Arlington Community Education

Revision is an important and learnable skill for taking your work from promising first drafts to accomplished and moving poems. We’ll explore a variety of techniques at both the micro level of individual word choice and syntax and the macro level of “re-seeing” the poem as a whole. Whether you’ve been writing poetry for months or years, bring some poems you’re interested in taking to the next level and spend some time on them in a supportive group environment.

Are you looking for accountability, collaborative support, and time for a dedicated writing practice in the art of memoir? Share your work on a rotating workshop schedule and generate new material with two writing exercises/prompts each week. Craft topics will be discussed as they arise, but the focus of this class is generative—with the goal of deepening and encouraging your writing practice and creating a new body of work. Ideal for those seeking feedback and encouragement at any point in the memoir writing process.

Get a deeper understanding and appreciation of what you read with this examination of Elizabeth Jolley’s brilliantly comic and suspenseful novel, The Sugar Mother. This story follows a fussy middle-aged husband who is left alone by his younger wife, whose work takes her abroad for a year. What could go wrong? Australian author Helen Garner wrote of Jolley, “What makes us laugh in her books is the friction between humour and pathos. She is droll, sly, often delicate.” We’ll explore the novelist’s use of character, plot, narrative structure, dialogue, and point of view, enhancing our reading pleasure as our awareness of these elements grows. Please read the first 40 pages and bring the Persea Books paperback to our first class.

Join us for a collaborative table read and discussion of The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, Shakespeare’s timeless tale of the deadly consequences of shattered trust. Each week we will read and discuss one act, embodying the roles of Othello, Iago, Desdemona, and others. We will examine the intricacies of the play’s language, plot and characters, learn about its historical context, and explore how the timeless themes of loyalty, reputation, jealousy, and suspicion remain relevant today. Required texts: Arden Shakespeare: Othello

Nature has long been a source of inspiration for poets. We’ll explore poems by Mary Oliver, Ada Limón, Ross Gay, and others, using their work as a springboard for our own writing. Through in-class exercises and supportive group discussions, you’ll develop poems that range from close observations of the world around you to broader reflections on seasons, weather, and the intersection of human life and nature. Whether you’re new to poetry or looking to deepen your practice, this class offers a welcoming space to create, share, and refine your work.

Have you always wanted to try fiction writing but haven’t put pen to paper yet? Or maybe you’ve put down your pen for a while and need a creative spark to pick it back up. This low-pressure, generative class is the perfect space to experiment and ignite your imagination. Kindle your creativity with fun prompts—like music, sounds, and images—to get your ideas flowing. If you’d like, you can share your work in a supportive environment and receive encouraging feedback. Each week, you’ll walk away with a new piece of writing—maybe even one you’ll want to build on.