leave them wanting more. We’ll talk about your choice of material, how long you should read, and how you can fully prepare in order to feel confident your listeners will be engaged and entertained. 

Author Dinah Lenney, a longtime stage and screen actor, will coach you through an excerpt from your own work and help you bring the best to your next live reading. Come prepared with two pages of your text (double-spaced), any genre, in a font that pleases you! These workshops are suitable for writers of every genre and level of experience, from veterans to new writers preparing for their first public readings. 


Dinah LenneyDinah Lenney has played countless roles on stage and television, from Lady Macbeth to ER’s Nurse Shirley. She’s a graduate of Yale, where she didn’t study theater, the Neighborhood Playhouse, where she did, and the Bennington Writing Seminars, where she presently teaches nonfiction. Dinah’s taught writing and acting in schools all over the country, and co-wrote Acting for Young Actors with director Mary Lou Belli. The author of The Object Parade and Bigger than Life, she also co-edited Brief Encounters: A Collection of Contemporary Nonfiction with the late Judith Kitchen. Her latest book, Coffee, was published in Bloomsbury’s Object Lessons series. Dinah lives (reads, writes, grinds, brews—in a Chemex, by the way) with her husband in Los Angeles.

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Published on March 19, 2021 in Summer 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

OPEN WOUNDS: Writing Trauma and Memory, taught by Drew Pham June 7-July 21, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

Cleaver Magazine Posted on March 19, 2021 by thwackMay 10, 2021

OPEN WOUNDS
Writing Trauma and Memory

Taught by Drew Pham
5 sessions, 5 weeks (Monday Evening) on Zoom 
June 7, 14, 21, 28, and July 12
6-8 pm ET
$200
Questions: [email protected]
Class Limit: 12

[SOLD OUT]

“Don’t write a poem about war. Write a poem about standing in your brother’s empty room.”
—Guante

This course isn’t meant to heal the traumas of the past, nor does it seek to make sense of them, rather, we’ll seek out the fragments violently embedded in our wounds to use as the materials from which to craft something new. This inter-genre workshop will focus on the role and use of time, place, memory, narrative distance, form, and negative space, in order to render our traumas into sites of connection between ourselves, our lived experiences, our writing, and our readers.

Together, we will read from a broad range of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction to help illuminate the different roads we might take to begin to build our own narratives from sites of pain and loss in ourselves toward sites of compassion and empathy in our writing. Each session includes a short craft discussion, discussions of assigned readings, craft exercises, and a writer’s workshop (with the exception of our first session, which will be primarily discussion-based).

Although this course seeks to explore the most painful of our experiences with kindness and patience, the readings, discussions, and written work may cause distress. I only ask that those taking this course be mindful of their peers and be gentle with themselves.

Week One: Exit Wounds
Our introductory discussion seeks to navigate our personal traumas by locating sites of trauma, making space for ourselves and others in this process from both within and without our written work, and learning how writing might be used as a vehicle for curiosity, discovery, and empathy.

Week Two: Time, Place, and Memory
In week two, we’ll focus on how we can take the fragmentation that occurs when we’ve been deeply hurt and use these materials to rebuild them into structures that reflect the emotional landscape of the traumatic past. Here, we will focus on time management, making space for place as a concept, and memory as a flawed but essential tool.

Week Three: Mapping the Wound
This craft session is concerned with sensory detail, structure, and constraint. In examining readings on past traumas, we’ll explore how sensory details universalize a narrative, rather than rarifying them. We’ll also examine constraints like lapses in memory, negative space, and silence, and incorporate these into narrative and lyric structures that contain the emotional truths of the experiences we seek to render.

Week Four: Narrative Distances
Week four focuses on considering narrative distance not as a gulf to cross, but as a way of seeing. This week’s exercises, discussion, and readings will center around how employing narrative distance as technique might allow us to see our traumatic memories, our work, and ourselves as whole, rather than fragmented or broken.

Week Five: Scar Tissue|
In our final session, we’ll focus on measures of grace, not just for the subjects of our poems, the experiences we lay bare on the page, or the characters of our stories, but also for ourselves and those around us. This class will be a space for participants to synthesize what they’ve discovered, and extend those new perspectives into their bodies of work, revision, and practice.


Drew PhamDrew Pham is a queer, transgender writer of Vietnamese heritage. A child of war refugees, her work centers on legacies of violence in times of conflict. She has published in Blunderbuss Magazine, McSweeny’s, Slice Magazine, Foreign Policy, Time Magazine, The Daily Beast, and Columbia Journal, among others. She lives with her two cats in Brooklyn, NY, and she serves as an adjunct English lecturer at CUNY Brooklyn College.

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Published on March 19, 2021 in CNF Workshops, Summer 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

MIXTAPES: The Music of Essays, taught by Claire Rudy Foster and shea wesley martin, June 6-27, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

Cleaver Magazine Posted on March 11, 2021 by thwackJune 3, 2021

Mixtapes

MIXTAPES: The Music of Essays

A Workshop in Creative Nonfiction

Taught by Claire Rudy Foster and shea wesley martin
4 sessions, 4 weeks (Sunday evening) on Zoom
June 6, 13, 20, 27, 4 pm PT / 7pm ET
$200
Questions: [email protected]
Class Limit: 12

 

How do you say “I love you” in five words? “I made you a mixtape.”

