Fall Courses at Muse
New & Returning Self-Guided, Guided, and Zoom-Based Courses
Hello from here. It’s 94 degrees in Durham, NC at almost 6PM, and I’ve been inside for the better part of two weeks, due to COVID and rebound COVID. Sinead O’Connor died today, and I’m thinking about driving with my friend Sara from Colorado back to North Carolina, listening to O’Connor’s 2021 memoir, Rememberings. A life can include so much. It’s hard to hold it all sometimes. (But set it down. Set some of it down, if you feel that way. You don’t have to hold it all at once.)
I’m thinking about what keeps us going— community, moments of respite, cats and funny talks with children. Flowers. Colors. Poetry. I don’t know. (Cue Colors and the Kids by Cat Power.) We’re all just walking each other home, as Ram Dass said. I believe that.
Thank you for being here. I’m glad you are.
Joanna
I’m excited about our fall course offerings at Muse
If you’re looking for some writing community this fall, join us! We have classes at various price points. Payment plans are also available, via PayPal. (See course listings for information.)
Approaching Mystery: Writing Flash Memoir about Wonder and the Unexplained. SELF-GUIDED (5 weeks)
Designed by Joanna Penn Cooper
Capture the absurd or surreal quality of everyday life and tell a meaningful story in as few words as possible.
In this course you will:
focus on judicious use of concrete detail, development of individual voice, and creation of character and scene through suggestion;
engage in creative play and discovery, even as you delve into serious subjects;
receive feedback from peer writers
develop a portfolio of flash pieces or a longer essay composed of shorter vignettes.
Spots for this inexpensive self-guided courses are going fast. Grab yours today!
The Shapes of Stories. (10 weeks)
Instructor: Nancy McCabe
Expand your writer’s tool kit by experimenting with a variety of structures—everything from straightforward, traditional presentations to offshoots of the lyric essay, such as braids, collages, or the many varieties of borrowed forms that we find in “hermit crab” essays.
This is a ten-week guided course on the Wet Ink platform. It is asynchronous— meaning you sign in on your own schedule— with one optional videoconference in week 2. If you are looking for a masterclass in essay form, dive deep with accomplished teacher and author Nancy McCabe! Read an interview I did with Nancy here.
Early bird price through August 13th.
NEW! The Writer as Researcher. (5 weeks)
Instructor: Megan Baxter
A 5-week introduction to the techniques, tools, and use of research in creative writing, open to all genres. Through weekly lessons which include written lectures, reading, research activities, and writing prompts, this course is designed to help any writer who is embarking on a research journey. Learn from Megan Baxter, author of Twenty Square Feet of Skin, Farm Girl, and The Coolest Monsters.
Early bird price through August 13th.
Fall 2023 Generative Writing Workshops
Instructor: Joanna Penn Cooper
A series of two-hour Zoom-based workshops that will happen on the first Saturday of the month, September-December 2023. The sessions can be taken separately or together.
This season’s generative workshops are shorter and less expensive, with a steep discount for paid subscribers to this newsletter. Buy all four sessions for an additional discount.
There is one more late fall/early winter offering coming up, a talk series that I am excited to tell you more about soon. Thank you for being part of this community!