82 Best Nonfiction Writing Classes in 2026

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 19 September on writing that works through sensory detail rather than description alone. SUBSTITUTION, FLAGGED: this record previously held Writing About Religion, which the library has not scheduled again this year; this is the nearest current class from the same series and provider. 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 September on compressing real life into very short nonfiction. The short form forces choices about what matters in a memory, which is the point. 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 12 October arguing that nonfiction can be as descriptive as fiction or poetry, and teaching the creative techniques to make true stories memorable. Aimed at writers who default to fiction because they assume nonfiction is the plainer form. 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 7 November aimed at people who find journaling daunting - who do not know where to start, feel short of time, or cannot keep a routine going. Practical rather than therapeutic in framing. 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 single 90-minute evening session with Lisa Jan Sherman at The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, $60 ($50 for members), on Tuesday 13 October, 7pm to 8.30pm. Prompts are used to pull up memories, characters and places and turn them into poems, scenes, dialogue or stories. Aimed at people who are stuck rather than people working a specific manuscript, and short enough to try without committing to a term.

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.

Four in-person sessions at the StoryStudio Chicago Studio with Paul Lisicky, $250, approaching memoir through sound, the body and form rather than through chronology or event. Starts 14 October. Lisicky is a widely published memoirist, and the angle here is craft-technical - useful if you have the material but the prose is going flat. Most of StoryStudio's catalogue runs on Zoom, so in-person sessions like this are the exception.

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.

Two Saturday morning sessions with food historian Dr Kelly A. Spring at The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, $100 ($85 for members), on writing your own food history. Week one covers what food history is and the forms it takes; week two puts it into practice. 17 and 24 October, 10am to noon. Explicitly a beginner course, and the historian's angle makes it more research-led than most food-writing workshops.