This class is designed for nonfiction writers who want to explore the wild, creative, fun side of essays. Instructors Claire Rudy Foster and shea wesley martin both use music and musicality in their acclaimed writing, from work in Autostraddle to ALA longlist pick Shine of the Ever. Foster and shea believe that incorporating music into an essay creates landscape, tone, and mood, and can even provide the structure of the essay itself.

Understanding the “music” of an essay builds from learning to listen. Essays, like songs, can contain verses, bridges, and hooks. In essay collections or short story collections, individual pieces speak to one another like the songs on a mixtape. This class will share valuable writing tools that help writers collect, arrange, collaborate, and produce material for essays that are moving, genuine, and deeply personal.

Week one: I made you a mixtape
Week two: Which songs belong?
Week three: Finding the right order
Week four: Embedded messages, hopes, and dreams

During class, writers will share their creative work and learn to find musicality in their essays’ language and lyricism. This workshop is taught by award-winning author Claire Rudy Foster, whose “mixtape” short story collection was an O: The Oprah Magazine pick for one of the best LGBTQ books of 2019; and shea wesley martin, a brilliant writer, educator, and DJ.


Claire Foster Rudy headshotClaire Rudy Foster is an award-winning queer, nonbinary trans author from Portland, Oregon. Foster’s critically acclaimed short story collection Shine of the Ever was an O: The Oprah Magazine pick for 2019. Their essays, fiction, reporting, book reviews, and other writing appear in The New York Times, McSweeney’s, Allure, on NPR, and many other places. Foster is Senior Features Editor at The Rumpus. They still believe in the power of well-written sentences.

 

 

shea wesley martinshea wesley martin is a fat, Black, queer, non-binary writer based in the mountains of Vermont. they write about the joy, pain, and triumph of being Black, queer, and not-quite-woman in and beyond this world. a freelance educator, they also research, consult, and write about creating and sustaining liberatory learning spaces.

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Published on March 11, 2021 in Summer 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

THE SHARPEST TOOLS IN THE DRAWER, a masterclass with Lise Funderburg, April 3-24, 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on February 3, 2021 by thwackMarch 8, 2021

 

THE SHARPEST TOOLS IN THE DRAWER:
Honing Critical Distance in First-Person Narratives
A Masterclass by Cleaver Nonfiction Editor Lise Funderburg

Four Saturdays on Zoom
12:00pm – 3:00 pm:  April 3, 10, 17, 24
$200
Class limit: 10
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

Writing from personal experience is always a double-edged sword in Creative Nonfiction: on the one side, we have almost limitless access to material. On the other, familiarity often breeds blind spots, cheating the work of dimension, resonance, and narrative drive. Through close readings of exemplary work, craft essays, writing exercises, discussion, and peer review, we will build strategies and practices that elevate your personal essays and memoir projects. Expect to become a stronger writer, a better reader, and an enthusiastic reviser.


Lise Funderburg HeadshotLise Funderburg’s latest book is Apple, Tree: Writers on Their Parents, a collection of all-new work by twenty-five writers, which Publishers Weekly deemed a “sparkling anthology” in its starred review. Previous books include the memoir, Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home, and the recently reissued collection of oral histories, Black, White, Other: Biracial Americans Talk About Race and Identity. Her work has been published in the New York Times, TIME, the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Nation, MORE, Chattahoochee Review, Oprah Magazine, and Prevention. Lise has been awarded residencies at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation, MacDowell, Thurber House, and Blue Mountain, among others, and she won a Nonfiction Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She teaches creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania and teaches at the Paris Writers’ Workshop.


SYLLABUS:

Session 1: Filling the toolbox

Session 2: Experimenting with Form

Session 3: The Art of Revision

Session 4: Deep Dives: Close Looks at Student Work Samples (up to 5000 words)

“Lise spoke deeply and generously from her own formation as a writer, and about the writing of her two very different books. In my journey to become a published writer of a memoir, even though my formation is as a visual artist and critic, her generosity gave me a case in point to think about. Right now, for me at least I am finding the most inspiration from the teachers of these workshops as models for professional-level work in the field.”

“Lise is sensitive and generous while giving constructive criticism. She is also adept at guiding group discussions.”

Write Where you are

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Published on February 3, 2021 in CNF Workshops, Spring 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

A GREAT START: Your Novel’s Opening Pages, taught by Lisa Borders | April 11 – May 9, 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on January 31, 2021 by thwackFebruary 8, 2021

A GREAT START
Your Novel’s Opening Pages

Taught by Lisa Borders

4 weeks
April 11 – May 9
Asynchronous with an introductory Zoom meeting April 11 at 2 pm ET

Register Now$200
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

Off to a Great Start: Your Novel’s Opening Pages

Many agents and editors say they will not read on if they are not hooked by a novel in the first five pages. Yet writers often get wedded to an opening that was the easiest entry point into the novel’s first draft, but may not be the most dynamic place for the book to begin. How does a writer decide where a novel should start? What strategies do novelists use to hook readers – including agents and editors – from the first sentence, paragraph, page, scene?

In this class, we’ll read essays about openings and examine narrative strategies used in a variety of novels; study the basics of plot and do exercises to help you discover your novel’s best opening; and provide feedback on your novel’s first 5 – 6 pages (up to 1800 words). The class will be mostly asynchronous, with discussions and workshops taking place online. We’ll start with a Zoom class to get to know each other better before sharing our pages.


