creative writing classes portland

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5 Best Creative Writing Classes in Portland

Showing 5 courses that match your search.

Get Writing: Unblocking Writer's Block

Literary Arts

Sometimes we become so focused on productivity or “doing it right” that we stifle our creativity. In this class we’ll focus on one of the hardest parts of writing: writing. Each week we’ll use new prompts and guided activities to inspire new creation.

Website: https://literary-arts.org/event/get-writing-unblocking-wr...

Categories: Book, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Story

Start date:

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

From Idea to Manuscript: Crafting Your Picture Book

Have you ever wondered how to turn your brilliant idea into a captivating picture book? In this 8-week course, you’ll learn the art of crafting picture books that leave a lasting impression. We’ll explore the world of children’s literature, studying beloved classics and contemporary favorites, to inspire your creativity.

Website: https://literary-arts.org/event/from-idea-to-manuscript-c...

Categories: Fiction and Book

April, 2024

The Secret Life of Scenes Workshop with David Biespiel

Attic Institute

Do you find yourself explaining too much in your stories or creative nonfiction? Do you feel your writing gets bogged down in announcing, recounting, and summarizing? Work with Attic Institute founder and two-time Oregon Book Award winner David Biespiel to learn three keys to explain less and dramatize more.

Website: https://atticinstitute.com/node/2830

Categories: Fiction and Nonfiction

How to Write a Novel

Your story matters. Unlock your potential with daily video lessons from bestselling ghostwriter Tom Bromley, and finish your first draft in just 3 months. Learn more →

How to Write Riveting Scenes

The key to any unforgettable work of prose resides in the quality of its scenes. In this class, we’ll look at some of the best scenes ever written and investigate what it takes to write a scene that keeps readers on the edges of their seats.

Website: https://literary-arts.org/event/how-to-write-riveting-sce...

Categories: Book, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, and Short Story

So, You Wanna Be A Writer

Scheduled from February 20 to March 19, this online workshop focuses on overcoming the self-doubt many emerging writers face. It provides a supportive environment to explore writing interests, share work, and receive constructive feedback. The course, led by Wayne Gregory, is designed for up to 15 participants and includes 10 hours of instruction over Zoom. Early registration discounts are available.

Website: http://atticinstitute.com/node/2792

Categories: Book, Fiction, and Short Story

February, 2024

So you’re looking for creative writing classes in Portland

What do Cheryl Strayed and Chuck Palahniuk have in common? Both of their wildly different—and wildly popular books—couldn’t have been written without Portland. Born a few hours out of Portland, Palahniuk derived much inspiration from the Northwest while writing Fight Club , while Strayed’s Wild is set along the Pacific Crest Trail itself. So if you, too, are searching for a creative writing class in Portland, you’d be joining a storied literary club.

This directory of the best writing courses in Portland is meant to help you locate the right one for yourself.  We’ve included filters for price and genre so that you can quickly sort through the writing classes. And before you commit to any one writing class, consider the following questions:

• Who is the instructor?
• What is the price of the writing course?
• How far away is the writing course in Portland? Is there a remote alternative?
• How long could the course last?

Got any questions about finding the right writing class in Portland for you? Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] . Good luck!

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Literary Arts

The Multnomah Arts enter offers a variety of writing classes for adults and youth year-round. Our program consists of a variety of genres and topics, allowing students to build skills as they create a body of work. Students take one-day workshops or ten-week classes to explore their written voice. Quarterly public readings of student and faculty work bring our community together to celebrate the written word.

Literary Arts Coordinator: Patrick Browne

Core Writing Classes

MEMOIR Anyone can write a memoir. We all have stories-young and old, rich and poor, famous and not so. Participants will use prompts and other exercises to trigger and unlock their memories in order to zero in on those moments that are both rich and significant. Draw inspiration and craft secrets from other authors and address and put aside the inner critic, so that you may engage your creative process in a safe and encouraging environment.

FICTION Do you have a story to tell? Have you dreamt up characters who you want to know more about? Do you want to use your imagination to create fictional worlds? Whether you have great ideas for stories but no idea how to start, or drafts of stories that don’t feel quite finished, this class is for you. Together we’ll explore how character, language, and narrative structure work in each other’s writing as well as in published works.

