6 Best Writing Classes in Portland

In-person lab in Portland, $360, taught by Charlotte Chipperfield. Six Saturday mornings, 3 October to 14 November 2026, 10:00am-12:00pm at Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave (no class 7 November). Structured writing time plus immediate feedback in the room - aimed at writers who need momentum on an existing project rather than instruction in a new form.

In-person workshop in Portland, $480, taught by Becky Ellis. Eight Wednesday evenings, 23 September to 11 November 2026, 5:30-7:30pm at Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave. A submission-based workshop rather than a lecture course: each session the group reads and discusses four writers pieces, with instructor feedback on every one. Bring work already in progress.

In-person course in Portland, $360, taught by Michelle Kicherer. Six Tuesday evenings, 13 October to 17 November 2026, 6:00-8:00pm at Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave. Reverse-engineers the first pages of published short stories and creative nonfiction: what a strong opening is actually doing, and why a reader keeps going. Useful across both fiction and nonfiction rather than genre-bound.

In-person single-session workshop in Portland, $85, taught by Eli Kramer. Sunday 27 September 2026, 10:00am-1:00pm at Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave. Speculative craft built from the outsized moment - a night sky, a death, a first encounter with art - and how a scene carries weight larger than its own events. The cheapest way into this provider, and a three-hour commitment rather than a term.

In-person course in Portland, $360, taught by Margaret Muthee. Six Monday evenings, 28 September to 2 November 2026, 6:00-8:00pm at Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave. Practical short-story craft rather than theory: the techniques that build emotional resonance and hold a reader across a compressed form.

In-person course in Portland, $360, taught by Sarah Cannon. Six Tuesday evenings, 22 September to 3 November 2026, 6:00-8:00pm at Literary Arts, 716 SE Grand Ave. A memoir class about the people who have been left out of the draft - how to write the relationships a writer has been avoiding, and how their absence shapes the story being told.