Creative Writing Workshops

Every time I take Variation in Prose, Miah's prompts become my stories. She is extraordinarily gifted and no matter how much experience you have, she will open your eyes in an unique way, and jog your memory and give you ideas. The best solution for Writer's block. The participants in our Wednesday morning class are extremely supportive. Thus this class is not only a learning adventure, but a therapeutic one. Look forward to it every Wednesday morning. For working people,... read moreEvery time I take Variation in Prose, Miah's prompts become my stories. She is extraordinarily gifted and no matter how much experience you have, she will open your eyes in an unique way, and jog your memory and give you ideas. The best solution for Writer's block. The participants in our Wednesday morning class are extremely supportive. Thus this class is not only a learning adventure, but a therapeutic one. Look forward to it every Wednesday morning. For working people, you should demand an evening class. :) read less

The Prompt and Circumstance workshop at Grackle and Grackle was a weekend of stimulating poetry prompts, in class writing and spot-on critiques. We even learned how to generate our own writing prompts. My brain buzzed the whole weekend. Cait Weiss Orcutt was superb! Thanks, Grackle and Grackle!
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And I just finished Message in a Bottle Rocket at Grackle and Grackle. What a great opportunity to work with a talented, kind teacher - Brendan
Bourque-Sheil! He knows how to... read moreThe Prompt and Circumstance workshop at Grackle and Grackle was a weekend of stimulating poetry prompts, in class writing and spot-on critiques. We even learned how to generate our own writing prompts. My brain buzzed the whole weekend. Cait Weiss Orcutt was superb! Thanks, Grackle and Grackle!
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And I just finished Message in a Bottle Rocket at Grackle and Grackle. What a great opportunity to work with a talented, kind teacher - Brendan
Bourque-Sheil! He knows how to bring out the best in his students. What a fun evening we had of storytelling, last night, at Antidote Coffee! read less

I’ve been taking “Variations in Prose” for a number of sessions and have grown as a writer thanks to both the exceptional teacher, Miah Arnold, and the other writers. This was my first writing workshop and I have found the experience supportive and instructional with a group of many seasoned writers. I encourage anyone who even has a twinkle of interest in writing to give it a try!

Every time I take Variation in Prose, Miah's prompts become my stories. She is extraordinarily gifted and no matter how much experience you have, she will open your eyes in an unique way, and jog your memory and give you ideas. The best solution for Writer's block. The participants in our Wednesday morning class are extremely supportive. Thus this class is not only a learning adventure, but a therapeutic one. Look forward to it every Wednesday morning.

I actually took two workshops this season and BOTH WERE A BLAST! Reviews on each one below!

Top marks for Grackle and Grackle partnering with such a dynamic instructor. Revision is tough, emotional, exhausting. With a rather ingenious deliberate touch Claire Anderson was able to motivate those in the course who were ready for a harder push, and others who simply need encouragement and direction. The materials she provided were pointed and carefully curated. Her comments were not selective either, the... read moreI actually took two workshops this season and BOTH WERE A BLAST! Reviews on each one below!

Top marks for Grackle and Grackle partnering with such a dynamic instructor. Revision is tough, emotional, exhausting. With a rather ingenious deliberate touch Claire Anderson was able to motivate those in the course who were ready for a harder push, and others who simply need encouragement and direction. The materials she provided were pointed and carefully curated. Her comments were not selective either, the things she pushed beginners and experts on were directed to everyone, and were impactful to all of us. It’s hard to find that level of education in any craft. This course changed my writing, perspective, and my biases on who I take workshops with for the rest of my life.

I’ve come to learn Grackle and Grackle goes beyond mediocre effort to secure some of the brightest minds in the industry. Onyinye Ihezukwu’s memoir course “Diaries of the Self” went far beyond what I’ve experienced with any other non-fiction course. It was deep, refreshing, motivational, because Onyinye led class discussions that didn’t just talk about how good a published story was, but what makes it works for us as readers and how to implement those techniques in our own stories. She helped us recognize that writing is not just about telling what we think is a good story as the author of it, but how we can be most effective in communicating what resonates most in the lines we write so that our audiences come away with accurate readings of the stores we as writers go through such great lengths to tell. read less

I took a writing course with Cait Weiss Orcutt, and it was fantastic - I'll be signing up for many more Grackle and Grackle courses!

The podcasting workshop is fantastic! I've taken other similar courses, and this is by far the best one. High quality instruction and a great sense of community!

This was my first class with Grackle and Grackle and I enjoyed every session.
The standard of Poetry writing in the class was much more advanced than mine and as a result I learnt a lot from the wonderful teacher Niki Herd as well as from all the other writers in the class. I will definitely sign up again. Besides Poetry, our group also got into very interesting discussions on current social topics and it was encouraging to see that... read moreThis was my first class with Grackle and Grackle and I enjoyed every session.
The standard of Poetry writing in the class was much more advanced than mine and as a result I learnt a lot from the wonderful teacher Niki Herd as well as from all the other writers in the class. I will definitely sign up again. Besides Poetry, our group also got into very interesting discussions on current social topics and it was encouraging to see that intelligent and respectful debate among people with differing views is not an entirely lost cause in today's America! read less

Best Workshop Ever! I've taken other writing workshops, but the one I just finished at Grackle and Grackle was amazing. Between the wonderful teacher (Alex Chambers) and my classmates (including Miah the owner) I learned a lot and had a great time.

Even with all of the challenges that Zoom can present, this podcast class was excellent! The instructor was warm and inviting and available. He shared so much tangible knowledge, but also created an atmosphere of trust and creative possibility. The (virtual) classroom felt welcoming and open-hearted as a whole as well, which is a testament to the leadership and vision of Grackle and Grackle. Please offer further podcasting/audio storytelling classes! And keep doing the important work you are doing!

I took my first workshop at Grackle and Grackle this winter 2021, it was amazing. It was 'The Sound of Story' a pod-casting/oral story-telling, led by Alex Chambers. He was great, brought a unique and compassionate approach to work-shopping each others work, uber prepared & helpful and taught us a lot. Miah was also in the class & gave all kinds of helpful tips on narration. Since then, I've signed up for 2 additional workshops.

I've only taken one class, but my teacher was a kind and accomplished person who nurtured community in the class while challenging us to try new approaches as well as read and write regularly.

The Grackle and Grackle manuscript/novel writing workshop is the best I’ve ever taken! Jessica Wilbanks is a wonderful teacher—generous, informed (massively), fair, and excellent at providing honest but encouraging feedback. And every student in the class is dedicated and talented too. I learned so much over this course. In fact, I’m sure what I learned in the class helped my book be picked up by a publisher—thank you! —Georgina
www.georginakey.com

I've now attended several Gackle and Grackle workshops with three different instructors and all of them were committed to their time with the students whole heartedly. We received encouragement, instruction and inspiration to try bold new things. I think I will be a student of Grackle and Grackle for as long as they're around!!

I highly recommend Grackle and Grackle. I am a writer/poet who takes various workshops at different places. I was introduced to Grackle and Grackle last year by a friend and took my first poetry class with Justin Jannise and playwriting class with Elizabeth Keel. I loved both classes and learned and wrote a tremendous amount. I am taking more classes again this Spring. The space is very inviting. The teachers are exceptional and the workshop attendees are very dedicated.

I took Allyn West's creative nonfiction course and it was fantastic. Mr. West is a wonderful instructor. The writing samples shared with us were fantastic and timely. In addition to providing content, he facilitated quality discussions. My classmates were helpful, engaged and courteous. The learning space is comfortable. I highly recommend taking classes here for beginners all the way through to advanced writers!