4 sessions, Mondays in April, 7-9pm
online
$360
Enroll in the entire quartet of classes.
Back by popular demand! Beloved Co-Lab teacher and Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories author Steve Almond returns with a fresh quartet of generative classes. Each week, we’ll read a story or essay focused on the given subject, then embark on a free write that gives free rein to our more anarchic impulses. For writers of any level, from beginners to published veterans, these classes are your chance to cast off your inhibitions, take risks, and cultivate a deeper relationship to your craft! (Note that these classes are also available a la carte, but all four work together as a series and enrolling for the entire quartet saves you money.)
Monday, April 6: Love & Other Disasters: That Time You Chose Wrong
A class devoted to that lover your really shouldn't have taken.
Monday, April 13: Pet Sounds: Writing About the Animals in Our Lives
Because we love our pets more than is humanly reasonable!
Monday, April 20: Leaving Home and Separation Anxiety
Parting isn't really sweet sorrow so much as deeply agitating.
Monday, April 27th: Rage on the Page: When Anger Is Your Engine
Being mad as hell is a reasonable response to a world gone mad.
Suggested companion text: Truth is the Arrow, Mercy is the Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories (Zando, April 2024)
Enroll in the quartet of classes.
About the instructor
Steve Almond is the author of twelve books of fiction and non-fiction including the New York Times bestsellers Candyfreak and Against Football. His first novel, Which Brings Me to You (co-written with Julianna Baggott) was made into way-better-than-he-expected movie starring Lucy Hale and Nat Wolff. His last novel, All the Secrets of the World, is in development for television by 20th Century Fox. His work has appeared in the Best American Short Stories, the Pushcart Prize, Best American Mysteries, and the NYT Magazine. His most recent book, Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow, is about craft, inspiration, and how to keep going at the keyboard. Almond teaches at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and lives outside Boston with his family and his anxiety.
Student Testimonials from Past Quartets
“Loved every minute and appreciate Steve’s creating a communal and supportive environment where story telling becomes a shared experience by reading our work aloud. Steve is well read and can make connections from the works of all kinds of artists to that of writers in the class. I think you can see how safe an environment Steve sets up by the incredible responses people give back in their writings.”
“Steve’s insights about each piece of shared writing is always deeply instructive for everyone, not just the individual writer. His prompts always lead me to unexpected places in my life that are grateful to be unveiled and reexamined.”
“I know you know, but let me reaffirm, Steve is a delightful, smart, kind, inclusive teacher. I think everyone in this group read aloud at least once. And the readings he sends us and the discussion about them has us all taking notes, for sure had me taking notes, which is fuel for tomorrow, for the days after the class.”
“Steve pushes me through my resistance of the moment to an opening filled with possibilities. His sharp analysis feels interwoven with an almost vulnerable appreciation of works he cites for examples, and then somehow he applies that skill to students’ work. There’s something about the bad boy in the background that makes it all work so well.”
“Steve’s talk in the beginning of each class emotionally and intellectually primes you to take risks that require an honesty that, on your own, is uncomfortable. It feels like a trespass on the people you love when you write so honestly. Steve encouraged a new definition of this trespass. It’s love. And then when you write, and hear other people’s writing–writing that was so raw and vulnerable–you approach your writing the next day with a new understanding of what you are trying to do. To tell the truth. My classmates were so inspiring. Usually my insecurity is driving intense criticism of others. I couldn’t imagine doing that in Steve’s class. He creates a safe and daring atmosphere that brings out my own need to support others, to walk away from my needy ego and be a part of a great group. And Steve is just a good guy. He’s funny, fair, knowledgable, encouraging, and leaks just the right amount of transgression to make the classes more like a rigorous discussion at a pub (in Liverpool and not London) without alcohol. Don’t know if that analogy works, but I would take his class again.”