SCHEDULE

Week 1: Novel openings overview: understanding structure and finding your point of attack

Week 2: Types of Openings | Worshop 1

Week 3: The First Sentence |Workshop 2

Week 4: Novel openings analysis | Workshop 3

“Lisa Borders is a wonderful teacher. She understands craft so well.”

“Lisa knows her stuff, she is also very positive and encouraging. The course was also well organized on Canvas.”

“Lisa is an EXCEPTIONAL teacher—her advice was phenomenal, and she created a culture which facilitated other writers in giving great feedback as well. ”

“The other participants were really dedicated and gave wonderful responses and insight during the workshops. The readings selected by Lisa, and her framing/introduction of various techniques, was both interesting and helpful.”


Lisa Borders’ second novel, The Fifty-First State, was published by Engine Books in 2013. Her first novel, Cloud Cuckoo Land, was chosen by Pat Conroy as the winner of River City Publishing’s Fred Bonnie Award, and received fiction honors in the 2003 Massachusetts Book Awards. Lisa’s short stories, essays and humor have appeared in The Rumpus, McSweeney’s, WBUR’s Cognoscenti, Post Road, Washington Square and other journals. She has received grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Somerville Arts Council and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and fellowships at the Millay Colony, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Hedgebrook and the Blue Mountain Center. Lisa also teaches at Boston’s GrubStreet, where she founded the Novel Generator program and co-founded the Novel Incubator program. More information on Lisa is available at lisaborders.com.


Write Where you are

 

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Published on January 31, 2021 in Fiction Workshops, Spring 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

AFTERBURN: Flash Revision, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | April 4-April 25 2021 [SOLD OUT]

Cleaver Magazine Posted on January 29, 2021 by thwackMarch 11, 2021

af

AFTERBURN
A Workshop in the Art of Flash Revision
Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa

3 weeks
April 4-April 25
$175
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

Flash fiction may be born in a lightning flash of inspiration, but crafting works of perfect brevity requires time and patience: sometimes cutting, sometimes adding, and sometimes starting all over again. In very short stories, every word must work, and revision is as much a part of writing flash as it is of writing longer prose. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll practice the art of revision. Flash fiction writer and editor Kathryn Kulpa will share first drafts, revisions, and published versions of her own work and that of other flash and short fiction writers. Students will learn different revision strategies and how to apply them to their own work. We will create new flash together and work on taking it through several revisions, and students will also have the chance to bring existing stories to the workshop to revise with a goal of publication.

I loved having the ability to work on the material at my own pace, at my own time. I met several writers who I will continue to stay in touch with.

This was a great workshop that led me places I wouldn’t have otherwise gone. It also resulted in a recent publication. Woot!

I loved the prompts! And Kathryn’s astute feedback, of course!


Kathryn Kulpa workshop leader photoKathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Jellyfish Review, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout Rhode Island.

 

 

Typewriter writing Cleaver Workshop and cleaver logo

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Published on January 29, 2021 in Spring 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

THE ART OF FLASH, taught by Kathryn Kulpa | Feb. 25-March 28, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

Cleaver Magazine Posted on January 29, 2021 by thwackFebruary 14, 2021

THE ART OF FLASH

A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction

Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa

Feb. 25-March 28
5 weeks
$200
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected] 

Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works.

In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example-works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class.

This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom pop-up or two and bonus prompts for those who are interested). We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism.


Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Jellyfish Review, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College, and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout Rhode Island.


SYLLABUS

Topic One: Time and Place

Time constraints in flash fiction—handling transitions—telling a larger story through a selected moment—zoom lens or wide angle?—creating a vivid setting in few words

Topic Two: Voice, Character, and Point of View

Choosing a lens—whose story?—first, second, and third-person—single or multiple points of view—speed dating: shorthand character reveals

Topic Three: Where Prose Meets Poetry

Borrowing poetic techniques to create brilliant flash—image is everything—white space and stories in stanzas—the right sound—the power of repetition

Topic Four: Flash Frontier: Experimental and Hybrid Forms

Prose poetry—lists, recipes, and want ads: hermit crab stories—lyric essays—ekphrastic flash—using found objects to tell a story

“I loved having the ability to work on the material at my own pace, at my own time. I met several writers who I will continue to stay in touch with. “

“I learned so much. Most other flash workshops aren’t as detailed as this one. I came away with new tools to employ in my writing.”

 

Write Where you are

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Published on January 29, 2021 in Spring 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

PITCHING YOUR ESSAY, taught by Claire Rudy Foster | October 10-24, 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on January 28, 2021 by thwackAugust 10, 2021

Pitching Your Essay decorative poster
PITCHING YOUR ESSAY
taught by Claire Rudy Foster
3 Sunday Zoom Sessions
October 10, 17, and 24 at 4 pm ET
$200
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

The pitch letter is a writer’s calling card, providing the all-important first impression on editors. Good pitches stand out in the slush, signaling that you’re talented, professional, and ready to work with them. Bad ones rarely get a second chance. Even talented, bright writers get rejection letters when their pitch letters don’t reflect their abilities. If you’re tired of hearing “no,” a great pitch can be the key to the “yes” you’re hoping for. This class is designed for any writer who seeks publication: no homework or outside assignments, and no previous publication credits required.

