749 Best Writing Classes in 2026

In-person course in Philadelphia, $210, at CultureWorks, 1315 Walnut St. Three Thursdays, 5 to 19 November 2026, 6:30-8:30pm. Rooted in the Black radical tradition, working on political poetry as a practice rather than a theme. Three weeks makes it the shortest course commitment Blue Stoop runs this term. Financial aid and Afterpay plans available.

In-person course in Philadelphia, $375, at CultureWorks, 1315 Walnut St. Six Wednesdays, 21 October to 2 December 2026, 6:30-8:30pm, with no class on 25 November. A screenwriting primer built entirely around the scene as the unit of construction. Financial aid and Afterpay plans available.

In-person course in Philadelphia, $520, at CultureWorks, 1315 Walnut St. Nine Tuesdays, 6 October to 1 December 2026, 6:30-8:30pm. Structured around the 50,000-word November challenge, with the weeks either side used to prepare and then salvage what you produced - so it is a supported run at a fast draft rather than a solo sprint. Financial aid and Afterpay plans available.

In-person course in Philadelphia, $375, at CultureWorks, 1315 Walnut St. Six Mondays, 5 October to 9 November 2026, 6:30-8:30pm. Poetry built out of archival material - documents, records, found text - rather than from memory or invention. A distinctive angle you will not find on most city pages. Blue Stoop offers financial aid and scholarships to anyone living in the greater Philadelphia area, and Afterpay payment plans to everyone regardless of income.

In-person workshop in Boston, $415 ($400 for members), taught by Brittany Williams. Six Tuesdays, 15 September to 20 October 2026, 10:30am-1:30pm at GrubStreet’s Seaport centre. For writers with a novel idea but no draft yet - generative rather than critique-led, built to get the opening chapters onto the page. Renewed from the expired ‘Love Me Back: Getting Your Romance Novel Ready for the Market’ listing; GrubStreet is not running that romance course this term, so this is the closest current same-provider novel course. NOTE the topic changed from romance-specific to general novel craft.

In-person workshop in Boston, $415 ($400 for members), taught by Heather Nelson. Six Wednesdays, 16 September to 21 October 2026, 10:30am-1:30pm at GrubStreet’s Seaport centre. The entry point to GrubStreet’s in-person programme - generative, genre-agnostic, and aimed at people who want to write but are not yet working on a specific project.

In-person workshop in Boston, $445 ($430 for members), taught by Ethan Gilsdorf. Six Tuesdays, 15 September to 20 October 2026, 10:30am-1:30pm at GrubStreet’s Seaport centre. The structure is the point: one finished essay a week for six weeks, so it produces a body of work rather than fragments. Daytime slot.

In-person workshop in Boston, $725 ($700 for members), taught by Liz Santiago. Ten Tuesdays, 15 September to 17 November 2026, 6:00-9:00pm at GrubStreet’s Seaport centre. The fiction counterpart to Memoir in Progress: bring an existing novel draft and workshop it over a full term. GrubStreet runs several parallel sections of this with different instructors - this is Santiago’s.

In-person workshop in Boston, $750 ($725 for members), taught by Frankie Concepcion. Ten Mondays, 14 September to 23 November 2026, 6:00-9:00pm at GrubStreet’s Seaport centre. For writers already working on a memoir manuscript rather than deciding whether to start one - ten weeks of sustained workshop on work in progress. Three-hour sessions, so more workshop time per week than the six-week courses.

In-person workshop in Boston, $595 ($575 for members), taught by Phoebe Hyde. Eight Thursdays, 10 September to 29 October 2026, 10:30am-1:30pm at GrubStreet’s Seaport centre. Written for people starting a memoir later in life and beginning with origin stories rather than the whole arc. Daytime scheduling suits anyone not working a standard week - most GrubStreet in-person workshops run evenings.

In-person single session in Chicago, $65, taught by Cyn Vargas. Monday 24 September 2026, 6:30-8:30pm at StoryStudio’s Chicago studio. Two hours on how a story is put together - where it starts, how it moves, where the weight falls. Renewed from the expired ‘Form & Content: Experimenting with Prose Structures’ listing, which StoryStudio no longer runs; this is the closest current same-provider equivalent on structure. URL moved off the generic /classes page onto the class itself.

In-person single session in Chicago, $65, taught by Jeffrey Wolf. Monday 16 November 2026, 6:30-8:30pm at StoryStudio’s Chicago studio. Place-writing with the city itself as subject - useful if you are writing Chicago into fiction or nonfiction and want it to read as somewhere specific rather than generic urban backdrop. Latest-starting in-person session in the current catalogue.