CREATIVE NONFICTION The blank page’s potential can intimidate some writers into silence. Bring an empty notebook and be guided through the writing process from its messiest beginnings to a completed story. This genre includes memoir, essay, narrative journalism, interviews, and all other true stories.

POETRY Poetry as a means of expression, exploration, and experience is available to everyone. Take time in class to write poems in response to prompts, prompts, and more prompts, leaning into your imagination and following the impulses of your right brain. Read and respond to one another’s work in this supportive setting, suggesting and sharing revisions.

Past Offerings

The Writer Within

Writing Our Lives as Story

Reading & Writing About Oregon

Poetry Collage

So, You Want to Write a Novel

Writing the Ten-Minute Play

Revision: Getting Beyond I Like It

Writing Your Spiritual Autobiography

Writing Through Loss

Reading & Writing About Nature

Getting Your Work Out There

Being Your Own Publisher

Writing Characters into life

Interviewing for Personal Histories

Writing from Art

Reading Your Work Out Loud

WRITING CLASSES FOR YOUTH

Writing Creative Stories

Writing Poetry

Young Artists Book Camp

Literary Arts Post

The Literary Arts Post was a collaboration with artists: Jerry Harris, woodwork; Greg Wilbur, metalworks; Christine Colasurdo, calligraphy; Nicole Rawlins, copper etching; and Tracy Wolf-Paquin, glass. Poet Kim Stafford contributed the inscription. Thanks to everyone, including the Multnomah Arts Center Association, for this wonderful addition to our community. Visit the Literary Arts Pole monthly to be inspired by new works from MAC faculty, students, and community members.

Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Contact information by campus | Faculty

Writing opportunities

Want to see what PCC students are writing? Check out PCC’s student literary magazines .

Why choose Writing at PCC?

Portland Community College prepares you to write clearly and effectively. Competency in writing is essential to college success as you author class reports and term papers.

Degrees and certificates

PCC offers many options to meet your goals: short-term certificates, two-year degrees, and university transfer options.

What will you learn?

Class information.

• Current class schedule
• Class descriptions (catalog)

Portland Community College offers you three areas of writing study: Creative Writing, English Composition, and Technical Writing.

Creative Writing

Are you looking to stimulate and improve your imaginative writing? The PCC creative writing program offers you the opportunity to study with instructors who provide unique approaches to creative writing. Expect to write a great deal, learn critical terminology, and spend class time discussing your own and others’ writing.

PCC offers one of the largest selections of creative writing courses in the state. There are no prerequisites for most of the introductory courses, although you should be able to write at the WR 121 level. All the courses are good for three units of transferable credit.

English Composition

The goal of the Composition Program is to provide students with the opportunity to practice those writing skills which will enable them to write successfully in all their college courses. By the end of the program, students should be skillful at reading analytically and critically; their writing should demonstrate an understanding of organization, audience, voice, and the conventions of college-level written English.

In any of the courses in the Composition Program, students will be expected to write several papers; they may be asked to keep a reading journal and practice peer editing in small groups or engage in some form of collaborative learning in which essays will be read by other students in the class. Some in-class writing is required in all writing courses.

Technical Writing

Technical writing is common in the contemporary workplace. Students from disciplines as diverse as business, engineering, information technology, law, and science benefit from taking technical writing courses.  You will learn how to analyze and communicate special information and to adapt your visuals, formats, and writing styles to the specific audiences and needs of the fields. These courses emphasize the precise use of language and graphics to communicate complex technical and procedural information safely, legally, and ethically.  We also focus on career-specific writing such as proposals, letters, memoranda, lab reports, and/or work reports. (See the Writing catalog and class schedule for technical writing classes.)

Want to deepen your knowledge? Consider the Creative Writing focus award .

Resources for writing students

Writing tutoring is available at all campus tutoring centers and provides valuable resources to help you write papers. They’re open 5 days a week, and staffed by instructors in the Writing program and by peer tutors (students who have completed WR 121, 122, 123, and are enrolled in a tutor-training class.) Writing centers can provide help from the very beginning (brainstorming ideas) to the very end (editing).

Other useful resources are computer labs , libraries , and student printing so you can print documents on campus.

What will you do?

