Don’t Write Alone: Notes from Class

Cover Photo: This photograph shows a hand uplifted to catch the reflection of a rainbow on their palm. The background of the photograph is grey and the vibe reads as pensive and melancholy.
What Does It Mean to Be a Queer Writing Mentor?

For our Education Week series, Atom Atkinson interrogates their teaching experiences and how they learned to write past queer melancholy in the classroom.

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Atom Atkinson
Jan 27, 2022
Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class
Cover Photo: This is a close-up photograph of an ant on a white background. The ant is walking and looks a bit curious, its antennae pointing forward.
Ode for the Ants: A Love Song for My 2021 Generator Students

Have you ever walked into a room of twelve strangers sitting quiet at a long table, bodies poised toward the nervous, generous edge of a year-long wade into manuscript-making?

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Angel Nafis
Dec 09, 2021
Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class
Cover Photo: This photograph is of a classroom of students, most of them sitting at desks and taking notes, with one woman standing up as if talking to a teacher, holding her notebooks to her chest. She has a smile on her face.
The Intimacy of Teaching Creative Writing

Enjoy this conversation between Lynn Steger Strong and Laura Spence-Ash and read novel excerpts from her 12-Month Generator students in this graduation showcase.

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Lynn Steger Strong
Nov 29, 2021
Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class
Cover Photo: This photograph shows members of our 2020 12-Month Poetry Generator graduates at the 2021 NYC Poetry Festival:
What Can a Poetry Collection Do?

Read a conversation with Angel Nafis and Alexis Aceves Garcia and discover poems from our 12-Month Poetry Generator students in this publication showcase.

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Angel Nafis
Nov 04, 2021
Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class
Cover Photo: This photograph shows a gold balloon sign, which reads 'congrats,' blowing gently in an evening breeze
2020 & 2021 Generator Audio Showcase

As part of their graduation showcase, our 12-month generator students have been given the option to read, record, and share an excerpt of their projects.

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Catapult Classes
Jul 16, 2021
Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class
Cover Photo: This photograph shows a laptop open on a desk with a green mug sitting next to it. On the screen, we see blurry faces of people in a video chat meeting.
The Best Books I Read in 2020

The best books I read weren’t reviewed in the ‘Times’ or on hold at the library or stacked in a TBR pile. They were in my inbox.

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Megan Stielstra
Jul 14, 2021
Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class
Cover Photo: This image shows two people sitting next to each other and typing on laptops. It's a close up of their hands and wrists and the vibe is pastel and pleasant.
Books Are Stronger When Written in Community

We write alone, but stories are meant to be shared.

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Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Jun 30, 2021
Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class
Cover Photo: close-up photograph of a pencil, a marker, and several multicolored Post-it notes on a desk, with a laptop in the background and a black notebook in the foreground
Revise Toward Praise, Not Away From Criticism

Revising toward praise gives a writer a direction to go, something to build to instead of something to run from.

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A. E. Osworth
Jun 14, 2021
Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class
Cover Photo: This photograph is mostly out of focus, other than a healthy indoor plant in the right hand corner. Past the plant, we see a laptop open on a table, and its out-of-focus screen shows the panels of a video call.
Making Space for Writing in 2020

A new life can grow inside a book once you realize you’re not making it all for yourself.

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Lynn Steger Strong
Jun 02, 2021
Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class
Cover Photo: This painting show a woman peering through a gold peep hole. We see only her forehead, her eyes, and a small part of her nose.
My Ten Students Finished Their Ten Books—in the Middle of the Pandemic

We don't talk about witnessing when we talk about writing, but I witnessed my students finish their essay collections in a year-long program.

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Chloe Caldwell
Apr 07, 2021
Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class