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Class Catalog

There’s a class for everyone.

Long-time writer or just getting started? Writing an epic poem or a short story? Whoever you are and wherever your passions lie—if you want to write, there’s a Hugo House class for you. Explore our catalog and find yours.

When we say we want our classes to be for everyone, we mean it.

Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, The Writing Life, Writing for Performance

Expressive Writing for Creativity, Serenity, & Joy

Instructor: Kimberly Lee. In this workshop, we'll engage with structured journaling techniques to clarify and organize thoughts while inspiring ideas for writing projects and managing stress.

Course Status: Full
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Level: Introductory
Length: 1 session
Start: December 9, 2023 , 10:00am PT
Format: Online
Nonfiction, Memoir

Making Meaning in Memoir

Instructor: Kimberly Dark. This generative workshop will open a number of creative doorways to mine meaning from memories, connecting students' unique perspectives to culture, history, and zeitgeist.

Course Status: Full
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Level: Introductory
Length: 1 session
Start: December 9, 2023 , 1:10pm PT
Format: Online
Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Reading, Novel, Short Story, Essay

Layers of Landscape: Harnessing the Power of Place

Instructor: Joe Wilkins. From chain restaurants to cross-country travel, learn to harness the power of place, including its force on communities, in your writing.

Course Status: Full
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Level: Intermediate
Length: 1 session
Start: December 10, 2023 , 1:10pm PT
Format: Online
Fiction, Short Story

Fantastic & Realistic Tales About Animals

Instructor: Holly Day. This class will explore the basics of short story writing, focusing on how using an animal as a main character can influence perspective, setting, development, and more.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Introductory
Length: 4 sessions
Start: January 16, 2024 , 7:10pm PT
Format: Online
Fiction, Writing for Performance

Great Dialogue: Character, Voice, Rhythm

Instructor: Marissa Flaxbart. Learn to craft naturalistic dialogue in this workshop with creative listening and writing exercises.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Intermediate
Length: 8 sessions
Start: January 16, 2024 , 7:10pm PT
Format: Online
Nonfiction, Memoir, Essay

Writing About Other People

Instructor: Kristi Coulter. Learn to skillfully and ethically write about other people in this generative class with lectures, readings, and in-class practice and review.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Introductory, Intermediate
Length: 6 sessions
Start: January 16, 2024 , 5:00pm PT
Format: Online
Fiction, Novel

Advanced Historical Fiction Workshop

Instructor: Elise Hooper. Delve deep into your historical fiction manuscript and advance your understanding of craft through writing sprints, research exercises, class discussions and more.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Advanced
Length: 8 sessions
Start: January 17, 2024 , 1:10pm PT
Format: Online
Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Reading

Boundary Breaker: Writing with Tricksters

Instructor: Shankar Narayan. Explore the role of tricksters across mythologies, including South Asian and North American Indigenous traditions, in this part-analytic, part-generative course.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Open to all levels
Length: 6 sessions
Start: January 17, 2024 , 7:10pm PT
Format: Online
Nonfiction

Creative Nonfiction III

Instructor: Gail Folkins. Explore craft elements such as structure and narrative in this discussion and workshop based class. Each student will have up to two of their essays workshopped.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Length: 10 sessions
Start: January 17, 2024 , 5:00pm PT
Format: Online
Fiction

The Art of Character Development

Instructor: Radhika Sharma. This generative class explores the craft of character development as it relates to plot and narrative, analyzing work of masters such as Dickens, Rushdie, etc.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Introductory, Intermediate
Length: 6 sessions
Start: January 17, 2024 , 10:00am PT
Format: Online
Fiction, Short Story, Writing for Performance

Modern Monsters: A Cross-Genre Exploration

Instructor: Andrew Bell. Explore modern interpretations of "monsters" as they appear in novellas, short stories, film, TV and more, delving into contemporary horror.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Intermediate
Length: 8 sessions
Start: January 17, 2024 , 7:10pm PT
Format: Online
Nonfiction, Poetry, Memoir, Essay

