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What if you didn’t have to know what the poem was about before you began?
In this generative poetry class, we’ll focus on writing into the unknown and letting the poem take shape through image, rhythm, and attention. Instead of trying to explain or control the work too early, we’ll stay close to what is happening on the page and follow it.
Each session will include short readings, guided prompts, and time to write. We’ll pay attention to how poems begin, how they move, and where they shift. We’ll work with repetition, silence, line, and pressure to see how a poem can hold meaning without needing to spell everything out.
This is not a critique-heavy workshop. Sharing is optional. The focus is on generating new work and building a practice you can return to.
Outcomes
• Write new poems and drafts each week
• Learn ways to begin without getting stuck
• Build momentum and consistency in your writing
• Develop a stronger sense of image, line, and movement
• Gain tools to stay with a poem without overexplaining
Sabina Khan-Ibarra is a Pashtun American writer based in Northern California. Her work has appeared in Anomaly Literary, SWWIM, and Rising Phoenix, and she has been recognized with fellowships from the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and the Brainard Fellowship. She is Director of Rooted & Written at The Writers Grotto, a tuition-free writing fellowship supporting emerging writers. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and is currently working on a poetry collection and a novel.
Join us for a FREE lunchtime reading in the beautiful Wetlands Garden of the TJPA Salesforce Park! Preeti Vangani and Audrey Ferber will be reading from their work, come by!
What if form isn’t restrictive, but liberating?
In this four-week poetry class, we’ll explore how formal constraints can actually make poems stronger by forcing precision, distillation, and attention to language. Through forms like the pantoum, sonnet, tanka, and ghazal, we’ll study how repetition, brevity, turn, and refrain create emotional pressure, movement, and surprise.
Each week, we’ll read contemporary and classic poems, paying close attention to how form shapes meaning. We’ll then move into short, generative exercises and prompts that allow you to experiment with these forms in your own voice. This is not about perfection or strict adherence, but about discovering what form can unlock in your writing.
This class is generative, with optional sharing and light feedback. Writers of all levels are welcome.
Outcomes
By the end of this class, students will:
• Gain familiarity with four poetic forms: pantoum, sonnet, tanka, and ghazal
• Understand how constraint can create tension, clarity, and emotional depth
• Write new draft poems each week using formal strategies
• Develop stronger attention to line, repetition, image, and compression
• Leave with multiple new pieces and tools for continued revision
Sabina Khan-Ibarra is a Pashtun American poet, writer, and educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is Director of Rooted & Written at The Writers Grotto, a tuition-free fellowship supporting writers of color. She teaches at The Writers Groto, Litquake's Elder Project and San Diego Writers Ink. Her work explores language, memory, displacement, and the complexities of being “othered” in America, and has appeared in journals such as Anomaly Literary, Rising Phoenix, and iO Literary. She teaches generative, craft-focused classes that center image, compression, and emotional resonance, helping writers deepen their voice and sharpen their work.
SATURDAY, July 11th | How to Write an Irresistible Pitch
In this workshop, we will define a pitch (sometimes called a logline or hook), and discuss where and when you will need it. We will review the necessary ingredients as well as formulas and templates for a successful pitch. As we analyze pitches that sold, you will have the opportunity to write your pitch in class and work through a series of exercises to revise it until it sings.
This workshop is suitable for all writing levels of fiction and memoir.
Option Add-On: Lisa is available for a one-hour private Zoom consultation for registered students. These consultations will be scheduled outside of class sessions, at a time that is mutually convenient for instructor and student. This consultation includes reading a one-page pitch and synopsis and a maximum of a five-page sample of your manuscript. All submissions should be 12 pt font double-spaced. The consultation hour will involve an in-depth conversation regarding the writer's story premise with the aim to understand, clarify, and elevate the writer's unique vision.
Long ago, Lisa Lerner was a professional rubber stamp cutter, children’s party entertainer, and NYC performance artist. Then one day that lasted five years, she wrote a novel called JUST LIKE BEAUTY which became a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and is now in development as a movie shooting in 2026. Lisa has been writing stories for educational publishers such as Scholastic and McGraw Hill for over 25 years, as well as penning short fiction for McSweeney’s, Hobart and other places, and teaching writing workshops to adults and kids. When she is not writing her next adult novel, she is a proud member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, a juror for the annual Scholastic Art and Writing Competition, and a trustee on the board of the Kingston Public Library. Visit www.lisalerner.com for student testimonials and a glimpse into Lisa’s past and present lives.
The lyrical essay has become a highly popular genre in multiple disciplines, from journalism to the personal essay. Authors from Purpura and Forché to Didion and Dillard have written them. But what, exactly, is this form? Poetic essay or essayistic poem? Both – or neither? The form employs a series of images or ideas, rather than chronicle or argument, to sculpt a narrative. Often inconclusive, lyrical essays reach beyond archetypal classical frames to a meditative sense of place and displacement. In this introductory workshop, we'll read and analyze several lyric essay examples, learning what distinguishes a lyric essay from other essay forms. We'll then try our hand at writing a short lyrical draft, incorporating the hallmarks and characteristics we discussed during the morning. The focus of this workshop is on experimentation rather than perfection.
Prior fiction or nonfiction writing experience is required. Students should be comfortable sharing early drafts with others.
