Wise men teach us that it’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness, that spite is little more than cutting the nose off one's own face, that before starting a journey of revenge one ought to dig two graves. Well-intentioned proverbs like these might apply to life, but they don’t apply to literature. On the page, ill will is the fossil fuel of swift plots, thrilling maledictions, and ferocious diatribes. In “Curses, Revenges, and Spite,” students will read stories, poems, and essays that confront malice in all its delicious multifarity. Class discussions will examine works by writers old and new, including Catullus, Dante, Ian McEwan, Thomas Ligotti, Gabriel García Marquéz, The Mountain Goats, Shane McCrae, Heather McHugh, Friedrich Nietzsche, Rachel Wetzsteon, and The Onion. Over the course of the class, students will produce an original curse, murder ballad, rant, confession, or apocalypse of their own.

Instructor: Matthew Buckley Smith

Dates: Begins Wednesday, July 9, 2025, and runs every Wednesday for four weeks

Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Level: Beginner and above

8 seats max

Location: Golden Fig Books, North Greensboro St. Suite A-17, Carrboro

Cost:

$430: true price

$260: base price

$285, $310, $360: 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.