You will find that strong writing skills will aid your professional career as you author well-worded emails and reports that your supervisors and colleagues will welcome reading.

Not quite ready for credit courses in writing?

Developmental Education Writing can help you prepare for PCC’s college credit programs. Many students already enrolled in credit courses take developmental classes as needed to meet the requirements of their degree program.

Applying to PCC is free and only takes a few minutes. Apply now

Not quite ready to apply?

We can help you get the info you need.

• Schedule a visit
• Connect with us
• Plan how to pay

Related programs

PCC offers more than 90 programs .

• Portland Arts & Lectures
• PBF Exhibitor Application
• PBF Cover to Cover
• Delve Readers Seminars
• The Archive Project
• Special Events
• Writing Classes
• Oregon Book Awards Submissions
• Festival Book Submissions
• Apply for a Fellowship

Teach for Literary Arts

• Free Events
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• Writers in the Schools
• Free Youth Tickets
• Slam Poetry
• College Essay Exchange

Find Events

• Portland Book Festival
• Portland Arts & Lectures
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• Full Calendar

One Page Wednesday – July

Incite: queer writers read – july, bipoc reading series – july.

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WRITING CLASSES

Writing classes at Literary Arts are for students at all levels who are looking to advance their skills and make writing a priority in their life. Whether you need help getting started or you’re a seasoned author seeking a community of writers who are serious about their craft, Literary Arts has a variety of offerings to develop key skills.

Our writing classes are limited to 10 students and focused on specific writing goals. Classes range from generative classes for all skill levels to more advanced intensives. Many of our writing classes are taught by Oregon Book Awards authors and fellowship recipients; all of our classes are taught by experienced teachers. We strive to build a supportive community of writers that provides opportunities for students from a wide range of backgrounds and interests to participate in an enriching experience. We offer classes that allow students to achieve short-term and long-term goals and deepen their writing practice. We value experimentation, making mistakes, and learning from others as part of the artistic process.

Our classes meet online on Zoom or in person at Literary Arts.

CLASS CANCELLATION POLICY:

For students who need to cancel registration for a class before it begins, the following refund schedule applies:

If you cancel at least 5 business days or more before a class begins, you will receive a credit minus 15% of the tuition. Or you can request a refund minus 25% of the tuition.

4 business days until 24 hours or less before a class begins, you will receive a credit minus 20%. No refunds are given 4 business days or less before a class begins.

24 hours or less before a class begins, no refund or credits will be given.

If Literary Arts cancels a class, participants will receive a full refund.

REFUNDS AND RECORDINGS:

Literary Arts cannot provide refunds, transfers, or makeup sessions for individual classes and seminar sessions that students miss. Literary Arts does not record Zoom classes for students who are absent.

A CCESS PROGRAM: We want our writing classes to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class registrations at a reduced rate. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available.

Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at  [email protected]  if you have questions.

Upcoming Writing Classes

From idea to manuscript: crafting your picture book, build your picture book portfolio, summer flings in creative nonfiction, the break with kaveh akbar, creative nonfiction: the workshop, write the self: writing from personal experience, unlocking the creative process, nine-month novel intensive: wednesdays, nine-month novel intensive: thursday.

“My instructor was supportive, encouraging, and insightful. My classmates are just as interested in developing their skills as I am and also provide excellent insight.” Writing student

 “I learned things that had never occurred to me before about writing a scene, setting, and dialogue. The experience of working with peers in learning to write better is valuable as we learn from each other.” Writing student

“I love the Literary Arts space—it’s a warm environment that I look forward to being in.” Writing Student

“My writing instructors were interesting, engaging, and professional.” Writing Student

Instructor Bios

Radika sharma, sandra hunter, margaret malone, josha nathan, wendy noonan, paige thomas, jay ponteri, access tuition.

We want our writing classes to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class registrations at a reduced rate. The access program for writing classes covers 50% of the class tuition. Most writing classes have at least one access spot available.

Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at [email protected] if you have questions.

Join our roster of accomplished writers who lead classes and workshops at our space. We also hire writers to teach creative writing residencies in local high schools.

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Multnomah County Library

Local resources for writers

Portland is a writing city, with many organizations focused on the craft. Here's a brief list to highlight a small sampling.