Students completing this workshop will:
*be able to identify key components of the form and know how to negotiate its terrain
*understand what the lyric essay borrows from other genres, such as poetry
*have a clear direction about how to undertake crafting a full-fledged lyric essay
*be able to spot a lyric essay when they see one.
Lyzette Wanzer’s work appears in over thirty literary journals and magazines. Her book, TRAUMA, TRESSES, & TRUTH: Untangling Our Hair Through Personal Narratives (Chicago Review Press) appeared on Library Journal’s 2022 Top 10 Best Social Sciences Books list. Her lyric essays have appeared in The Los Angeles Review, Natural Bridge, Pleiades, Maryland Literary Review, Midnight & Indigo, The MacGuffin, and other journals. Lyzette is a contributor to Lyric Essay as Resistance: Truth From the Margins (Wayne State University Press), Civil Liberties United: Diverse Voices from the San Francisco Bay Area (Pease Press), and the multi-award-winning The Chalk Circle: Intercultural Prizewinning Essays (Wyatt-MacKenzie).
“Me Myself and I: Understanding Memoir" is a two-hour interactive Zoom seminar for those who want to better understand the genre of memoir, the craft elements required to write it well, and the red flags inherent in writing about real humans. In this course we will: Explore the tensions inherent in being author, narrator, and subject all at once; Unpack the subjectivity of truth; Commit to treat all characters fairly; Learn to report from the body; Realize why writing the story you can’t bear to share is your gateway; and Examine your obligations to the others about whom you will be writing.
Outcomes:
1. Heightened understanding of the genre - both what it is and what it isn't
2. Deep understanding of craft tools that will yield better memoir
3. Greater confidence that you know the red flags and can assess whether and how to proceed
TUESDAYS, July 14th - Aug. 4th | Have you been sending good work out to literary journals and contests and racking up nothing but rejections? Your submissions strategy and materials presentation–rather than your work–may be the reason why you're ending up in the rejection pile.
In this month-long workshop, learn how to locate a breadth of suitable markets for your work and incorporate practical tips on formatting submissions that demonstrate polish and serious intent. We'll go beyond journals and consider opportunities such as magazines, call for papers (CFP) lists, and writing contests. This workshop is geared for short story, creative nonfiction, and poetry writers. Novelists who are interested in publishing manuscript excerpts are also welcome.
Elizabeth Svoboda and Lindsey Crittenden will be reading.
Join us for the Writers Grotto's Literary Salon.
Readers:
Lisa Rosenberg
Joanne Furio
Jane Mcdermott
Christopher D. Cook
Emcee:
Susan Kiyo Ito
Bios:
Shizue Seigel is a Japanese American writer and artist whose work was published most recently by Panorama, Tender Hearts Club, Journal X, and Porter Gulch Review. Her nine books include a poetry collection, three books on the Japanese American experience, and five anthologies of writers and artists of color, As director of Write Now! SF Bay, her work has been recognized with a KPIX Jefferson Award, and supported by the San Francisco Arts commission, California Arts Council and others.
Lisa Rosenberg is a poet and essayist formed by physics, engineering, arts, and somatic practices. The recipient of a Wallace Stegner Fellowship, MOSAIC America Fellowship, and Leonardo@Djerassi Residency, she served as the second Poet Laureate of San Mateo County, California, and worked as an engineer in the US space program. Her prose spans literary craft, satire, science, and memoir. Her poetry centers interconnectedness across nature, culture, and perceived extremes: from the fantastic to the mundane, the subatomic to the celestial. Through workshops, talks, and essays, she addresses process and systems skills essential to integrative thinking. Her collections Weeds and Stars (2026) and A Different Physics (2018) reflect decades of polydisciplinary inquiry. Based in the Bay Area, she lives part-time in Ilia, Greece.
Joanne Furio is a writer whose personal essays, flash, prose poems and author interviews have appeared in Believer, Catapult, Juked, Craft Literary, Dorothy Parker's Ashes, Open: Journal of Arts & Letters and other publications. She is also an award-winning journalist who has written regularly for The New York Times, The Village Voice, Ms., Dwell and San Francisco, where she was a contributor for a decade. She now covers books at Berkeleyside and teaches creative writing through the Sarah Lawrence Writing Institute.
Jane McDermott Boston native Jane McDermott has lived in the San Francisco Bay area since 1979. BFA, filmmaking, San Francisco Art Institute, 1982. MFA, creative writing, San Francisco State University, 2014. Her book Look Busy: One hundred 100-word stories by and for the easily distracted won the Michael Rubin Book Award. Published by Fourteen Hills Press, 2014. Jacob M Apel praised Look Busy as: “sharp, funny, and poignant. Most important, the writing rings with honesty and vulnerability…amusing and clever on the first reading, charming and poignant on the second reading, and thoroughly captivating on the third reading and beyond.” Her short fiction has appeared in the journals Red Light Lit; Reunion: The Dallas Review; Writing Without Walls; Transfer; The Rambler; and 100 Word Story and in the anthologies How Running Changed My Life and Knit Lit the Third: We Spin More Yarns. Member, San Francisco Writers Grotto. She lives in Oakland, California.
