Don’t Write Alone: Notes from Class

How Ambiguous Endings Lure Us In

Ambiguity in fiction, when done well, is not an escape hatch for the noncommittal writer. It’s an articulation of something otherwise impossible to articulate.

Dec 05, 2022
What, Exactly, Is Queer Literature?

Once I gave queer authors the keys and stopped worrying about what, exactly, queer literature meant, my students’ work taught me something about what queer literature actually is: a lens on the world.

Nov 30, 2022
Najya Williams Believes Language Is a Place of Struggle and Resistance

In this interview, Catapult’s head instructor, Gabrielle Bellot, talks with instructor Najya Williams about Black resistance, her literary inspirations, and exploring nontraditional forms.

Oct 25, 2022
Javier Sinay Believes We Have to Make Our Stories More Complex

In this interview, Catapult’s head instructor, Gabrielle Bellot, talks with instructor Javier Sinay about a Latin American literary genre called “crónica.”

Oct 20, 2022
How Do You Become a Writer?

For our Application Week series, Jared Klegar tells us about pursuing a writing path while in college—and how to be an aspiring writer is to be caught up in a maelstrom of contradictory advice.

Aug 18, 2022
A Fully Funded MFA Doesn’t Mean Financial Security

As part of our Application Week series, Katerina Ivanov Prado writes about financial insecurity while pursuing her MFA, community, and resilience.

What Does Writing Mean to the Next Generation?

Seven high-school students reflect on the power of words in our cultural and political moment.

Whose Voices Get Heard in a Writing Workshop?

In my MFA, the people who spoke the most were praised for their intelligence. But the pressure to participate isn’t helpful for every student.

Apr 13, 2022
Chelsea T. Hicks Wants More Indigenous Poets to Write from Their Own Languages

In this interview, Catapult’s head instructor, Gabrielle Bellot, talks with instructor Chelsea T. Hicks about Indigenous poetry, colonialism, languages, the process of “rematriation,” and more.

Mar 07, 2022
What Does It Mean to Be a Queer Writing Mentor?

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

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?

Dec 09, 2021
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.

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.

Nov 04, 2021
Writers Who Read: A Conversation on Body Horror with Julian K. Jarboe

“If you’re interested in responding to difference and change in a fantastic way, body horror fiction can be a great way to push through the stereotypical or conventional roles of monstrosity.”

Oct 14, 2021
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.

Jul 16, 2021
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.

Jul 14, 2021
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.

Jun 14, 2021
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.

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.

Apr 07, 2021