The people behind  Old Pal , a journal devoted to literature and art, maintain this fairly comprehensive list of all things literary in the Portland area. 

Write at the library

Every year, Multnomah County Library places a call for submissions from local authors who would like to see their books added to the library’s e-book collection.

Writing groups, workshops, and classes

Workshops, classes, and individual consultation about writing projects.

Bestselling writer and teacher Lidia Yuknavitch’s groundbreaking workshop practice.

Find a wide variety of writing groups, many free to join.

They award the annual Oregon Book Awards and Fellowships and offer writing workshops, readings and more. They are also the library’s partner on  Everybody Reads .

Writing classes are listed under Literary Arts.

Offers free creative writing workshops in social service settings. You can also apply to lead workshops.

Membership organizations

Provides affordable access to space, tools and resources for creating independently published media and artwork. They also have an annual  residency program for artists and writers of color .

Oregon’s oldest and largest literary organization offers community, contests, and conferences.

Community, conferences and workshops, and the use of a beach house writing retreat.

Educates, supports and mentors published and unpublished romance writers.

The largest writers organization in the Pacific Northwest. Hosts regular meetings for the exchange of ideas related to writing and craft.

Local publishers

Publishes literary fiction and memoir. Winner of two Oregon Literary Fellowships from Literary Arts.

Specializes in nonfiction DIY (Do-It-Yourself) books, zines and decks that focus on the reader and teach self-empowerment.

A Portland State University graduate student-run trade press. Ooligan partners with the library to publish selections from  The Library Writers Project in print.

Connect with publishers and keep up with Northwest book news, especially indie stores and authors.

Publishes books by writers, artists, chefs, naturalists and thought leaders in the Pacific Northwest and on the West Coast.

Welcome to the Blackbird Studio for Writers

What is Blackbird?

MFA level teachings without the MFA price tag. The Studio provides smart, practical, affordable long-term teachings for writers at all stages in their process. From beginning to advanced, if you are looking for a literary home from idea to publication, try us out.

The Blackbird Process:

The first stop is Bones of Storytelling & Scene vs. Exposition + Progression. You can build your own Foundations Program by taking already recorded classes or attending live workshops. ( Click here to sample a class).

Once the Foundations are out of the way, you’re potentionally invited into the longer-term Studios, where you workshop (read aloud to a currated Beta circle) and study novels, memoirs, and short story collections while deepening your understanding of craft.

Finally, you are invited to progress to the Twenty-One-on-One program with Jennifer where you master line by line editing and refine your work for publication. 

Visit our classes page for more details on getting started. Or, send me a note about your literary needs in the form below.

Write With us

Resonate: A BIPOC Writing Circle

Join a community of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) writers and listeners — all for FREE! Resonate is a 90-minute virtual writing session. No preparation or experience is required! Led by a Write Around Portland volunteer facilitator of color, Resonate consists of writing, sharing, and giving strengths-based feedback to each other. It’s a great way to unlock your creativity, build or maintain a writing habit, and get some writing done!

Freewrite Single Workshops

Freewrite is a 90-minute virtual writing session. No preparation or experience is required! Led by a Write Around Portland volunteer facilitator, Freewrite consists of writing, sharing, and giving strengths-based feedback to each other. It’s a great way to unlock your creativity, build or maintain a writing habit, and get some writing done!

*We have a limited number of free spots available in each Freewrite workshop for people experiencing financial hardship. Email us at  [email protected]  to reserve a spot.

Prompt Workshop Series

Looking for accountability and new writer friends?  Our popular Prompt workshop series is being held virtually in an 8-week series. Workshops include writing, sharing, and feedback with the same writers each week. It’s a great way to get some writing done while meeting likeminded literary folks. Check back soon to find out when our next series begins!

*We have a limited number of free or low-cost spots available for people experiencing financial hardship. Email us at  [email protected]  to sign up for our waitlist.

Agency Workshops

Thanks to donations and fees from workshops, we are able to hold therapeutic creative writing workshops for adults and youth in nonprofits, hospitals, schools, treatment centers, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, low income housing residences and other social service agencies.