Christopher D. Cook is an author and award-winning journalist and a member of the Writers Grotto for more than 20 years. He has written for Harper's, the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, The Economist, The Guardian, Mother Jones, The Christian Science Monitor, The Nation, The New Republic, and elsewhere. He has worked as a reporter for The Oakland Tribune and United Press International, and city editor for The San Francisco Bay Guardian. His first book, Diet for a Dead Planet: Big Business and the Coming Food Crisis, was widely acclaimed and went paperback. Christopher also writes poetry and creative nonfiction and sings with The Conspiracy of Beards choir. Check out his work at www.christopherdcook.com
Emcee :
Susan Kiyo Ito is the author of the memoir, I Would Meet You Anywhere, published by the Ohio State University Press, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the William Saroyan International Prize. She co-edited the literary anthology A Ghost At Heart’s Edge: Stories & Poems of Adoption. Her work has appeared in Catapult, Hyphen, Agni, and Guernica. She was awarded residencies at the MacDowell Colony, The Mesa Refuge, Hedgebrook and Blue Mountain Center.
Food & drink provided.
Samanaz R. Nesh and Leah Korican will be reading.
Learn how to write compelling stories in 1,000 words or less. This panel explores the craft of flash fiction, including what to include, what to leave out and how the form differs from traditional short stories. Moderated by Lenore Weiss, the discussion features Sabina Khan-Ibarra, Swetha Amit and Jesus Francisco Sierra, who will share techniques, insights and approaches to writing flash. Curated by Nina Schuyler.
Lenore Weiss lives in Oakland, California and is a member of The Writers Grotto. She serves as the Associate Creative Nonfiction (CNF) Editor for Mud Season Review. Lenore recently won the Magpie Magazine Clark Closser Memorial Literature Award in Nonfiction. Her environmental novel Pulp into Paper and poetry collection, Video Game Pointers were both published in 2024. Alexandria Quarterly Press published her prize-winning flash fiction chapbook, Holding on to the Fringes of Love in 2018. Prior poetry collections form a trilogy about love, loss, and being mortal.
Sabina Khan-Ibarra is a Pashtun American writer based in Northern California. She holds an MFA from SFSU and is a fellow of the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and VONA. Her work has appeared in Anomaly Literary, SWWIM, Rising Phoenix and iO Literary Journal. She was shortlisted for the SmokeLong Quarterly Award for Flash Fiction and has received recognition from CRAFT and other journals. She teaches creative writing at The Writers Grotto, Litquake, and San Diego Writers, Ink, and serves as Director of Rooted & Written, a tuition-free conference and fellowship for BIPOC writers.
Swetha Amit earned her MFA from the University of San Francisco and is an active member of the Writers Grotto, where she chairs the Literary Salon series. She has authored a memoir and three chapbooks. Her stories have appeared in Bending Genres, Ghost Parachute, McNeese Boudin, Gone Lawn and others. Her works have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, Best Microfiction and Best Small Fiction. A Rooted and Written fellow in 2024, and Vona fellow in 2025.
Jesus Francisco Sierra is a Cuban writer who immigrated to San Francisco and grew up in San Francisco’s Mission District. His work has appeared in Zyzzyva, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Common, Alta, Gulf Stream Literary Journal, Solstice Literary Magazine, The Caribbean Writer and The Acentos Review, among others. His short story collection At Times of Loss and Other Cuban Stories was a finalist for the 2023 Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize and also in the Eastover Press 2025 Debut Collection contest. He is the recipient of the 2025 San Francisco Literary Foundation’s award for Fiction and also in 2025 was awarded first place for commentary by the San Francisco Press Club for his essay “A Brief Spanish History of San Francisco”.
Renata Khoshroo Louwers and Lenore Weiss will be reading.
T. K. Rex and Jane McDermott will be reading.
What makes prose feel alive?
In this four-week class, we’ll focus on writing prose that is vivid, precise, and emotionally resonant. Rather than relying on explanation, we’ll explore how image, detail, voice, and structure can carry meaning.
This class is especially suited for writers who want to move away from over-explaining and toward more powerful, image-driven writing. We’ll look at short fiction and creative nonfiction that uses compression, silence, and strong sensory detail to create impact.
Each week, we’ll study a different craft focus:
• image over explanation
• sentence as movement
• compression and cutting
• voice and emotional restraint
Through close reading, short exercises, and generative prompts, you’ll produce new work and begin to see how to shape prose that feels immediate and necessary.
This is a generative class with optional sharing and light feedback. Writers of fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid forms are all welcome.
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Outcomes
By the end of this class, students will:
• Write new prose pieces each week
• Learn how to replace abstraction with image
• Develop stronger, more intentional sentences
• Practice compression and cutting for clarity and impact
• Build confidence in voice-driven, image-based storytelling
• Leave with multiple drafts that can be revised or expanded
Sabina Khan-Ibarra is a Pashtun American poet, writer, and educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is Director of Rooted & Written at The Writers Grotto, a tuition-free fellowship supporting writers of color. She teaches at The Writers Grotto, Litquake’s Elder Project, and San Diego Writers Ink. Her work explores language, memory, displacement, and the complexities of being “othered” in America, and has appeared in journals such as Anomaly Literary, Rising Phoenix, and iO Literary. She teaches generative, craft-focused classes that center image, compression, and emotional resonance, helping writers deepen their voice and sharpen their work.
