I’ll be giving a talk on Writing Literary Horror at Arizona Mystery Writers this Saturday, May 10th. They’re a great group! You don’t have to be a member to attend. Click on the image above for info. Hope to see you there!
In-person classes for writers of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction are starting in January. Classes are already filling up so don’t wait.
CLICK HERE for more information and to register for our Tucson classes.
“Over the years that I’ve been writing with the Writers Studio, my writing has flourished in both style and confidence. Through the feedback I’ve received and specific methods used in class, I’ve grown and will continue to hone and develop my skills as a writer. The Writers Studio is a wonderful writing community, and I encourage anyone with the desire for the written word to join us!“
— George Brown, Writers Studio student
We hope to see you in class. If not in Tucson, explore our options for ONLINE CLASSES.
In this online class, students will follow examples set by established writers including Ray Bradbury, Sandra Cisneros, Seamus Heaney, Patrick McCabe, and Jacqueline Woodson while applying tried and tested Writers Studio methods. By looking at techniques and voices crafted by established writers, students learn how to bring their unique creative material to life in new and vibrant ways.
All students are welcome, whether new to The Writers Studio or veterans of our classes. Students can choose to write fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction.
ONLINE WRITING ABOUT CHILDHOOD starts on October 19th and will be taught by Philip Ivory, director of the Tucson branch of The Writers Studio.
CLICK HERE for more information and to register.
“So from the age of twenty-four to thirty-six hardly a day passed when I didn’t stroll myself across a recollection of my grandparents’ northern Illinois grass, hoping to come across some old half-burnt firecracker, a rusted toy, or a fragment of letter written to myself in some young year hoping to contact the older person I became to remind him of his past, his life, his people, his joys and his drenching sorrows. So, I turned myself into a boy running to bring a dipper of clear rainwater out of that barrel by the side of the house. And, of course, the more water you dip out the more flows in. The flow has never ceased.”
— RAY BRADBURY
Can we recapture the wonder, darkness, and magic of childhood in our writing? This six-week class examines techniques used by established writers such as Ray Bradbury, Sandra Cisneros, Seamus Heaney, and others who successfully evoked that not-so-long-ago childhood realm.
In the class, students will follow the examples set by these masters while applying tried and tested Writers Studio methods. The goal is to help students bring their unique creative material to life in new and vibrant ways. All students are welcome, whether new to The Writers Studio or veterans of our classes. Students can choose to write fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction.
ONLINE WRITING ABOUT CHILDHOOD starts on October 19th and will be taught by Philip Ivory, director of the Tucson branch of The Writers Studio.
For more information or to register: CLICK HERE
If you’re in Tucson and wish to take an in-person writing class, please consider taking a course from The Writers Studio Tucson. Classes start next week.
Beginning and Intermediate level classes are filling up so don’t wait too long. You’ll find all the course information you’ll need in the link below, but please reach out to me at philivory@writerstudio.com with any questions.
Starting Saturday October 7th, I’ll be teaching another session of my special six-week class Online Writing About Childhood through The Writers Studio.
Your personal memories of growing up can be a treasure trove of ideas for stories and poems and memoir pieces. This class will show you techniques to manage your personal material and bring it to life.
In this class, we examine techniques and voices crafted by celebrated writers of poetry and prose such as Sandra Cisneros, Seamus Heaney, and Ray Bradbury. How did they use imagination and memory to regain a foothold in childhood’s not-so-distant realm, conjuring its wonder, joy, and pain?
Whether working in poetry, prose, or creative nonfiction, can we apply similar voices and techniques to our own unique material? Let’s bring the world and experience of childhood to vibrant life again through our creative work.
For more information, CLICK HERE. Hope to see you in class!
We have some momentous news at The Writers Studio Tucson. Longtime director of the Tucson branch Reneé Bibby is retiring from that leadership position and stepping away from all branch duties, including her role as teacher of Master Class, so that she can pursue other opportunities in the writing realm and elsewhere.
Reneé has been with the Writers Studio Tucson for 11 years. She worked as a teacher for almost 10 years, instructing nearly 350 students in Tucson and beyond. Reneé has set a profound forward momentum for our branch, keeping us going through the pandemic and other challenges, sometimes just on the force of her positive personality alone, but always fueled by her wisdom, experience, and sense of humor.