Good pitching etiquette opens doors for writers and can lead to better bylines and bigger rates. If you write to publish, pitching is an important skill to have—one that is rarely taught in writing programs and MFAs. This class will teach you to avoid landmines and resolve issues that all writers contend with. How do you get an editor interested in your work? How do you sell your great idea without sounding pompous or unprofessional? How do you decide which editor to pitch to on a masthead? What do you do if you don’t have industry connections? Rather than guess, this class will help you prepare for the all-important pitch.

Week one: What do I have to offer?

Week two: Who’s a good fit for my writing?

Week three: The perfect pitch

During class, writers will build confidence in their pitches as they craft an all-purpose pitch letter that is adaptable and versatile. We will discuss our writing from a business angle and learn to understand what editors are looking for in a pitch. This workshop is taught by author Claire Rudy Foster, who publishes an average of 200 articles, stories, reviews, and essays per year. Foster also reviews pitches as Senior Features Editor for The Rumpus and is a veteran slush pile reader.


Claire Foster Rudy headshotClaire Rudy Foster is an award-winning queer, nonbinary trans author from Portland, Oregon. Foster’s critically acclaimed short story collection Shine of the Ever was an O: The Oprah Magazine pick for 2019. Their essays, fiction, reporting, book reviews, and other writing appear in The New York Times, McSweeney’s, Allure, on NPR, and many other places. Foster is Senior Features Editor at The Rumpus. They still believe in the power of well-written sentences.

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Published on January 28, 2021 in Fall 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY, Part 2, taught by Tricia Park | May 9-June 6, 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on January 25, 2021 by thwackApril 22, 2021

EMBRACING UNCERTAINTY, Part 2 of Two
A Workshop to Jumpstart Your Writing
open to all levels and genres
Parts 1 and 2 may be repeated or taken out of order
taught by Cleaver Editor Tricia Park
Asynchronous Version

4 weeks
May 9-June 6, 2021
$200
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]Register Now

“But your solitude will be a support and a home for you, even in the midst of very unfamiliar circumstances, and from it you will find all your paths.”

― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

In this class, we won’t try to fix what isn’t broken. We’ll hold our vulnerability and begin creating from where we are. We’ll give ourselves permission to commence, no matter how fragile the surface under our feet feels. Together, we will enter and engage with the work as it begins to speak to us, and we’ll allow ourselves to follow that uncertainty and see where it takes us.

THIS CLASS IS OPEN TO WRITERS OF ALL LEVELS AND GENRES. In this workshop, we will generate new writing through exercises and assignments; provide and receive feedback on writing you produce in our workshop.

This class offers weekly deadlines and assignments but you can work at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom check in or two to provide additional support and inspiration.)

What you’ll get in this class:

  • Gently intriguing prompts to jumpstart your creativity
  • Reading and discussion of texts by inspiring writers.
  • A safe and supportive environment to cultivate your writing.
  • Small, clearly defined weekly assignments to keep you motivated.
  • New writing that you can continue to nurture and grow at home.

Each week, we’ll explore exercises/prompts that I hope will generate work that will surprise and delight you. We’ll also read and discuss texts that I’ll provide for you as examples to emulate and prompt new writing. Most importantly, I am looking forward to the community we’ll create together so that you may feel free to venture eagerly into your uncertainty and take new and playful risks in your writing.

There will be space to share your work and receive feedback on your writing. I’ll provide clear guidelines for constructive feedback on new and early drafts. The focus of this class is to develop your practice and generate new writing!

If possible, I encourage you to write long-hand for your generative work and then transcribe to the Canvas discussion board but a laptop or tablet is also fine.

Note: The Canvas platform works best with the Chrome and Firefox browsers. If you are experiencing technical difficulties in Safari, try accessing the class in a different browser. There is also a Canvas Student App available through Apple or Google Play.

CLASS OVERVIEW:

Week One: Freewriting and Playfulness

Elizabeth Gilbert writes, “I made a decision long ago that if I want creativity in my life – and I do – then I will have to make space for fear, too.” We’ll find ways to move through resistance as we approach our writing with playfulness and curiosity. We’ll dive into freewriting and whimsical exercises/prompts.

Week Two: Using our Senses 

Maya Angelou reminds us that “once you appreciate…one of your senses, your sense of hearing, then you begin to respect the sense of seeing and touching and tasting, you learn to respect all the senses.” Sensory details infuse our writing with richness and dimension. We’ll respond to prompts that encourage us to take in our surroundings and connect with our senses.

Week Three: “Gaming” our Writing 

In this class we will explore ways we can “game” our writing, approaching it obliquely with a light-hearted touch. We’ll see how prioritizing “play” through constraints and rules can, paradoxically, free up our writing.

Week Four: Writing Down Memory Lane

Lois Lowry says, “I’ve always been fascinated by memory and dreams because they are both completely our own. No one else has the same memories. No one has the same dreams.” We’ll delve into our unique memory banks to mine our past and present, generating writing that is bound to surprise us.

“It got me writing again after a fallow time, and has helped me clarify my writing objectives.”

“Tricia is a fantastic and natural teacher.”