Doug Henderson and Tania Malik will be reading.
Ever feel like your life has a million stories waiting to be told, but you aren't sure where to start?
Join us for Write Your Heart Out, a soulful 90 minute workshop designed to help you pause, reflect, and put pen to paper. Whether you want to craft "mini-stories" from your favorite memories or simply use journaling to make sense of the beautiful chaos of daily life, this session is your safe space to explore.
What to Expect:
Guided Prompts: We’ll move past "dear diary" with creative triggers that spark vivid memories and deep insights.
The Art of the Mini-Story: Learn how to capture a life lesson or a fleeting moment in just a few paragraphs.
Clarity & Connection: Use writing as a tool to de-clutter your mind and find the "why" behind your experiences.
Low Pressure, High Expression: No "writer" credentials required—just you, a notebook, and an open heart.
Workshop Details:
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." – Maya Angelou
Whether you’re looking for a new creative outlet or a way to process your journey, come discover how powerful your own narrative can be. Leave with a clearer mind, a fuller heart, and at least one story that’s uniquely yours.
Britta Stromeyer is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. Her writing appears in The Common, World Literature Today, Tupelo Quarterly, Beyond Words Magazine, Necessary Fiction, On the Seawall, Flash Fiction Magazine, Bending Genres Journal, Marin Independent Journal, and other publications. Britta has authored award-winning children's books and holds an MFA from Dominican University, CA, an M.A. from American University, and a Certificate in Novel Writing from Stanford University.
SATURDAY, August 15th |*Registration closes at 5pm on 8/14
A good sentence can insinuate languidly or chop like a machete. Whether taut and short or long and languorous, a sentence exists to convey information. But how? With so many ways of saying something, how do we as creative writers find the words and structure best suited to our story, our characters, our deeper meaning?
In this 3-hour session, in-class prompts and up-close analysis will show techniques to make your sentences work for you. We’ll play with syntax, rhythm, and figures of speech such as epanados and anaphora (two kinds of repetition). We’ll examine a variety of sentences by published writers, with an eye to how we can “steal” from the masters while staying true to our own voice. We’ll look at the power of verbs and of nouns in conveying tone and mood as well as content. We’ll practice quick and effective ways to revise and polish sentences – whether standing on their own or combined with others. And, always, we’ll celebrate the irresistible allure of well-crafted language.
Students are asked to bring ½ page of a current work-in-progress to class (prose only, please). Working on Zoom will allow us to screen-share as we revise these samples together. Students will leave class with a revision and a solid grasp of techniques to put to use on their own.
Lindsey Crittenden is the author of The Water Will Hold You, a memoir (which Publishers Weekly called “exquisitely written”), and an award-winning collection of stories, The View from Below. Her short fiction, essays, and articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Best American Spiritual Writing, Glimmer Train, Cimarron Review, and elsewhere. She loves arranging and re-arranging sentences and has taught writing for more than 30 years.
Zoe Young and Leslie Kirk Campbell will be reading.
“Me Myself and I: Understanding Memoir" is a two-hour interactive Zoom seminar for those who want to better understand the genre of memoir, the craft elements required to write it well, and the red flags inherent in writing about real humans. In this course we will: Explore the tensions inherent in being author, narrator, and subject all at once; Unpack the subjectivity of truth; Commit to treat all characters fairly; Learn to report from the body; Realize why writing the story you can’t bear to share is your gateway; and Examine your obligations to the others about whom you will be writing.
Outcomes:
1. Heightened understanding of the genre - both what it is and what it isn't
2. Deep understanding of craft tools that will yield better memoir
3. Greater confidence that you know the red flags and can assess whether and how to proceed
Join us for the Writers Grotto's Literary Salon.
Food & drink provided.
Stephanie Wildman and Terry Tierney will be reading.
Rob Ehle will be reading.
What happens when a poem refuses a single shape?
In this four-week generative poetry course, students will explore contemporary poetic forms that move beyond the traditional lyric. Through readings, discussion, prompts, and in-class writing, we will experiment with fragmented poems, prose poems, collage, modular structures, glossary poems, instruction poems, documentary forms, visual interruption, and hybrid techniques. This class focuses less on “mastering” form and more on discovering how structure itself can create emotional movement, tension, surprise, and resonance. We will read work by poets such as Anne Carson, Terrance Hayes, Jenny Xie, Danez Smith, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Carl Phillips, Mary Ruefle, and others.
This is a highly generative class open to poets, prose writers, hybrid writers, and anyone interested in expanding their approach to language and structure.
Students will:
* generate new work each week
* experiment with contemporary and hybrid poetic forms
* explore fragmentation, repetition, and visual structure
* learn how structure can create emotional movement
* read and discuss innovative contemporary poets
* leave class with multiple drafts and new approaches to poetic form
Sabina Khan-Ibarra is a Pashtun Muslim American poet, writer, and educator whose work appears in Anomaly, SWWIM, Rising Phoenix, and iO Literary, and has been recognized by CRAFT and the SmokeLong Award for Flash Fiction. Her poetry collection, What My Mouth Holds, is a two-time semifinalist. She also teaches at Litquake and San Diego Writers Ink, where her classes focus on image, emotional architecture, fragmentation, and contemporary literary forms. She serves as Director of Rooted & Written, a fellowship and conference program centering BIPOC writers.