Separate from the Tucson branch, Reneé will continue to do online teaching work for The Writers Studio, including special six-week classes conducted on Saturdays that any student, no matter where they live, may take. And she will continue to write and publish and further develop her prodigious writing talents. Peruse her web site to learn about her published work and other activities.
The Writers Studio, including its Tucson branch will always be grateful to Reneé for her outstanding leadership, planning, teamwork, and the great inspiration she has always provided as the best possible teacher.
Okay, that’s the sad part. But we have encouraging news, too. Phil Ivory, longtime teacher and assistant director for the branch, is assuming the role of director.
Phil studied English literature at Columbia University and at Cambridge University in the UK and worked for many years as communications professional in the nonprofit world, most notably for the national headquarters of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Phil started as a teacher with the Tucson branch in 2016 on the Intermediate level, was appointed assistant director for the branch two years later and has developed and taught special six-week classes for The Writers Studio including Online Writing About Childhood. His short fiction has appeared in Menacing Hedge, Two Cities Review, Ghost Parachute, The Airgonaut and the anthology, The Writers Studio at 30, and he’s currently in the latter stages of a novel that explores the dreams, darkness, and danger of childhood.
Phil is very grateful for Reneé’s mentorship and advice during this transition and is also very thankful for the amazing work being done by Tucson’s workshop teacher, Betsy Mahaffey. Betsy’s next beginner class starts on Sept. 27th and is already full, although a waitlist is available, and more classes for workshop and other levels will be available in January.
We will keep you informed on all changes in our branch as we strategize for a successful 2024. We hope to schedule a number of fun public events for our students to attend in the year ahead. Amidst all these changes, the Tucson branch of The Writers Studio will continue to strive to provide the best instruction and inspiration for our talented and wonderful students.
Join the Writers Studio Reading Series on Sunday, April 23 at 5 pm ET / 2 pm PT for a reading of original work from our faculty.
During this virtual reading, teachers from our New York City, Tucson, San Francisco, and Rome branches will share their poetry and fiction.
I’m excited to be representing Tucson with a new piece, reading alongside talented colleagues including Lorraine L. Babb, Lisa Bass, Stas Gawronski, Kathie Jacobson, and Sally McElwain.
The reading is free. CLICK HERE to register in advance. We hope to see you there.
Starting Saturday April 29, I’ll be teaching another session of my special six-week class Online Writing About Childhood through The Writers Studio.
Your personal memories of growing up can be a treasure trove of ideas for stories and poems and memoir pieces. This class will show you techniques to manage your personal material and bring it to life. (NOTE: For those who have already taken this class, I’m working on creating a “sequel” class with all new exercises that I hope will be ready by summer.)
In this class, we examine techniques and voices crafted by celebrated writers of poetry and prose such as Sandra Cisneros, Seamus Heaney, and Ray Bradbury. How did they use imagination and memory to regain a foothold in childhood’s not-so-distant realm, conjuring its wonder, joy, and pain?
Whether working in poetry, prose, or creative nonfiction, can we apply similar voices and techniques to our own unique material? Let’s bring the world and experience of childhood to vibrant life again through our creative work.
For more information, CLICK HERE. Hope to see you in class!
Starting January 28, I’ll be teaching a new session of my six-week class, Online Writing About Childhood.
CLICK HERE to register.
CLASS DESCRIPTION: Childhood from the perspective of an adult writer can seem like “another country,” a strange land where our powers, responsibilities and perceptions were vastly different. And yet it is the place we all come from. And while the lens through which we viewed the world as children may have seemed innocent and magical, our sensibilities were always vulnerable to the hard truths of encroaching adulthood.
In this class, we will examine techniques and voices crafted by celebrated writers of poetry and prose such as Sandra Cisneros, Seamus Heaney, and Ray Bradbury. How did they use imagination and memory to regain a foothold in childhood’s not-so-distant realm, conjuring its wonder, joy, and pain? Whether working in poetry, prose, or creative nonfiction, can we apply similar voices and techniques to our own unique material? Let’s bring the world and experience of childhood to vibrant life again through our creative work.
This class is open to all writers of poetry and prose, including new and returning Writers Studio students. Each week, students write a two-page exercise based on the week’s model. Then, during a two-hour, live Google Meet session, students present their work and receive feedback from their fellow classmates and from the teacher. The last fifteen minutes of the class are spent reading and discussing the following week’s model, using the Writers Studio method of analyzing persona and narrative technique. The Google Meet sessions are not recorded.
Sign up soon before the class fills up.
Write Yourself Sane 