Transformative Writing

Write with purpose. Write to transform. Write: poetry, essays, fiction, nonfiction, stories, letters, and papers that move people, that transform minds and hearts.

Have something to say? Learn to write artfully and effectively, to bring your experiences and ideas alive on the page. Been a secret poet or writer? Explore safely coming out of the shadows into the world of writers. Been a writer for a while? Hone your craft and unlock new techniques. Looking to increase your skills for college or other types of writing? Leave with a set of tools at your disposal that increase your effectiveness as a communicator.

Curriculum especially designed to support and welcome people living at the intersections of identities: people of color (Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander), LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities and chronic illnesses, immigrants, people in various stages of documentation, trauma survivors, people who have been incarcerated, people in recovery, poor and working class people, elders, youth, and more. Among others, we will study work by Kai Cheng Thom, Natalie Diaz, Roxanne Gay, Joy Harjo, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Rachel McKibbens, Ta-Nahisi Coates, Lindsay Nixon, Gabby Rivera, and Danez Smith.

Classroom designed to be extremely supportive and also focused on filling your toolbox with writing craft skills. We will write from life, but we will also aim to measurably increase your skill in whatever kind of writing you do in pursuit of career and life goals.

We will read potent published writing, study why it works, practice using those techniques, and apply those skills to our own writing. Students will leave with a portfolio of work related to your self-identified writing goals.

To successfully participate in this program, students will need access to a computer and Internet. It's best not to use a cell phone, if possible, as activities, readings and assignments are more difficult to navigate. Students can expect three remote class sessions per week via Zoom, four hours per session (with breaks!), four hours of asynchronous work, as well as reading and writing homework. This fulfills Evergreen's general workload expectations for an eight-credit program in five weeks, with some grace.