Susan Ito and Lyzette Wanzer will be reading.
If you’re ever felt bound by the constraints of genre, this class is for you. We will study and experiment with three hybrid forms: the lyric essay, prose poem, and flash creative nonfiction. The lyric essay combines the storytelling of narrative nonfiction with the lyricism of poetry and often the hard facts of journalism. The prose poem, a centuries' old genre, utilizes the sentence-and-paragraph form of prose as a vehicle for poetry’s lyrical language, metaphor, and imagery. Flash creative nonfiction likewise uses poetic techniques combined with memoir’s truth telling in a narrative of 1,000 words or fewer.
Following the model of an MFA craft class, we’ll read the work of hybrid writers such as Abigail Thomas, Roxane Gay, and Maggie Nelson and do freewrites inspired by their examples. In-class exercises and at-home assignments are designed to spur new work and push writers into innovative creative territory. Class participants will come away with a broader understanding of hybrid forms, along with new experimental work of their own.
Joanne Furio is a writer of creative nonfiction whose work often bisects several genres. Her author interviews, personal essays, flash, and prose poems have appeared in Believer, Craft Literary, Catapult, Juked, Panoply, Brevity Blog, Open: Journal of Arts and Letters, and La Piccioletta Barca (a Cambridge University arts magazine), among other publications. She teaches creative writing at the Sarah Lawrence Writing Institute and Saint Mary’s College of California, where she was awarded a teaching fellowship and received an MFA in 2016. At Berkeleyside, the online news platform, she is an award-winning arts and culture writer who does the books coverage.
MONDAYS, Sept. 14th - Nov. 16th* | Micro-Tensions in the Novel: Ever wonder how your favorite writers create and sustain conflict throughout an entire novel? Well this course is for you. In Micro-Tensions in the Novel, we'll explore how writers create moments of tension-moments big, small, and everything in between-and how writers sustain that tension, chapter by chapter, page by page. By the end of this course, you'll understand how writers manipulate these inflection points of tension, and be ready to ramp up the conflict in your own writing!
This course will be a hybrid seminar/workshop where students will read pieces of literature (TBD), analyzing them the author's use of micro-tensions, and also generate content based on writing exercises and writing prompts. Lastly, there will be a workshop element to the course, where students will be able to workshop a portion of their novel-in progress.
*No class on Oct. 5th & Nov. 2nd
Sam Moussavi is a writer and educator who's lived in California for the better part of the past 20 years. After completing an MFA in Long Fiction at the University of San Francisco in 2014, Sam published two series of YA novels for EPIC Press (2015-2018) as well as written several screenplays, with one, "Golden State: Pilot", placing fourth in the ScreenCraft Screenwriting Contest in 2024. One title of Sam’s YA titles, Texas Fridays: Dallas, won the South Dakota Teen Choice Book Awards (Drama) in 2018. In addition, Sam is a professor of English Literature and Criminology at CCSF, San Francisco State University, and Sonoma State University, respectively. In addition to teaching and writing, Sam’s writing primarily concerns the connection between California's past and present.
Nate Olivarez-Giles and Connie Hale will be reading.
Join us for the Writers Grotto's Literary Salon.
Food & drink provided.
Sarita Sarvate and Lee Ann Prescott will be reading.
Laurie Doyle will be reading.
Some stories refuse a single genre.
In this four-week generative class, students will explore hybrid writing that moves between poetry, essay, memoir, and prose. Through contemporary readings, prompts, and discussion, we will examine how writers use fragmentation, associative movement, repetition, image systems, and nonlinear structure to create emotionally resonant work that exists between forms.
Students will experiment with lyric essays, segmented prose, braided structures, prose poetry, hybrid memoir, and genre-bending approaches to storytelling.
We will read work by writers such as Bhanu Kapil, Jenny Boully, Elissa Washuta, Maggie Nelson, Natalie Diaz, Lia Purpura, and Alexander Chee.
This class is ideal for writers who feel constrained by traditional genre boundaries and want to explore more intuitive, flexible, and experimental approaches to structure.
Students will:
* generate new work each week
* explore lyric and associative movement
* experiment with segmented and braided structures
* learn techniques for genre-bending writing
* study contemporary hybrid writers
* finish class with multiple drafts and expanded approaches to form
Sabina Khan-Ibarra is a Pashtun Muslim American poet, writer, and educator whose work appears in Anomaly, SWWIM, Rising Phoenix, and iO Literary, and has been recognized by CRAFT and the SmokeLong Award for Flash Fiction. Her poetry collection, What My Mouth Holds, is a two-time semifinalist. She also teaches at Litquake and San Diego Writers Ink, where her classes focus on image, emotional architecture, fragmentation, and contemporary literary forms. She serves as Director of Rooted & Written, a fellowship and conference program centering BIPOC writers.
Laurie Doyle will be reading.
Deborah Claymon and Elizabeth Stark will be reading.
THURSDAYS, October and November |*Registration closes at 5pm on 10/14
Want a write a new short story by the end of the year? This is the class for you!