The workshop curriculum focuses on experiential learning, generating new writing, and building on the writers’ strengths. Workshop participants write stories, poems, memoirs, letters and essays while experimenting with imagery, character development, dialogue and early-draft revision. To build community through writing, our workshops are facilitated by extensively-trained volunteers who write and share alongside participants through a series of freewrites and positive, strength-based feedback.

Creative Writing

Program description.

Embedding the development of an evolved practice of creative writing in a school of art and design.

Embedding the development of an evolved practice of creative writing in a school of art and design , the Creative Writing program offers a unique opportunity to explore writing's relationship with contemporary art through interdisciplinary and hybridized forms.

The major is centered around creative writing studio classes in a variety of genres to build experience with the art of writing. We explore the use of language as a visual medium and incorporate writing into our visual work. We support both experimental writing practices and those focused on contemporary forms of fiction, poetry, and script writing. Innovation, crossing—and at times erasing—creative boundaries, experimentation with forms and media, and a self-determined path sit at the heart of creative writing at PNCA.

Student Work

I work with fragmentation, the tension between immediacy and accessibility in the experience of poetic and visual works, and the state of the word in contemporary visual culture.

See All Program News

Kristin Bradshaw featured on Textsound

Creative Writing Program Director, Kristin Bradshaw, has four works featured on the current issue of Textsound.org.

Maggie Nelson Lecture and Visit

Nelson, author of Bluets and The Argonauts, comes to PNCA to give a talk.

Jerry McGill Interviewed on Think Out Loud

The MA in Critical Studies program recently hosted a talk by author Jerry McGill who was interviewed this week on OPB's Think Out Loud.

Hear Sarah Schulman: Conflict is not Abuse

Video of Sarah Schulman's December talk is now on YouTube

Writing in and as Art

Panel of nationally-recognized curators, publishers, artists and poets

Visit PNCA today!

Come explore and experience how PNCA is dedicated to empowering students to reimagine what art and design can do in the world.

Photo by Adam Simmons, PNCA Class of 2017

• David Biespiel, Founder
• Carol Hendrickson, Assistant to the President
• Erica Berry
• Brian Benson
• Craig Brandis
• Matthew Dickman
• Wayne Gregory
• Karen Karbo
• Lee Montgomery
• Laura Moulton
• Jules Ohman
• Whitney Otto
• John Morrison
• Ruben Quesada
• Joanna Rose
• Paige Thomas
• Wendy Willis
• Writing Fellows
• Podcast: Pdx Literary Culture - A City Club Panel Discussion
• Jobs and Scholarships
• Gift Certificates
• Atheneum: Master Writing Program
• Poets Studio
• Fiction Studio
• Highgate: The One-on-One Workshop

25th Anniversary Reading | Feb 17 | David Biespiel and Matthew Dickman

SAVE THE DATE: FEB 17 2024

25th Anniversary Reading

The Attic's 25th Anniversary in 2024

Our mission at the Attic is to help people turn that glimmer of an image or overheard bit of conversation in a coffee shop or the difficult (or joyous) memory into new writing. 

Attic founder David Biespiel's acclaimed novel

"Beautiful." Publishers Weekly  (starred review)

"Thoughtful." Kirkus Reviews

"Poetic."  Lone Star Review

In his thirteenth book, acclaimed poet, critic, memoirist, and founder of the Attic David Biespiel turns to the novel to tell a story about Texas that has few, if any, parallels in Texas literature — a novel about the tensions between ambition and faith, duty and desire, art and life, and about those whose lives must live with the consequences of choosing one over the other.

“As smart, as funny and...searingly honest”  — Jess Walter, National Book Award finalist and author of The Angel of Rome

" Carves out a place of freedom founded on poetry and debauchery." — Vanessa Veselka, National Book Award long-listed author of The Great Offshore Ground 

“This is a classic American tale.”  — Whitney Otto, New York Times bestselling author of How to Make an American Quilt

Order the book:  Powells  |  Broadway Books  |  Amazon

A More Personal Look at the Attic's Atheneum

Listen to current Atheneum Fellows answer questions about their time in the Atheneum program:

What has been the most productive part of the program so far?