“This workshop was really supportive! Tricia was such a great guide. Even as we spent long periods writing, she was there to create an inspirational space, help us change tack, and encourage experimentation and playfulness without worry.”

“A warm, smart, generous teacher. Her prompts were genius.”

“Tricia has a wonderful way of balancing the movement of discussion and interplay between writers with her suggestions, guidance, and recommendations. As someone who’s led writing workshops, I really appreciate the skill and art of that! Tricia really created an environment in which everyone, I think felt included and supported. She shared wonderful resources with us, as well.”

Write Where you are

 


Tricia Park Author PhotoTricia Park is a concert violinist and writer. The recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, she has appeared in concert on five continents. Tricia is the producer/host of a podcast called “Is it Recess Yet? Confessions of a Former Child Prodigy.” Tricia is a graduate of The Juilliard School and received an M.F.A. from the Writing Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her writing has appeared in Cleaver Magazine, Alyss, and F Newsmagazine. She has also been a finalist for contests in C&R Press and The Rumpus. Currently, she is a Lecturer and Artist-in-Residence at the University of Chicago. Tricia has taught creative writing online and at the University of Iowa.

In this class, we won’t try to fix what isn’t broken. We’ll hold our vulnerability and begin creating from where we are. We’ll give ourselves permission to commence, no matter how fragile the surface under our feet feels. Together, we will enter and engage with the work as it begins to speak to us, and we’ll allow ourselves to follow that uncertainty and see where it takes us.

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Published on January 25, 2021 in Spring 2021 Workshops, Summer 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY: Experimental Forms, taught by Sydney Tammarine | July 18 – August 14 [SOLD OUT]

Cleaver Magazine Posted on January 23, 2021 by thwackMay 30, 2021

UNSHAPING THE ESSAY:
Experimental Forms in Creative Nonfiction
Taught by Cleaver Editor Sydney Tammarine
for intermediate and advanced nonfiction writers

Session: 5 weeks
July 18 – August 14
Zoom meetings 11am – 12pm EST on Sundays 7/18, 7/25, 8/1, and 8/8
$200
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

SOLD OUT

Memoirist Patricia Hampl said, “Memoir isn’t for reminiscence; it’s for exploration.” Just as nonfiction writers explore the world and the internal landscape of their lives, they also explore the landscape of language: What is the best way to tell your story? How can the form we choose help us convey complicated ideas and experiences? And how do we know when a structure is working for us, rather than limiting us?

To answer that last question, I’ll borrow a few words from writer Brandon Schrand: “[I]f you have finished reading something experimental and if by the end, you can’t imagine it written in any other way, then the piece was successful.”

In this class, we will explore the boundaries—and boundlessness—of creative nonfiction, diving deeply into questions of memory and language while trying our hands at various innovative forms. Topics will include:

Week One: Found Forms, also known as the “hermit crab essay”
Week Two: The Braided Essay, to help us write what’s too hard to speak about directly
Week Three: Nonlinear Narrative, a breaking-free to flash backward and forward in time
Week Four: The Lyric Essay, where poetry and prose intersect

We will have weekly readings, writing prompts, peer workshops (asynchronous through Canvas), and discussions (synchronous through Zoom: 11am – 12pm EST on Sundays 7/18, 7/25, 8/1, and 8/8). Students will also revise one essay for instructor feedback. We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and enthusiastic feedback on their work.


Sydney TammarineSydney Tammarine’s work has appeared in Ploughshares, B O D Y, Pithead Chapel, LIT, Cleaver, and other journals. She is the co-translator of a book of poems, The Most Beautiful Cemetery in Chile. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University and teaches writing at Virginia Military Institute. She has led workshops at The Ohio State University, Hollins University, Otterbein University, and at high schools, including as Writer-in-Residence at Appomattox Regional Governor’s School. She serves as flash and creative nonfiction editor for Cleaver.

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Published on January 23, 2021 in CNF Workshops, Summer 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

POETIC ANATOMIES, taught by Claire Oleson |  March 20 to April 24, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

Cleaver Magazine Posted on January 23, 2021 by thwackMarch 19, 2021

antelope skeleton

POETIC ANATOMIES:
Dissecting Form and Formlessness in Poetry
Taught by Cleaver Poetry Editor Claire Oleson

5 weeks
March 20 – April 24
Class limit: 12
$200
Questions: [email protected]

The workshop content was well-designed and presented. The experience was been markedly positive for me. I was starting essentially at zero, never having attended a workshop or formally studied poetry. The workshop provided a base for future independent study. The comments and encouragement from Claire and other participants were a much needed boost to my self-confidence. The new poets I have been made aware of is of inestimable value. I will definitely be subscribing to future workshops.

In this course, we will investigate how form is used in poetry to create meaning, house language, and allow the content of a poem to achieve a significance that echoes beyond the bounds of its literal words. Whether participants are wholly new to sonnets and couldn’t tell you whether a villanelle is part of a cake recipe or a manuscript, there will be room for growth, experimentation, and attentive feedback.

We will work primarily on generating new work, encouraging participants to push their boundaries and hone their voice to create memorable and authentic pieces. The workshop model will facilitate constructive responses from both peers and the instructor. Particular attention will be placed on the formal life of the poetry we read and write.