We'll spend six weeks building stories from the foundation. We'll celebrate the trouble at the heart of good short fiction. We'll look at ways to get characters in and out of (or deeper into) hot water. We'll look closely at short stories that achieve unity of purpose, precision of craft, and an emotional wallop. We’ll explore diverse forms and voices and examine not only how each story builds from the first word to the last but how tightly the structure depends upon - and enhances - our understanding of character.
During these six weeks, each student will craft a short story from beginning to end, starting with in-class exercises and prompts. Homework will consist of weekly reading assignments as well as student writing. Please be prepared to share your work in class, as we will regularly do so in a supportive, respectful, and constructive manner (with guidelines provided by the instructor). If you've written short fiction before, or are looking to start, this class will give you concrete help in developing and strengthening your craft. You will finish class with a complete first draft.
Note: this class is generative rather than revision-oriented. While you may already have a draft, please be prepared to write (and share) new material.
Lindsey Crittenden’s short stories have appeared in Cimarron Review, Mississippi Review, Glimmer Train, Quarterly West, and elsewhere. She is the author of an award-winning collection of short fiction, The View from Below, and she loves working with students in developing and shaping the stories only they can tell. She has taught and developed curricula for creative writing classes since 1995.
Sarah Wright and Jennifer Christgau will be reading.
Banish your anxiety about grammar and get you new tricks to make your sentences sing.
Six hours, a free book, bagels galore, and buckets of grammar. How can you resist? Whether you dream of being a social-media monarch, a literary lioness, or a tough lawyer—words, sentences, and stories are your currency. You cannot afford sloppy syntax. Connie will lead you through a series of hilarious exercises and prompts to perk up your writing in surprising ways. (We’ll use Connie’s Sin and Syntax as our guide, but dip also into her book on verbs, Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch.) You will stretch new muscles, ditch bad habits, and duke it out in a war of words. We’ll also talk about how to cultivate that most elusive of literary elements: the writer’s voice. This one-day workshop is perfect for writers of all genres who want to take their prose to the next level. No grammar competency required, but a sense of humor is a must.
Students completing this workshop will:
*learn the parts of speech—which ones to exploit, which ones to expunge
*discover the dynamics of a sentence—master the subject-predicate tango
*banish all fear of the semicolon (and other punctuation minefields)
*avoid, forevermore, the five biggest bonehead grammatical mistakes
*figure out the fuss over dangling participles
*play with pronouns—yes, pronouns—to explore POV and voice
Constance Hale has transformed “writing reference” shelves with her irreverent books on language—which are used in writing classes around the world. A former editor at Wired, Health, and the San Francisco Examiner, her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Atlantic, Honolulu, and Smithsonian, among other publications. Her six books include the bestselling Sin and Syntax: How to Write Wicked Good Prose. Once called “E. B. White on acid,” Connie has directed creative nonfiction conferences at Harvard and U.C. Berkeley and wrote an eight-part series for “Draft” at the New York Times’ Opinionator. She covers writing and the writing life at sinandsyntax.com.
Chris Baker and Alysia Gonzales will be reading.
How does a poem hold emotional weight?
In this four-week generative poetry course, students will explore how contemporary poets create emotional resonance through image systems, repetition, compression, silence, pacing, and associative movement. Rather than focusing on traditional form, this class investigates how emotional pressure shapes structure and language.
Through readings, discussion, prompts, and in-class writing, students will generate new work rooted in recurring imagery, emotional tension, obsession, memory, and embodied experience.
We will read work by poets such as Marie Howe, Ada Limón, Ilya Kaminsky, Sharon Olds, Aracelis Girmay, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, and Mark Doty.
This class is ideal for poets and hybrid writers interested in creating work that feels emotionally layered, image-driven, and structurally alive.
Students will:
* generate new poems
* explore repetition, silence, pacing, and compression
* develop stronger image systems and emotional architecture
* learn strategies for creating resonance without over-explaining
* read and discuss contemporary poetry
* finish class with multiple drafts and revision strategies
Sabina Khan-Ibarra is a Pashtun Muslim American poet, writer, and educator whose work appears in Anomaly, SWWIM, Rising Phoenix, and iO Literary, and has been recognized by CRAFT and the SmokeLong Award for Flash Fiction. Her poetry collection, What My Mouth Holds, is a two-time semifinalist. She also teaches at Litquake and San Diego Writers Ink, where her classes focus on image, emotional architecture, fragmentation, and contemporary literary forms. She serves as Director of Rooted & Written, a fellowship and conference program centering BIPOC writers.
SUNDAY, November 8th | Learn the basics of ghostwriting in a day!
Whether you'd like to make a career pivot or gain a new skill, learning to slip into another person's voice is a valuable tool for any writer's toolkit. First, we'll review best practices for preparation, interviewing, organization, and drafting in the ghostwriting context. Then, we'll reflect on and practice what we've learned through close reading of published ghostwritten work, interviewing one another, and focused writing exercises. You'll leave this one-day workshop with stronger interviewing skills and insight into voice and structure, both inside and outside of the ghostwriting contexts.
