203 Best Fiction Writing Classes in 2026

An on-campus MFA taught at FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus in North Miami, structured around small seminars and close mentoring. Coursework combines writing workshops with literature offerings and form and theory classes on plot, character and poetics. Intended as a terminal degree for writers who plan to teach, it culminates in a publishable book-length creative thesis.

A two-year on-campus MFA at Coral Gables in fiction or poetry, with an optional third year for professional development. Every admitted student receives a full tuition waiver and an annual stipend through a James Michener Fellowship or teaching assistantship, with second-year students teaching a creative writing section each semester. Electives extend into literature, screenwriting, interactive media and photography. The programme has a broad multilingual focus, supporting writers working across languages, dialects and linguistic modes. Students finish with a book-length thesis: around 150 pages for fiction, 50 for poetry.

A bi-monthly workshop at the Northeast Dade-Aventura Branch for writers of fiction and non-fiction who are working towards publication. Facilitated by author Elaine B. Johnson, sessions cover the practical process of becoming a published writer alongside craft discussion. Open to ages 19 and over. Saturday 19 September, 10:30am to 12pm. Free to attend.

A free class at Plaza Branch, Kansas City on 16 November on how stories are built - the underlying shape beneath plot. Renewed from an April session of the same class; it runs repeatedly through the school year. Taught by an MFA candidate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City creative writing and media arts programme, through the library’s Writers for Readers series. Free, in person at Plaza Branch, Kansas City, RSVP required.

A free class at Plaza Branch, Kansas City on 26 October on using monsters to carry meaning rather than just menace - how the creature on the page stands in for something else. Suits speculative and literary writers equally. Taught by an MFA candidate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City creative writing and media arts programme, through the library’s Writers for Readers series. Free, in person at Plaza Branch, Kansas City, RSVP required.

A free Halloween-day class at Plaza Branch, Kansas City on 31 October on writing short fiction that unsettles. Seasonal in timing but craft-focused in content - what actually makes a short story frightening on the page. Taught by an MFA candidate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City creative writing and media arts programme, through the library’s Writers for Readers series. Free, in person at Plaza Branch, Kansas City, RSVP required.

A free class at Plaza Branch, Kansas City on 14 November on telling a complete story in under 1,000 words. Covers the range of flash lengths and what each one can carry. A useful discipline if your drafts sprawl. Taught by an MFA candidate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City creative writing and media arts programme, through the library’s Writers for Readers series. Free, in person at Plaza Branch, Kansas City, RSVP required.

Four in-person sessions at the StoryStudio Chicago Studio with Aram Mrjoian, $315, on the visual dimension of prose - how a page looks, how white space and shape carry meaning alongside the words. Starts 29 October. A narrower brief than most prose workshops, and one that suits writers already comfortable with sentences who want to think about the page as an object.

An eight-week in-person foundation course at the StoryStudio Chicago Studio with Kathryn Kruse, $585, covering the elements common to fiction, non-fiction and poetry rather than specialising early. Starts 21 October. The genre-spanning approach makes it a sensible first course if you have not settled on a form yet, and eight weeks is long enough to build a habit rather than just sample one.

A two-day in-person weekend at Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, 7 and 8 November, built around writing of the West - nature writing, western settings and western sensibilities. Open to fiction and nonfiction writers. One of the few Lighthouse offerings taught in the room rather than on Zoom. Pricing is announced with registration.

A two-day in-person weekend retreat for LGBTQIA+ writers at Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver, 10 and 11 October. Lighthouse runs most of its adult catalogue on Zoom, so the weekend fests are where its in-person teaching actually happens - worth knowing if being in the room matters to you. Pricing is announced with registration rather than listed in advance.

A free weekly fiction group at Pacific Highlands Ranch Library, 12911 Pacific Pl, running Tuesdays 5.30pm to 7.30pm with Crissy Simon. Open to fiction writers at any stage, working either to prompts or on their own project. The first half hour is given over to settling and community before the writing starts, which makes it easier to walk into cold than most groups.