Hudson Valley Writers Center
Located at the Philipse Manor Station (still an operating local stop on Metro-North Hudson East line, but we inhabit the historic building!) the Hudson Valley Writers Center offers unique classes and a versatile performance space.
May 2019
The Long Wet Grass: from Flash Fiction to Film–from Mayo to Tokyo
Irish playwright, Seamus Scanlon, returns to HVWC with a presentation about the evolution of his award-winning play, THE LONG WET GRASS.
Find out more »June 2019
Introduction to Journalism with Michael Balter
This a 4-week class meeting Saturdays 10:30am-12:30pm from June 1-22. What is journalism? What do reporters do? This is a beginner's course in how to be a reporter, concentrating on nuts and bolts journalistic skills but also delving into some of the burning issues that journalists face today. We will discuss how to find news stories, how to report them--including interviewing, records searches, and other basic shoe leather reporting techniques--as well as how to write them, including basic news story…
Find out more »Advanced Hybrid Workshop with Chris Campanioni
EVERY LIFE IS THE DEFENSE OF A FORM The social urgency of hybrid poetics “Every life is the defense of a form,” wrote Susan Sontag in her notebook in March, 1979. “Form is the defense of every marginalized life,” I wrote in my notebook in February, 2017. Hybridity is the salve & salvo for those of us who have been marginalized, who exist in the margins, who exist in the middle & on the edges, halfway between two points, at…
Find out more »Submission Sunday
Submission Sundays is a free service to members of HVWC. Space is limited to 20 participants each session so please reserve your spot. One Sunday a month, 12:30-2:30 pm. Join hosts Carla Carlson and Mary Ann Scott for two hours of insider information on where and how to send your best work. Members can reserve a seat at the table of like-minded writers with a room of journals, advice on where to submit, moral and technical support, and everything…
Find out more »Open Write
Please join us for our warm and welcoming Open Write Nights, now at an easier-to-remember regular recurring monthly spot of Second Saturdays! Your hosts Michelle Thomas and Cassie Cartaginese will facilitate an evening of generative writing and community building at the Hudson Valley Writers Center. Prompts will be offered, refreshments served (that includes wine). Stories swapped. $10 for non-members; free for members (will be deducted at checkout when you log in). Become a member here.
Find out more »Advanced Prose Poetry with Shira Dentz
Back by popular demand, Shira Dentz taught prose poetry last fall at HVWC and this class is intended both for those students who worked with her in November and new students who want to hone the craft of writing prose poetry. This one-day intensive workshop will consist of generative exercises and workshop. We’ll explore the elusive form of the prose poem through reading and discussing prose poems by poets including Francis Ponge, Rosmarie Waldrop, Claudia Rankine, and Charles Simic, and…
Find out more »Revising Short Fiction with Beth Hahn
This is a one day version of Beth Hahn's popular short fiction workshop. Writing, Revising, and Publishing Short Fiction: In this 1-day intensive course, take your short stories from first to final draft. Gain a deeper understanding of revision through in-class critiques and writing exercises. Experiment with short story forms. Read and discuss work from literary journals. Finally, learn how to craft a cover letter and navigate the submission process. All levels of fiction writers are welcome.
Find out more »Open Mic
Our Open Mic Nights are held from 7:30-9:30 pm on the 3rd Friday of each month. Doors open at 7 pm for event starting at 7:30. Due to popular demand to participate, we've had to limit the amount of readers to 20. NEW: We're adjusting the policy to balance the demand at the door and online: There are now 10 performer slots up for sale online, placing you on the list in order of your purchase. The other 10 slots…
Find out more »July 2019
Monday Night Poetry with Suzanne Cleary
Schmoozing with Your Muse: Getting More Energy into Your Poem NB: This is a six week class that starts on Monday July 8th and ends on Monday August 14th. Shouldn’t writing be fun? If you want to write poems that are risky, playful, or just plain alive, this workshop is for you. While reading model poems, exploring craft techniques, and identifying your own poetic concerns, you will receive practical and enjoyable tips for invigorating your poems, present and future.
Find out more »Memoir Writing with Susan Hodara Summer AM
NB: This a 6-week class meeting Tuesdays 10:30am-12:45pm from July 9th-August 13th. Are you inspired to record the transforming events of your life? Are you drawn to explore the circumstances surrounding your most vivid memories? For those with a work-in-progress or those starting fresh, this class will offer a supportive environment wherein each week you will read aloud and receive constructive feedback. Writers at all levels of accomplishment, and with projects both full-length and short-form, are welcome.
Find out more »Memoir Writing with Susan Hodara
NB: This a 6-week class meeting Tuesdays 1:15-3:30pm from July 9th-August 13th. Are you inspired to record the transforming events of your life? Are you drawn to explore the circumstances surrounding your most vivid memories? For those with a work-in-progress or those starting fresh, this class will offer a supportive environment wherein each week you will read aloud and receive constructive feedback. Writers at all levels of accomplishment, and with projects both full-length and short-form, are welcome.
Find out more »How to Tell the Story of Your Life with Danielle Trussoni
NB: This is a six-week workshop that begins on Tuesday July 9th and ends Tuesday August 13th. You have a personal story to tell. Now what? After you’ve made the decision to write about a personal experience, it can be difficult to know what form will best serve that story. Fiction, memoir, narrative essay – all of these forms are possibilities, and all have specific strengths and weaknesses that might support your narrative in different ways. The question is: What…
Find out more »Writing, Revising, and Publishing Short Fiction with Beth Hahn
NB: This is a six-week class that starts on THURSDAY June 11th and ends on Thursday August 15th. Writing, Revising, and Publishing Short Fiction: In this six-week workshop, take your short stories from first to final draft. Gain a deeper understanding of revision through in-class critiques and writing exercises. Experiment with short story forms. Read and discuss work from literary journals. Finally, learn how to craft a cover letter and navigate the submission process. All levels of fiction writers are…
Find out more »
Mapping the Plot with Kirsten Bakis
This one-day class is back by popular demand. Kirsten Bakis will help you map the plot of your novel in progress. Open to writers of all levels.
Find out more »Post-Jungian Thought for Writers: A Trans-Genre Master Class with Michael Collins
Join Michael Collins in a weekly discussion about post-Jungian thought in the texts he provides. This is a four-week class that starts July 16th and ends on August 6th.
Find out more »Saying the Unsayable—How to Write Complex Emotions with Amanda Stern
SAYING THE UNSAYABLE—HOW TO WRITE COMPLEX EMOTIONS Feelings are hard to describe, much less write. Most writers rely purely on the physical to get their emotional point across. To indicate loss to the reader, the writer might rely on subtext, and by doing so they write about things on the surface: a bereft father catches sight of a man swinging his young daughter around on the beach. We understand and feel the gulf between what one man has lost and…
Find out more »Defining and Assembling Your Memoir with Susan Hodara
You’ve been writing your memories and stories and chapters, and you’re wondering how it all fits together. In this four-hour intensive, through in-class writing and discussion, we will uncover pervasive themes that connect your pieces, consider possible beginnings and endings, begin to define your narrative arc, and better understand what your work is about. For memoirists at any stage of their writing.
Find out more »