Alissa Greenberg is a freelance writer and editor who specializes in stories at the intersection of culture, science, business, and international affairs. Her journalism has appeared in print and online at Time, The New Yorker, National Geographic, The Guardian, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Atlantic, NOVA, Smithsonian, and other publications. She has worked as a ghostwriter across the higher education, scientific research, and tech and finance spheres, helping subject-matter experts organize and express their thoughts in compelling ways. Her first ghostwritten book was recently published by Wiley.
Join us for the Writers Grotto's Literary Salon.
Food & drink provided.
Members of The Writers Grotto are invited to meet committee reps and explore volunteering opportunities to deepen their engagement with the orgnaization. We'll have pizza!
An Afternoon with Laura Dave, in conversation with Pia Chatterjee
Saturday April 25, 2026. Noon to 1:30 PM PT
Telegraph Hill Books, 1501 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133, USA
Litquake, the Writers Grotto, and Telegraph Hill Arts and Literature present an afternoon with Laura Dave, in conversation with Grotto Member Pia Chatterjee to celebrate her newest book, The First Time I Saw Him.
Laura Dave captured readers’ hearts and set their pulses racing with her #1 New York Times bestseller The Last Thing He Told Me, a novel that heralded Dave as the queen of “genuinely moving” (The New York Times) suspense featuring characters with whom readers can't help but fall in love. In The First Time I Saw Him readers learn what happens to Hannah Hall and her stepdaughter, Bailey.
About the Book:
The riveting and deeply moving sequel picks up right where The Last Thing He Told Me ends —with Hannah catching a glimpse of her missing husband, Owen— propelling readers back into a thrilling drama. As Hannah and Bailey uncover why Owen has reappeared, they are forced to go on the run in a relentless race to keep their past from catching up to them. Hannah risks everything to get Bailey to safety—and to find the one way back to Owen and their long-awaited second chance.
A gripping, fast paced, and emotionally resonant novel about the power of forgiveness, THE FIRST TIME I SAW HIM is an exhilarating sequel to Dave’s global blockbuster that provides readers the answers and reunions that they’ve been eagerly awaiting.
About Laura Dave:
Laura Dave is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including The Last Thing He Told Me and its sequel, The First Time I Saw Him, which was recently released by Scribner. Laura's novels have sold more than six million copies and have been translated into over twenty languages. The Last Thing He Told Me is now a series on Apple TV+, and two of her other novels are set to be feature films at Netflix. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their son.
About Pia Chatterjee:
Pia Chatterjee is a writer, essayist and a board member of the San Francisco Writers Grotto. Pia's upmarket suspense, All the Happy Families, is a semifinalist for Avid Reader Press 2025 Books Like Us contest. She has won the Ledge prize for fiction and was a finalist for the BreadLoaf-Rona Jaffe Foundation award. Pia's work has appeared in Zyzzyva, CNN, San Francisco Chronicle, 7X7, Hyphen Magazine, and others. Pia, who has a B.A. from Oxford University and an MFA from UC Riverside, lives in San Francisco with her husband and son.
An in-depth editorial review for poets ready to elevate a small body of work. Submit up to four poems (seven pages total) and receive annotated feedback before a 30-minute discussion focused on craft, image cohesion, and sequencing. We’ll talk through how each poem functions individually (imagery, language, craft, etc) and as part of a packet, thematic threads. You’ll leave with a revision plan and submission strategy tailored to your goals. Flat fee: $50. Feedback provided prior to the session. 30-minute consultation via Zoom.
Sabina Khan-Ibarra is a Pashtun-American Muslim writer and poet based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She co-directs Rooted & Written at The Writers Grotto and leads writing initiatives for BIPOC writers. Her work has appears in SWWIM, Rising Pheonix, Taboos & Transgressions, and others. A semifinalist for the Philip Levine Prize and University of Wisconsin's poetry contest, she teaches at LitQuake and The Writers Grotto. She's currently working on a poetry collection, A New Vocabulary, and a novel, The Poppy Flower.
A short, high-impact consultation for poets who want specific feedback on a single piece.Send one poem (up to two pages) and receive detailed notes prior to a 15-minute meeting. We’ll focus on imagery, sound, emotional center, and revision strategy—clarifying what’s working and where to cut or expand. You’ll leave with actionable next steps, not abstract notes. erfect for poets of all levels. Flat fee: $25. Feedback provided in advance. Session via Zoom.
Sabina Khan-Ibarra is a Pashtun-American Muslim writer and poet based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She co-directs Rooted & Written at The Writers Grotto and leads writing initiatives for BIPOC writers. Her work has appears in SWWIM, Rising Pheonix, Taboos & Transgressions, and others. A semifinalist for the Philip Levine Prize and University of Wisconsin's poetry contest, she teaches at LitQuake and The Writers Grotto. She's currently working on a poetry collection, A New Vocabulary, and a novel, The Poppy Flower.
Editing on consultation on nonfiction book manuscripts.
A dramaturgical script consultant can function in several ways. Depending on the project we function as a literary, historical, or artistic advisor as you are developing your script for the stage or screen.
Consultations can look multiple ways. For example, perhaps you just need 1-2 script meetings to discuss story evolution, character development or consistency in theme. Or perhaps you need someone to comment on what is working, what feels like it is missing, and a list of questions to support development. Or perhaps you want 4 -6 session of coaching, homework, and suggestions for how to strengthen, tighten, clarify in the service of moving your script forward.