" I've appreciated how much more structured my writing process has become and the monthly deadlines to turn in work. It has kept me on track to finish a solid draft of my memoir by the time the program concludes in June." - Kristin Moran

"It’s the community we’ve all formed that helps motivate me to sit in the chair and write. I carry their words with me every day." - Mae Cohen

"First, the meetings with my accomplished, experienced, thoughtful mentors have helped me enormously. They’ve encouraged me and given me resources and advice that has helped me to organize my project and look at my writing more critically.

The other part is the community the fellows have created together via sprinting. This is a weekday write-a-long that we do by text. It generally lasts about an hour. How it works is someone will text the group that they’re writing now, and people join in if they can. Sometimes we chat a bit before and after but it’s not the lengthy social event of a Zoom call. It’s a nice way to stay connected, share issues, and not feel so alone in the process." - Signe Kopps

"My monthly mentorship meetings with Whitney have always built me up and helped to get my compass pointing the right way again. I've also enjoyed our big group meetings, the salons, and the craft exercises that the mentors have had us work on. But what might be the most productive part of the program for my extroverted self has been the connections I've made with the other writers. We are all on a group text together and every morning, someone texts just to say they are writing, that way we can join in to write "together" if we are able to. My group, the nonfiction writers, has also started to meet every month electively, just to get more eyes on our projects. It's been so great to know the other writers and be vulnerable with them." - Gemma Hobbs

A Statement of Our Values

The Attic Institute of Arts and Letters opposes the legitimation of bigotry, hate, and misinformation. As a studio for writers, we do not tolerate harassment or discrimination of any kind. We embrace and celebrate our shared pursuit of literature and languages as essential to crossing the boundaries of difference. To that end, we seek to maintain a creative environment in which every employee, faculty member, and student feels safe, respected, and comfortable — even while acknowledging that poems, stories, and essays delve into uncomfortable subjects. We accept the workshop as a place to question ourselves and to empathize with complex identities. We understand that to know the world is to write the world. Therefore, we reaffirm our commitment to literary pursuits and shared understanding by affirming diversity and open inquiry. 

Creative Writing

Thanks for your interest in Creative Writing at Reed College! Here you'll find some general information about what we do and what we hope for our students.

The first thing you should know is that we are not an official department. Rather, we exist within the English Department, which we think of as a good thing. The more you know about the larger world, literary history, Shakespeare or Faulkner, for example, the better your writing will be. That's a fact.

We offer ten Creative Writing courses  a year, all of which fulfill Group 1 Requirements; we hope these courses will help you hone your craft and experiment with new ways of writing while also providing opportunities to participate in a larger writing community.

The path to writing a creative thesis in the English Department depends on when you were first enrolled at Reed. Please see the Creative Writing requirements for details.

Courses are taught as workshops by practicing writers. Students write works of poetry and fictional and non-fictional prose, which are then distributed to other participants in the workshop for review and critique. In addition to discussions of your own work, many of our courses entail some degree of reading the work of published authors. Additionally, when possible, we try to offer students the opportunity to participate in workshops, discussions and meetings with visiting writers . And, students are encouraged to participate in literary events both on and off campus and to create such events of their own.

We encourage students from all disciplines to take creative writing  courses. Admission requires consent of the instructor based on a writing  sample . Each of  our classes is capped at fifteen students to insure that the creative  work environment remains a space wherein student work is the primary focus.

Creative theses are only available for students who are English majors.  Details are here .

If you have additional questions, please don't hesitate to contact one of us. We'll be most happy to talk with you.

Sincerely, The Creative Writing Faculty

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• <a href="/live/image/gid/313/width/650/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.jpg" class="lw_preview_image lw_disable_preview" tabindex="-1"><picture class="lw_image lw_image80163"><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/313/width/500/height/240/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/313/width/500/height/240/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 500px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/313/width/500/height/240/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/313/width/500/height/240/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 800px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/313/width/800/height/383/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.webp 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/313/width/800/height/383/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.webp 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 800px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/313/width/800/height/383/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.jpg 2x, /live/image/scale/3x/gid/313/width/800/height/383/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.jpg 3x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 1200px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/313/width/1200/height/575/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.webp 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(max-width: 1200px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/313/width/1200/height/575/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.jpg 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 1201px)" type="image/webp" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/313/width/1440/height/690/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.webp 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><source media="(min-width: 1201px)" type="image/jpeg" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/313/width/1440/height/690/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.jpg 2x" data-origin="responsive"/><img src="/live/image/gid/313/width/1440/height/690/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.jpg" alt="Fir Acres students reading by the Reflecting Pool." srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/313/width/1440/height/690/crop/1/80163_2019-fir_acres-3894.rev.1568237592.jpg 2x" data-max-w="3200" data-max-h="2134" data-optimized="true"/></picture></a><div class="hero-full_image_caption collapsable-caption">Fir Acres students reading by the Reflecting Pool.</div>

