Five Thursday Sessions

12:30 – 2:30 EST

Dates: 6/19 – 7/17

Online or In Person

This five week course takes its premise from the belief that at the heart of any literary essay is an unanswerable question. The form famously takes its name from the French verb meaning “to try”–for this reason, while finishing an essay takes patience and clear-minded revision, it can be extremely effective to generate first drafts of essays without over-thinking. 

Each week will start with a 10-minute prompt, discussion of a published essay, and feedback on up to 1500 words of each student’s work. The feedback will be focused on big-picture edits like the way ideas resonate with one another, themes, motifs, structure, opportunities for development of scene or incorporation of research. By the end of the session, students will have five essay drafts and a wealth of feedback from which to revise and polish.

This class is a great fit for any writer looking to explore the vast world of creative essay genres and styles, to generate a substantial body of work over the summer, or for accountability in completing those messy, imperfect, necessary first drafts. Students may find that writing the essays in such a compressed time span leads to interesting connections between and among the work, but it’s also fine if each essay is meant to stand entirely on its own.

WHERE: In Person at 25 Sylvan Road South, Unit J, Westport, CT 06880 or online via Zoom – link will be sent prior to first class