Consultation fees are developed in conversation about the project (bespoke), and begin around 150.00- 200.00 an hour.
Doug Henderson offers two levels of developmental editing:
Full Developmental Edit for $12/page. This level provides writers with a comprehensive road map that will help them hone their manuscripts for publication. This includes:
-An initial conversation about the project (via Zoom).
-Extensive page notes, including editing suggestions, margin comments and questions.
-A thorough editorial letter discussing craft and structure elements — such as theme, tension, narrative and character arcs — as well as thoughtful suggestions to strengthen your story.
-A second conversation to discuss next steps.
Read-Through Evaluation for $8/page. This level is good for writers who want broader feedback, including new writers who want early advice, or more experienced writers who seek general input, but don’t need or want detailed editing. This includes:
-An initial conversation about the project.
-Light page notes.
-A thorough editorial letter discussing craft and structure elements — such as theme, tension, narrative and character arcs — as well as thoughtful suggestions to strengthen your story.
-A second conversation to discuss next steps.
Let’s chat about how your ideas fit into a basic story structure that will lead to an engaging narrative. Send me up to 2000 words of idea or story summary prior to meeting consult. Session will take place via Zoom.
Polish your writing with Carly Stern, an award-winning independent journalist. Carly offers one-on-one consultations on all forms of narrative non-fiction, with an emphasis on writing about the self. Her work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, the Guardian US and The Washington Post.
Initial bespoke services consultation to determine the fee. Polish your prose with New York Times best-selling author Julia Scheeres.
Initial bespoke services consultation to determine the fee.
Are you struggling to finalize a piece of science writing, whether it's an academic manuscript, article, or marketing blog? Need editorial help to make sure your message is clear and concise without losing accuracy? Jenny can help you improve your scientific content, using her unique combination of scientific and creative expertise.
Jenny Qi has a PhD in Cancer Biology from UC San Francisco and over a decade of experience in science communication spanning a range of industries, including biopharma, tech, and journalism.
This listing is for a 20-minute consultation to determine the scope of the project.
As an award-winning journalist, author, and consultant with decades of experience, I offer expert editorial consulting services at competitive rates. I write reports, policy briefs, articles, op-eds, blogs, and other materials for major national institutions and individual clients. As a veteran reporter, I also help writers develop and tell their stories for articles and book projects. First, we discuss your project and needs and how I can meet them, then I provide you with an estimate and we move forward with a simple straightforward contract. I look forward to talking with you, learning more about your project, and working together. Estimates are based on $100/hour fee. You can check out my work at www.christopherdcook.com.
Industry veteran writer-director-producer provides consulting for documentary and narrative film projects of any length and at any stage, from concept to pitch deck to rough cut to screenplay draft. Production services also available through Bay Area-based The Unscripted Company.
We will build your fictional work in a collaborative process for as long as it takes to create a whole and satisfying story. Thaisa Frank, a Pushcart Fellow, has published a novel and three collection of short stories. Her original approach, developed through teaching, addresses fiction from all cultures.
Initial bespoke services consultation to determine the fee. Laird Harrison, author of the novel Fallen Lake, provides editing and consultation services on all aspects of novel writing.
Initial bespoke services consultation to determine the fee. Laird Harrison will work with you one-on-one to improve your written communication. Laird has experience with both creative and business writing and can assist with all levels of writing.
Full-length poetry collections (45-80 pages in length).
Individual Poems up to 2 pages in length.
Folios consultation, up to 7 pages in length, with no more than 5 poems.
Chapbooks consultation (16-40 pages in length).
Got an idea for a children’s book? As the brilliant Madeleine L'Engle said, "You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grownups, then you write it for children.” In this 30-minute private Zoom consult, Lisa will give feedback on your idea to help you realize your vision and elevate your story to reach multiple audiences in today’s market. And if you don’t know what “multiple audiences” means in the kid-lit genre, that’s okay; she will tell you! Lisa’s YA crossover novel JUST LIKE BEAUTY was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and is in pre-production as a movie. She has decades of experience writing children’s books for major publishers and regularly teaches workshops to kids and adults who want to write for kids. In her free time, she enjoys petting rabbits and eating cake. Curious cats can find out more at www.lisalerner.com
In this three-session package of Creativity Hypnosis, experienced hypnotherapist and writing coach Jenny Bitner will help you delve into the depths of your subconscious mind to awaken your imagination and overcome creative blocks. This can be customized to deal with whatever issues around writing you are experiencing. Start this journey today!
Unleash your writing potential with Jenny Bitner. As a trained hypnotherapist, coach, and writing teacher, she'll help you overcome fear and tap into your creativity. Experience a transformative hypnotic session to release barriers and claim your full potential as a writer. Take the first step today.
Initial bespoke services consultation by email to determine the fee. Katia will draw on her expertise as an award-winning longform journalist to provide written feedback on magazine pitches. Katia has written for The New Yorker, Forbes, Mother Jones, Marie Claire, The Atavist Magazine and many other publications.
Initial bespoke services consultation to determine the fee. Maw is a writing coach and editor for poets. Maw has many years of experience as an educator, author, and editor. She teaches in the MFA Program at the University of San Francisco and is the inaugural poet laureate of El Cerrito, CA. You can learn more about her at mawsheinwin.com.