Fir Acres Writing Workshop

A premier residential summer creative writing program f or talented high school students, june 23-july 6, 2024.

Fir Acres Writing Workshop is open to rising 10th, 11th, and 12th graders. Summer 2024 will be our 36th Year!

General Application Deadline: Deadline has now passed. Thanks for applying!

At Fir Acres Writing Workshop , sixty high school students from across the country come together for two weeks to write and join a community of writers on the beautiful, wooded campus of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

In daily Workshops, participants study great writing and produce their own under the guidance of dynamic, thoughtful, published faculty. At night, participants gather to socialize, meet and hear from distinguished visiting writers, and work on their own poetry, fiction, and creative prose.

Our mission is to provide a high-caliber, pre-collegiate, creative educational experience to bright, inventive, and passionate high school students. Our program appeals to young writers and artistic students who are drawn to the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and the fun, hip mystique of Portland.

email   [email protected]

voice   503-768-7932  

Director   Don Waters

Administrative Coordinator   Amy Baskin

Fir Acres Writing Workshop Lewis & Clark 615 S. Palatine Hill Road   Portland   OR   97219

• Financial Aid

Testimonials

Character galleries, creative writing workshops, interactive story-crafting workshops for small groups, grades 3-7, each one-hour workshop consists of:, an oral storytelling game, collaborative drawing, collaborative brainstorming, individual writing time, optional sharing time.

Explore slideshow above to see additional Workshop Series available.

Low-stress, fun-oriented workshops focused on the joy of story creation, each series is a set of 6 story-writing workshops by videoconference on zoom.  using unique drawing and brainstorming activities, the workshops lead students through playful explorations of various aspects of the craft of story creation..

Contact Amy about participating in a free demo workshop!

Writing Coach Amy Grover has a Master’s Degree in Teaching and was a classroom teacher in Portland Public Schools’ Richmond Elementary School for 19 years.  She is currently studying the craft of writing literature for children and has been collaborating with Writing Coaches Shu-Hsien Ho and Royd Hatta of Beyond the Box Learning to develop interactive and engaging online story-writing workshops for youth.  Amy's teaching style is encouraging, patient, and fun! 

After each workshop, students may send Amy what they wrote during the workshop (a photo is fine) and she will respond briefly as a reader of the story, noting a favorite part or something that is working well about the story.  This opportunity is used to reinforce the writer’s strengths, help them think about their writing from the perspective of a reader, or highlight writing strategies discussed during the workshops. Note that this is not a revision-and-editing type class.

The purpose of these workshops is to empower students to fully explore their imaginations, enjoy the writing process, and discover and build on their strengths as story-crafters. 

Many students have enjoyed forming “creative writing clubs” by signing up with a friend or group of friends!

More details:

Students per group: 4 Cost: sliding scale $95-$120 per student for a series of 6 workshops Groups meet:   Once a week (for one hour) for 6 weeks, on Zoom Day/time: TBD based on the scheduling needs of each group of 4.   Sessions begin several times a year.   Contact Amy for dates of the next session.

Undergraduate Program Creative Writing

• Transfer Guide

Degree Details

• Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Total Credits 180 Start Term Fall, Winter, Spring Delivery Method On campus Degree Planner (BFA)

Learn more about our academic program delivery methods

Creative Writing Bachelor's Degree Overview

The degree provides you with a comprehensive and intensive curriculum of classes and workshops in craft and technique, exposure to the work of established writers, and opportunities for you to work closely with peers and published writers as they develop and hone their creative work and critical skills.

