Depictions of queer and trans stories in mainstream media rarely capture the full range of our personal journeys, especially at a time when LGBTQ+ voices are being censored. This guided, generative course invites you to dive into telling your own queer, gender-diverse, or trans story. You'll gain confidence and candor in writing your personal narrative, asserting your right to be heard. Designed for writers who wish to strengthen their first-person storytelling, this intimate, workshop-based class will help you feel emboldened, confident, and supported by peers who offer constructive feedback. Instructor Jill Moffett, a queer feminist author with extensive experience as an educator, will guide you through weekly readings, discussions, and critiques of each other’s work.

Each week, we will read classic texts from writers like Audre Lorde, Gloria Anzaldúa, Dorothy Allison, and contemporary authors, reflecting on the issues we face in telling our own stories. You'll leave the course with the tools to continue writing and potentially publish articles, essays, or even a memoir. The class fosters a collaborative writing community where everyone critiques and supports each other’s work, and is ideal for writers who have started working on personal essays or memoirs and are seeking a nurturing space where they can develop their writing.

Instructor: Jill Moffett

Dates: Starts Wednesday, October 15 and runs six weeks from there

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

Level: Beginner and above

Location: Durham (exact location coming soon)

Cost:

$615: true price

$349: subsidized price

$374, $399, $449: donate an extra $25, $50, or $100 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.