creative writing classes portland

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4 Best Creative Writing Classes in Portland

Showing 4 courses that match your search.

Poem or Picture Book: Writing the Lyrical Children’s Book

Literary Arts

This workshop explores the intersection of poetry and picture books through collaborative study and practical tools. Participants learn to make their picture book texts more lyrical and enhance the visual appeal of their poetry.

Website: https://literary-arts.org/event/poem-or-picture-book-writ...

Categories: Publishing and Poetry

Start date:

February, 2025

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Discovering and Embracing Your Literary Voice

This six-week class focuses on generating a 2-6 page fictional narrative, developing it through two drafts with emphasis on voice and tone, alongside character development and pacing.

Website: https://literary-arts.org/event/discovering-and-embracing...

Categories: Book and Publishing

January, 2025

Poets Studio: Summer Session w David Biespiel

Attic Institute

This workshop focuses on goals to foster growth as a poet, offering a supportive environment for new and returning poets to develop their craft through guided sessions.

Website: https://atticinstitute.com/

Categories: Poetry

August, 2024

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The Fiction Workshop: Building Characters

Find your way into your characters’ motivations, interiority, and relationships in this generative workshop for short story writers and novelists. We’ll create complex characters through in-class writing, discussion of short story and novel excerpts, and reimagining in-progress and new work. Open to all writers.

Website: https://atticinstitute.com/node/2853

Categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Book, Fantasy, and Science Fiction

September, 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 classes in this program but not a degree. These classes can be used as electives and as part of the following university transfer plans :

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 .

Upcoming Workshops & Events

Join a Write Around Portland creative writing class! All the creative writing classes, events, and workshops listed on this page are open to the public unless otherwise noted. Our programs are designed to be supportive, encouraging, and fulfilling for writers at every level.

Whether you’re new to writing or have an extensive background in it, we welcome you and we’re sure you’ll have a great time!

Resonate: A BIPOC Writing Circle

Creative writing class.

Thursday, October 17, 6:00-8:00 pm PST

Held In-Person at SE Uplift

Facilitated by Tyler McCray and Jewels Pedersen

Join us for an in-person 90 minute writing circle specifically for BIPOC folks (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). We’ll freewrite, share, and offer each other strengths-based feedback. No writing experience required! Learn more here .

Friday, October 25, 4:00-5:30 pm PST

Held virtually on Zoom

Facilitated by Briseida Pagador

Join us for a 90 minute writing circle specifically for BIPOC folks (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). We’ll freewrite, share, and offer each other strengths-based feedback. No writing experience required! Learn more here .

Prompt Writing Group: November Writing Support Group

Begins Wednesday, October 30

5 Sessions, 6:30-8:30 PM PST

Wednesdays, October 30 – December 4 (skipping Nov 27)

Facilitated by Brandy Bell

Would you enjoy the challenge of drafting a novel in a month? We can help! Join us as we support each other, write together, and give each other positive, strengths-based feedback that will help shape your work and give continuous inspiration. And—we made it a 6-week workshop to include planning and celebratory meetings designed to get the most out of November! We can’t wait to write with you!

Friday, November 8, 4:00-5:30 pm PST

Facilitated by Michael Battle

Queer Affinity Writing Circle

Thursday, November 14, 6:00-8:00 PM PST

Hosted at Sonny’s House of Tattoos and Treasures

Sliding Scale Fee $20-$40, please pay what you’re able to

Facilitated by Arabelle May

Unlock your creativity and get some writing done in a queer affinity space! Led by a Write Around Portland volunteer facilitator, this creative writing circle includes writing, sharing, and offering each other strengths-based feedback. Sharing is optional. Open to all LGBTQIA+ participants. Please note: masks are required at Sonny’s House for everyone’s safety.

Thursday, November 21, 6:00-8:00 pm PST

Freewrite: Writing about Place

Thursday, November 21, 6:00-7:30 pm PST

Hosted Virtually on Zoom

Facilitated by Carly Rae Zentz

Join us for a 90-minute creative writing class focusing on developing a sense of place. Through generative prompts and exercises, you’ll explore physical locations, internal landscapes, and how to make settings come alive on the page. Learn more here .

Winter Reading & Book Release

Thursday, December 12, 6:00-8:00 PM PST

Hosted In-Person at NW Natural (250 SW Taylor St. Portland, OR)

Join us as we celebrate the end of our Fall season and all of the writers published in the anthology! Learn more here .

Friday, December 13, 4:00-5:30 pm PST

Facilitated by Tyler McCray

Thursday, December 19, 6:00-8:00 pm PST

Freewrite: Writing for Health & Healing

Thursday, December 19, 6:00-7:30 pm PST

Facilitated by Linda Drach

Writing is not therapy or medicine, but people who write know it can be healing. This writing workshop engages participants in free writing and poetry exercises that empower you to explore physical and mental health in a brave space. This workshop is designed and intended for everyone, writing novices and experts alike. Join us in using language to lighten our loads! Learn more here .

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Readers Night: Celebrating Portland Book Festival

Portland book festival 2024, abraham verghese: portland arts & lectures 2024–25, the moth mainstage in portland.

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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

Poetry lab: come play, the break with kaveh akbar, writing the non-fiction book proposal, how to stay motivated as a writer, mother of mysteries: writing the multi-voice novel, writing from art (poetry): youth pbf workshop, i’m literally dead right now (fiction): youth pbf workshop, visual poetry and art, weird asides: incorporating funny tangents into your writing, speak your peace (spoken word poetry): youth pbf workshop, get writing: unblocking writer’s block, calling back the light: the playful essay, discovering and embracing your literary voice, see it to believe it: visual poetry, recharge your writing life, the long short story, 3 month short story intensive, write the self: weekend intensive, the art of fiction, write the self: 8 weeks, poem or picture book: writing the lyrical children’s book, nature writing: digging deep, digital storytelling: make a short film, grief spiral: writing elegies along a curved path.

“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

Our Teachers

Learn more about our current roster of teachers.

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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