You get the opportunity to learn from distinguished faculty who bring their real-life experience and expertise as published authors into the classroom. Faculty are deeply engaged with creative writing students and act as mentors and advisors. Students in the program enjoy small class sizes, access to internship opportunities in a vibrant literary city, and a supportive community of peers. Students complete a final portfolio project that they can use alongside a resume. There are active creative writing student groups and writing events, including an annual reading series that brings writers of national and international reputation to campus. The B.F.A. requirements are designed to provide introductory-level experience writing in the three customary genres: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. This is followed by intensive work in one of those genres.

The creative writing major is highly flexible with an elective structure that allows you to pursue your interests in literature, literary theory, film, screenwriting, and publishing. The department also offers an undergraduate degree or minor in English , a minor in film studies , and a certificate in comics studies .

Creative Writing Bachelor's Degree: Why PSU?

• Pathos Literary Magazine : A creative publication, staffed entirely by students, that exclusively publishes student work in three issues per year.
• Portland Review : A literary journal produced by graduate students in the English department that promotes the works of emerging writers and artists alongside the works of well-established authors. Portland Review has been publishing exceptional prose, poetry, and art since 1956 and has been noted in the Best American series and honored by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oregon Arts Commission.
• Vanguard : A weekly print and digital newspaper distributed for free throughout the Portland State campus area. Entirely student-run, employing about 60 paid student reporters, multimedia contributors, photographers, graphic designers, and editors, its publishing body is the Portland State Media Board, consisting of four students, four faculty members, and one community member. The newspaper and its staff have earned several collegiate journalism awards, including the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association General Excellence Award and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Circle Award.
• Ooligan Press : An award-winning nonprofit general trade press that publishes books honoring the cultural and natural diversity of the Pacific Northwest. Ooligan Press is a teaching press staffed by students pursuing master’s degrees in the Department of English.
• The Writing Center : A service to help students improve their writing and understand strategies to gain critical thinking skills they can adapt to all their writing projects. Writing center staff support students by acting as consultants rather than copyeditors, guiding students through their work by asking questions rather than editing specific text, with the goal of ensuring that the student-writer maintains agency over their writing.

Portland State offers many opportunities for students to engage in the broader creative community in the city through internships and jobs. Our students are able to work and carry out internships while they’re in school, allowing them to build relationships and add experience to their resumes.

What can I do with a Bachelor's degree in Creative Writing?

Writing Classes

Idea-based writing with a focus on structure and development.

Improve your ability to express ideas clearly in writing this summer.

In this workshop, we will choose topics that inspire wonder and awe to discuss and write about. Students will write their thoughts, responses and ideas using strategies that apply to all non-fiction writing, preparing them for greater success and ease with writing across all academic subjects in the future. This class will be taught in the traditional Write Now writer’s workshop style, with an emphasis on writing freely from your true self and learning through what is working. Each week a lesson will be given based on the needs of the specific students attending. The lessons will focus on organization and structure, idea development, and effective communication. Students will leave with greater clarity and confidence with non-fiction writing styles and with a renewed sense of awe and wonder about the mysteries of the world we live in. “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” –Albert Einstein

Limited to 6 students.

Session 1: 4 Mondays 6/17-7/8, 4:30-6pm (FULL)

Session 2: 4 Mondays 7/15-8/5, 4:30-6pm

Who: Ages 14-17

Where: 316 NE 19th Ave, Portland

To Register: The links below are currently not working. In the meantime, please email Sarah at [email protected] to register your child and she will get back to you with information about logistics and how to pay. Thanks for your patience!

Creative Writing for Highly Sensitive Teens

Improve your writing skills, make progress on a story, receive feedback and have full creative control in this creative writing workshop.

If you are easily overwhelmed in groups or chaotic situations, feel uncertain about participating with new people, but love to write and would enjoy a creative writing group with other teens who are similarly sensitive, then this group is for you. We will open with a short lesson about strong writing, students will have time to write, then there is time for optional sharing and compliments. Sarah has been teaching creative writing for years and is highly skilled at creating safe space for students to access their creativity in writing. Limited to 6 students.

When: 8 Wednesdays 6/19 – 8/14 (not meeting 7/3), 4:30-6pm

Who: Ages 14-18

To Register: The link below is currently not working. In the meantime, please email Sarah at [email protected] to register your child and she will get back to you with information about logistics and how to pay. Thanks for your patience!