Linger & Leap: Writing the Lyric Essay

Instructor: Alexandra Lytton Regalado. Explore the lyric essay across various forms, with class discussion and activities to generate new writing that is formulated and shaped like prose, but moves and sounds like poetry.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Introductory
Length: 4 sessions
Start: January 17, 2024 , 5:00pm PT
Format: Online
Poetry

Poetry II

Instructor: Jeanine Walker. Add to your growing skill set in a supportive workshop environment by closely reading and responding to mentor texts as well as each other's poems.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Intermediate
Length: 8 sessions
Start: January 17, 2024 , 10:00am PT
Format: Online
Poetry

Poetry III

Instructor: Ed Skoog. Deepen your engagement with writing and discussing poems, with in-class review of students' work.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Advanced
Length: 10 sessions
Start: January 17, 2024 , 7:10pm PT
Format: Online
Fiction, Novel, Short Story

Science & Science Fiction

Instructor: Noah Lemelson. Examine the genre of science fiction through scientific principles and speculative concepts, using Dan Koboldt's Putting the Science in Fiction as a guide.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Intermediate
Length: 6 sessions
Start: January 17, 2024 , 7:10pm PT
Format: Online
Poetry

Hysteria: Violent Women in Asian Poetry

Instructor: Christine Kwon. With a mix of close reading and generative workshop, this class will explore the violently modern, feminist, and political. poetry of Kim Hyesoon, Kim Yideum, and Masayo Koike.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Intermediate
Length: 6 sessions
Start: January 18, 2024 , 7:10pm PT
Format: Online
Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, The Writing Life, Writing for Performance

Writing for Procrastinators

Instructor: Beth Slattery. Establish a writing practice and break patterns of procrastination with weekly writing and reading assignments.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Open to all levels
Length: 8 sessions
Start: January 18, 2024 , 10:00am PT
Format: Online
Fiction, The Writing Life

Research & Imagination

Instructor: Rachel Sobel. This course will explore tactics for using research to hone imagination.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Intermediate, Advanced
Length: 6 sessions
Start: January 18, 2024 , 5:00pm PT
Format: In Person
Writing for Performance

Screenwriting Rooted in Decolonization & Abstract Thinking

Instructor: Maria Judice. This screenwriting workshop pairs ideas and readings from political thinkers, intellectuals, and philosophers with politically-centered screenwriters and screenplays.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Open to all levels
Length: 6 sessions
Start: January 18, 2024 , 7:10pm PT
Format: Online
Poetry, Essay

The Lightning & Its Source

Instructor: Brian Turner. In this generative workshop, we'll look at a variety of ways to weave science and our curiosity for the natural world into our poems and lyric essays.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Open to all levels
Length: 1 session
Start: January 19, 2024 , 10:00am PT
Format: Online
Fiction, Nonfiction, Memoir, Novel, Short Story

Fantastic First Lines

Instructor: Susan Meyers. This weekend intensive for memoir or fiction students focuses on creating a compelling story start.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Introductory
Length: 1 session
Start: January 20, 2024 , 1:10pm PT
Format: Online
Fiction, Nonfiction

Writing about Pleasure

Instructor: Darina Sikmashvili. Explore and write about pleasure via generative exercises and reading discussions, with a focus on discovering the ways pleasure can be derived from craft elements such as setting, character, and sentence style.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Introductory
Length: 4 sessions
Start: January 20, 2024 , 10:00am PT
Format: Online
Nonfiction, Memoir, Essay

Write Your Story: Writing to Heal

Instructor: Ingrid Ricks. Learn how to identify, structure, and develop your personal narrative, with writing assignments and individual coaching sessions with the instructor.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Introductory, Intermediate
Length: 5 sessions
Start: January 20, 2024 , 10:00am PT
Format: Online
Poetry, The Writing Life

Writing with Local Poets: A Literary Salon

Instructor: Deborah Woodard. This class will read books by local poets who will visit the class to read from their work and discuss craft, their journey toward publication, and more. Expect weekly prompts, read arounds, and instructor feedback.

Course Status: Seats left
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Level: Open to all levels
Length: 6 sessions
Start: January 20, 2024 , 1:10pm PT
Format: In Person