In this special 12-week advanced class, experienced nonfiction writers will have the opportunity to polish their work and prepare it for publication. The class will be a combination of workshop, writing prompts, and in-class craft talks on topics including landing the ending, clarifying your central conflict, and the importance of developmental editing. Students will be expected to revise significant portions of their work. By the end of class, students will be expected to write a query letter and submit a piece to a literary magazine. On the last night of class, we’ll have a literary agent visit (either in person or virtual) to answer questions about the publishing industry. 

Students should have previous memoir workshopping experience. Please email asimkin [at] redbudwriting [dot] org if you have any questions about this.

Instructors: Arshia Simkin and Emily Cataneo

Dates: Begins Monday, August 18, 2025 and runs every Monday for 12 weeks, following Redbud’s Aug-September and Oct-Nov. schedule

Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Level: Beginner and above

12 seats max

Location: 719 N. Person St., Raleigh, NC

Cost:

$1975: true price

$1132: base price

$1157, $1182, $1232: donate an extra $25, $50, $100, or a full scholarship to our scholarship fund

(Returning students receive 10 percent off).

A note on pricing:  the “true price” reflects the true cost of the class, which includes paying a fair wage to our staff and instructors, rental fees for the Redbud headquarters and for the community spaces where we host our classes, website and administrative/commerce fees, outreach and advertising to spread the word about our offerings, and the coordination and administration for our community classes, which serve people who could not otherwise access creative writing. We’re not a university or a large corporation and that means we don’t have an operating budget we can rely on; we’re proud to be a small, local, women- and minority-run business that is passionate about bringing the transformative power of the arts to our community. Your tuition helps Redbud with the critical work of keeping the arts accessible to the public. 

We also offer students a chance to donate to our scholarship fund. At check-out, you will be given the option of choosing a donor price. If you choose one of these prices, the extra $25, $50, or $100 will go towards scholarships for students who would not be able to afford our classes otherwise.  Thank you in advance for considering making a contribution to inclusivity and access!

Read the fine print, including our refund policy, here.