Catapult | Don't Write Alone

Cover Photo: The photograph shows a person standing in the middle of a misty field. There are trees visible on the far side, but just barely. The tone of the photo is cool and mysterious.

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.

Afsheen Farhadi

Dec 05, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class

Cover Photo: This photograph shows a person standing on a large rock at the edge of the ocean, waves crashing below them.

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.

A. E. Osworth

Nov 30, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class

Cover Photo: This header image is a photograph of the writer Najya Williams next to the cover of her book 'Cotton'

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.

Gabrielle Bellot

Oct 25, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class

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.”

Gabrielle Bellot

Oct 20, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class

Cover Photo: This photographs a young woman leaning against a bright orange wall. The picture is closely cropped--we do not see her face or most of her body, just her yellow-pained fingernails holding a copy of the New York Times up while she peruses the newspaper.

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.

Jared Klegar

Aug 18, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class

Cover Photo: An image of some bills 100 dollar bills on fire

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.

Katerina Ivanov Prado

Aug 15, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class

Cover Photo: A photograph of a classroom in which a group of high school–aged students sit at desks in various poses of writing and thought.

What Does Writing Mean to the Next Generation?

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

Erin Crosby-Eckstine

Jul 21, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class

Cover Photo: A black-and-white photograph of a person sitting at the end of a long, empty seminar table with their head in their hands. They are backlit by an open window.

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.

Kiley Bense

Apr 13, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class

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.

Gabrielle Bellot

Mar 07, 2022

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 Evie Atkinson interrogates her teaching experiences and how she learned to write past queer melancholy in the classroom.

Atom Evie 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?

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.

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.

Angel Nafis

Nov 04, 2021

Don’t Write Alone | Notes From Class

Cover Photo: This header is a picture of the author Julian K. Jarboe next to the cover of their book, EVERYONE ON THE MOON. In the center, we see a stamp that reads "writers who read," which is being written onto a notebook. The other hand of this writer holds a pair of glasses.

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.”

Gabrielle Bellot

Oct 14, 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.