Arlington Community Education

Bob Dylan is not just one of the great American songwriters, he’s an eminent storyteller. From the fairy-tale simplicity of “Girl from the North Country” to the surrealist panorama of “Subterranean Homesick Blues” to the autobiographical narrative of “Sara,” Dylan’s songs have transported listeners to worlds real and imagined. In this literature and writing class, we’ll examine the literary forms of surrealist poetry, lyrical ballads, and protest songs and learn how to apply these techniques to our own writing.

Do you have a manuscript or book idea but don’t know what comes next? Two authors who have published everything from self help books and children’s books, to academic and professional books, will walk you through the steps you need to take your book from idea to print. Publishing a book can be a deeply personal experience, or the best professional business card you can imagine to boost your career. Take this next step on your writing journey.

Craving something more from your lunch hour? Gather with us in the middle of the day for this supportive and generative writing class. Each week we’ll focus on a different writing theme or structure and use writing prompts to generate new work. Writers of all genres are welcome. Feel free to bring your lunch!

Are you looking to write more poems but need a jump-start? In this generative workshop, we will look at examples of work by contemporary poets such as Matthew Olzmann, Kevin Young, and Naomi Shihab Nye and use them as inspiration and springboards for writing our own poems that draw from the experience of everyday life. Whether you are new to writing poetry or have been writing your own poems for a while, bring your notebook and a pen or pencil and leave this workshop with the start of six to eight new poems.

Gain a deeper understanding of the novelist’s art as we read The Spare Room by the Australian writer Helen Garner, a taut unforgettable story of female friendship under pressure by “the greatest novelist you’ve never heard of,” according to NPR. Darkly funny, sad, and alive, it’s a dazzling novel to be reread and given to close friends. We’ll consider Garner’s use of character, plot, narrative structure, dialogue, and point of view—increasing our reading pleasure as our awareness of these elements grows. Class note: Please read the first two chapters and bring the Picador paperback with the vase of flowers on the cover to our first class.

New and experienced writers are invited to explore the dynamic world of playwriting. Through in-class exercises, live readings, and discussions that blend writing craft, dramatic arts, psychology, and existential angst, we’ll experiment with the tools, tips, and tricks of the practicing playwright, and write our own. Join a writer’s room like no other, and play around in the world where the mystery and meditation of writing meets the magic and joy of theater. "A wonderful camaraderie developed among the students in our group, facilitated and fostered by a wonderful, encouraging teacher/writer." –Fall '23 student

“If making a bank shot in pool was easy, we’d all be pool sharks. In poetry, one of the best ways to practice technique is to write in traditional forms,” writes poet Rebecca Hazelton. Explore a variety of poetic forms as “containers” for your poems, whether you’re new to writing poetry or have been writing for a while. We’ll look at examples of forms ranging from the traditional (sonnet, sestina, haiku) to the contemporary (Terrance Hayes’s golden shovel, Jericho Brown’s duplex) to forms we invent ourselves; do in-class writing exercises; engage in supportive group discussion; and offer feedback on each other’s work, which does not have to be written in form.

Please note: This class will take place at Arlington High School, and not Gibbs as previously published. Flannery O’Connor said that anyone who survived childhood had enough material to write for the rest of their life. While that may be true, it still takes some effort to turn those experiences into fiction. We’ll read published stories and complete in-class writing and brainstorming assignments to mine personal experience, current events, and history for new short stories or novels. You will have a chance to workshop one or two you’ve written and receive feedback from the instructor and classmates. This class is appropriate for new and experienced writers. Everyone has a story to tell—let’s find out what yours is!

Each session of this warm and welcoming class will explore the craft of personal essay writing through prompts to awaken the writing mind, readings of published essays to inspire your own work, and a longer generative session based around a topic. We’ll generate new writing, learn revision techniques, support each other’s writing, and develop and experiment with telling our personal stories. Writers at all levels of practice are welcome.