We will read a few selections of poetry weekly that demonstrate the application of different forms in poetry. By the end of the course, students will know how to recognize poetic forms “in the wild,” know the origins of the form’s creation, be able to write within the form, and know when and where it can be broken with significance. The readings will be brief but rich, with the intent of inviting multiple re-readings, close readings, note-taking and flexibility for everyone’s lives and work. Supplemental reading will be available for those hungry for more plums from the proverbial icebox. Prompts will be provided inspired by the week’s reading, but will be designed more as springboards for beginning rather than hard-and-fast regulations. Work will be submitted weekly for peer and instructor review. One piece will be chosen by the student for revision for the final class. Optional Zoom conferences will be held to discuss the reading for those interested. We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism.

A final optional Zoom meeting will be held as a reading of our work.

Claire is a talented instructor. She makes each participants feel heard and valued and created an engaged forum. I truly value how much craft she imparted to us in such a short class.

SYLLABUS

1: Introductions: What is form: The body of the poem?

We will open with an investigation of what “form” means and how its both employed (and oftentimes, entirely ignored) in poetry. This week will focus on prose poetry and what it means to start, first, with a seeming abandonment of all things conventionally poetic, but still embrace the title of “poem”

2: Haiku and Haibun

We will take a look at two linked forms and discuss the history of these forms, their background, and how they work in concert with one another. With a knowledge of poetic history, participants will approach their own work with a chance to make decisions of form and formlessness that will come weighted with intention.

3: Sonnet and Derivations

This module will invite an exploration of classic forms of the sonnet as well as more contemporary evolutions. From the Shakespearian strict structure to what James Gate Percival entitled “The American Sonnet,” readers and writers will take a tour of authorial intent and poetic migration.

4: Villanelle and Sestina

In this second to last week, we will dive into two forms that employ repetition. Learning about how the same line written twice can come to carry an entirely different meaning, we will focus n reading and writing for sonics, sensation, and transformation.

5: The Final Form

In this final module, we will unleash the writers to confine or free themselves: they will approach a written piece of their own and make careful edits with peer and instructor feedback in mind as well as the gained ability to tweak their pieces into forms wholly their own. This will be the week for revision, encouraging everyone to push their boundaries and consider how their final piece’s consciously engage or break from form to elevate and embody their language.

New Modules posted on Mondays,
Pieces due by Friday, 11:59,
Feedback from All Due by Sunday, 11:59

I was incredibly impressed by how supportive, safe, collaborative, and engaged this workshop was. That positive tone was set from the beginning by Claire and reinforced throughout and was reflected in all the participants.

This workshop contributed greatly to my growth as a writer by challenging me to read new work and consider form more deeply than I have before.


Cleaver Poetry Reviews Editor Claire Oleson is a Brooklyn-based writer hailing from Grand Rapids Michigan. She’s a grad of Kenyon College, where she studied English and Creative Writing. Her work has been published by the University of Kentucky’s graduate literary journal Limestone, Siblíní Art and Literature Journal, Newfound Journal, NEAT Magazine, Werkloos Magazine, and Bridge Eight Magazine, among others. She is also the 2019 winner of the Newfound Prose Prize and author of the chapbook Things From the Creek We Could Have Been. 

 


Write Where you are

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Published on January 23, 2021 in Poetry Workshops, Spring 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

TELLING TRUE STORIES, taught by Sydney Tammarine | May 10 – June 11, 2021 [SOLD OUT]

Cleaver Magazine Posted on January 23, 2021 by thwackMay 7, 2021

TELLING TRUE STORIES
A Workshop in Creative Nonfiction
Taught by Cleaver Editor Sydney Tammarine

5 weeks
May 10 to June 11, 2021
Class limit: 12
$200
Questions: [email protected]

[SOLD OUT]

Writer Dinty W. Moore says that creative nonfiction equals curiosity plus truth. CNF comes in a variety of forms: from expansive memoir to intimate personal essay to the lightbulb “eureka!” of flash. But in any form, the CNF writer is a guiding voice in the dark: a storyteller seeking truth, thinking alongside the reader toward a deeper understanding of ourselves and our world.

In this class, we’ll practice the essay in its most dynamic form: a verb that means “to test; to practice; to taste; to try to do, accomplish, or make (anything difficult).” Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example essays and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback.

This workshop has weekly readings and writing assignments to inspire you—and deadlines to motivate you—but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time. There are no required meetings, although we’ll hold optional Zoom write-ins and discussions for those who are interested. We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and enthusiastic feedback on their work.


Sydney TammarineSydney Tammarine’s work has appeared in Ploughshares, LIT, Pithead Chapel, The Missing Slate, and other journals. She is the co-translator of a book of poems, The Most Beautiful Cemetery in Chile. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University and teaches writing at Virginia Military Institute. She has led workshops at The Ohio State University, Hollins University, Otterbein University, and at high schools, including as Writer-in-Residence at Appomattox Regional Governor’s School. She serves as flash and creative nonfiction editor for Cleaver.


SYLLABUS

Topic One: Writing the Tough Stuff

In our first week together, we’ll explore: Why does the most powerful writing often come from loss, grief, or trauma? What value do the “tough stories” of our lives have to others? Why is nonfiction uniquely posed to connect us to others, and what value do the “tough stories” of our lives have to them? We’ll also practice strategies for writing our toughest material in an environment that’s safe and encouraging.

Topic Two: Finding Your Truth

Novelist Tim O’Brien often talks about the role of truth in his fiction: “I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why a story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.” In CNF, we have an obligation to truth that is greater than just getting the facts right. How do we write the story-truth, the happening-truth, as best we know it? Can any piece of writing be objectively true? We’ll talk about strategies for writing in the face of these questions, and also for finding what we think we can’t remember.

Topic Three: Hell is (Writing About) Other People

Writer Anne Lamott said, “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” But that doesn’t always feel so easy, does it? This week, we’ll practice making characters in nonfiction—including yourself—feel real on the page, and discuss the ethics of writing about other people.

Topic Four: Finding Poetry in Prose

The Seneca Review describes the lyric essay as “[l]oyal to that original sense of essay as a test or a quest, an attempt at making sense,” but with prose that “might move by association, leaping from one path of thought to another by way of imagery or connotation, advancing by juxtaposition or sidewinding poetic logic.” This week, we’ll try out such poetic logic, experimenting with moves that can bring the music of poetry to our prose.

“Other than the topics that were all useful and valuable, Sydney included a wonderful revision exercise that I had never considered before–incorporating prose poetry into a piece. I revised my least favorite piece, and it became my favorite piece. ”

“Sydney was a very gifted teacher, capable of elevating my writing, even though I’m a beginning writer. I appreciated her sensitive, thoughtful and practical feedback and how she managed the feedback we gave each other.”

“Sydney was one of the more considerate, warm and insightful facilitators I have met. She was a sharp and welcome contrast to some of the horror stories that we sometimes hear about how such groups can be unkind and kill budding writers’ desire to “expose” their work.”

“This was a fantastic group with a great sense of community. I miss them.”

“I had never experienced the value of the writing community for feedback and encouragement. Wow, Sydney really set the tone, offering acceptance and providing lots of positive direction.”

Write Where you are

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Published on January 23, 2021 in CNF Workshops, Spring 2021 Workshops, Summer 2021 Workshops, Telling True Stories. (Click for permalink.)

Workshop Gift Certificates

Cleaver Magazine Posted on December 7, 2020 by thwackDecember 7, 2020

Gift Certificate ribbon

CLEAVER WORKSHOP GIFT CERTIFICATES

Gift the writer in your life with a writing workshop. Cleaver Magazine offers affordable online workshops in flash, fiction, creative nonfiction, visual narrative, poetry, and mixed genres. Our workshops are taught by Cleaver editors, university creative writing professors, and professional writers and editors.

We host both synchronous and asynchronous courses using Zoom and on Canvas, an easily accessible, private online platform. You don’t need any special accounts, equipment, or textbooks to join––just a computer or tablet and an internet connection. All reading materials are included in the class fee.

Gift certificates can be applied to any Cleaver course. Here’s how to purchase:

  • Enter the amount you wish to purchase
  • Tell us the name and email address of the recipient and the gift message.
  • Let us know what date to send the certificate.
  • If you have any additional internal notes for us, include them in the notes field.

BUY NOW

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Published on December 7, 2020 in Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

NONFICTION CLINIC

Cleaver Magazine Posted on December 7, 2020 by thwackMarch 16, 2023

CREATIVE NONFICTION CLINIC
with Sydney Tammarine

Here is your opportunity for one-on-one editorial feedback on a work-in-progress.

Writer Dinty W. Moore once said that creative nonfiction equals curiosity plus truth. CNF comes in a variety of forms: from expansive memoir to intimate personal essay to the lightbulb “eureka!” of flash. But in any form, nonfiction seeks a deeper understanding of ourselves and our world. It requires a well-told narrative, conflict, careful pacing, and a dynamic mind thinking on the page. Whether you have an essay near completion to submit to journals or programs, or have written a draft and don’t know what to do next, an experienced editor will offer the guidance and encouragement necessary to realize your best work.

Creative nonfiction writer and editor Sydney Tammarine will read your essay (up to 5500 words) and offer constructive written feedback regarding what’s working, what needs attention, and how to improve in key craft areas. Feedback will be returned within 21 days; expedited turnaround is also available. You may add an optional video conference with Sydney to discuss your work further and ask questions about next steps for revision.

Submission Guidelines
– Creative Nonfiction Clinic is open to all nonfiction writers
– 5500 words maximum; one piece per submission
– Please double-space your manuscript and use Times New Roman or a similar font
– You may include specific questions for feedback in the cover letter section when you submit
– Category may close if editor’s capacity is reached; it will reopen the following month

Cost

$100 for up to 2500 words
$150 for up to 4000 words
$200 for up to 5500 words
$50 add-on for a 30-minute Zoom consultation
$50 add-on for an expedited 2-week turnaround

 

Register Now


Sydney TammarineSydney Tammarine‘s work has appeared or is forthcoming in Ploughshares, The Kenyon Review, The New School’s LIT, and other journals. Her essay “Blue Hour” was selected as a Notable Essay in Best American Essays 2021. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University and is an Associate Professor of English at New Mexico Military Institute. She has led writing workshops at The Ohio State University, Hollins University, Otterbein University, and at high schools, including as Writer-in-Residence at Appomattox Regional Governor’s School. She serves as creative nonfiction and flash editor for Cleaver.

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Published on December 7, 2020 in Clinic, Nonfiction clinic, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

TRANS (Is Not An Abbreviation), a Workshop taught by Claire Rudy Foster | January 4 to 25, 2021

Cleaver Magazine Posted on September 20, 2020 by thwackSeptember 20, 2020

text image trans is not

TRANS (Is Not An Abbreviation)
Writing Transgender Characters through the lens of the body
taught by Claire Rudy Foster

4 Zoom Sessions
January 4, 11, 18, 25, 8-10 pm ET
$200
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

This workshop will discuss how to write about transgender characters through the lens of the body. Transgender bodies are vilified, objectified, fetishized, and punished. How do we write about trans joy, pleasure, and freedom? Writers will generate body-specific pieces of imagined or experienced memoir and learn about how to create transgender characters that avoid cliched, harmful tropes. Cisgender students are asked to read a sensitivity statement before attending.

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Published on September 20, 2020 in Fiction Workshops, Winter 2020 - 2021 Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

WEEKEND WRITING with Andrea Caswell | Ongoing Sunday Morning Series

Cleaver Magazine Posted on September 19, 2020 by thwackNovember 29, 2021

WEEKEND WRITING
for practice and inspiration
open to all levels and genres|Taught by Cleaver Editor Andrea Caswell

Three-week sessions, Sundays 10:30 am – 12:00 pm ET
Session 1: September 12, 19, 26
Session 2: October 3, 17, 24
Session 3:
November 7, 14, 21
Session 4: December 5, 12, 19
Cost: $100 per session
Class limit: 12
This class can be repeated monthly (re-registration required).
Questions: [email protected]
Register NowWEEKEND WRITING is a generative writing session for writers of all levels and genres. Enjoy this 90-minute writing retreat as we read and discuss short prose, experiment with optional prompts during in-class writing time, and nurture a personal writing practice rooted in curiosity and creativity. Whether you want to build structure into your writing week or simply play in your notebook, you’ll enrich your weekend with other writers in a motivational and supportive setting.

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing.” ~Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

The class can be repeated as many times as you like.

What you’ll get from this class:

– Real-time meetings with your instructor and fellow writers

– Reading and discussion of short inspirational texts

– Dedicated in-class writing time in each meeting

– Optional prompts that invite experimentation and discovery

– Consistency in building a personal writing practice

– A safe and supportive writing community

“I found Andrea’s creation of a ‘gentle accountability,’ as she once put it, very effective.”

“I really appreciate writing in community without the pressure of sharing or workshopping. For me, it’s most important to get my butt in the seat and keep it there, and this 90 minutes each week feels sacred and protected.”


Andrea Caswell ‘s writing has been published widely in print and online. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Tampa Review, River Teeth, The Normal School, Columbia Journal, Atticus Review, and others. She holds a master’s from Harvard University and an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She’s a fiction editor for Cleaver Magazine, and is the founder of Lime Street Writers, a monthly workshop north of Boston. In 2019 she was a fiction contributor at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. A native of Los Angeles, Andrea now lives and teaches in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Contact her at www.andreacaswell.com.

Write Where you are

 

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Published on September 19, 2020 in CNF Workshops, Fall 2021 Workshops, Fiction Workshops, Poetry Workshops, Workshops. (Click for permalink.)

SHORT STORY CLINIC

Cleaver Magazine Posted on September 19, 2020 by thwackFebruary 2, 2021

SHORT STORY CLINIC
with Andrea Caswell

Here is your opportunity for one-on-one editorial feedback on a work-in-progress.

Edgar Allan Poe defined short stories as prose “no longer than can be read in a single sitting.” Despite their compressed space, short stories require character development, conflict, careful pacing, and a narrative arc. Whether you have a story near completion to submit to journals or programs, or have written a draft and don’t know what to do next, an experienced editor will offer the guidance and encouragement necessary to realize your best work.

Fiction writer and editor Andrea Caswell will read your short story (up to 5000 words) and offer constructive written feedback regarding what’s working, what needs attention, and how to improve in key craft areas. Feedback will be returned within 21 days; expedited turnaround also available. You may add an optional video conference with Andrea to discuss your work further and ask questions about next steps for revision.

Submission Guidelines
-Short Story Clinic is open to all fiction writers
-5000 words maximum
-Please double-space your manuscript and use Times New Roman or a similar font
-You may include specific questions for feedback in the cover letter section when you submit
-Category may close if editors’ capacity is reached; it will reopen the following month

Cost

$100 for up to 2500 words
$150 for up to 5000 words
$50 add-on for a 30-minute Zoom consultation
$50 add-on for an expedited 2-week turnaround

Register Now


Andrea Caswell teaches WEEKEND WRITING and SHORT STORY CLINIC. Her writing has been published widely in print and online. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Tampa Review, River Teeth, The Normal School, Columbia Journal, Atticus Review, and others. She holds a master’s from Harvard University and an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She’s a fiction editor for Cleaver Magazine, and is the founder of Lime Street Writers, a monthly workshop north of Boston. In 2019 her fiction was accepted to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. A native of Los Angeles, Andrea now lives and teaches in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Contact her at www.andreacaswell.com.

 

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Published on September 19, 2020 in Clinic. (Click for permalink.)

THE ART OF FLASH, Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction, taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | January 3 to February 7, 2021 SOLD OUT

Cleaver Magazine Posted on September 17, 2020 by thwackDecember 7, 2020