Lyzette Wanzer, MFA

This in-person workshop is open to writers who are considering applications for—or wish to learn about—creative writing grants, fellowships, and residencies. This six-week workshop will cover:

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• The best places to locate opportunities. You'll visit and conduct on several trustworthy websites offering the most lucrative funding.
• The dreaded Project Statement, Work Plan, or Goals and Objectives question. Finish the workshop with a revised draft.
• How to demonstrate a rising trajectory, remembering that most people who are awarded grants are on their way up, not already there.
• How to craft clear, concise personal or artist statements. Leave this class with a completed draft in hand!
• Why the marketing angle is so important.
• Creating an effective literary resume. You'll have a new professionally formatted one at the end of class!

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Open to writers of all genres. Reserve your seat now. Enrollment is limited.

** SOLD OUT **

Writers, it's time to set aside the bevy of excuses about why you're not sending your work out to journals, newspapers, magazines, and contests. In this boot camp-style workshop, you'll focus on submitting a maximum of two short stories, articles, essays, and/or creative nonfiction pieces to 20 markets in just six weeks (poets should be prepared to submit a group of three to five poems.) In a safe, supportive community, you'll begin by learning proper submission etiquette and protocol, avoiding pitfalls that mark you as an amateur.

• Learn where to locate legitimate, respectable markets
• Become proficient in navigating the publication landscape
• Get practical tips on formatting submissions that look professional
• Find out what the most popular submission platforms are and how they make your life easier
• Write your author bio
• Create a Research Collection Sheet to identify individualized markets
• Select and use a professional submission tracker

This workshop is designed for committed writers who have one or two finished, polished pieces (three to five
pieces for poets) of 5,000 words or less that are ready to send out for publication. Register at https://geminiink.org/classes

The Muses & Melanin Fellowship for California Black Women Creative Writers is a supportive, virtual, fully funded eight-month cohort-based professional development program for 30 talented California African American, Afro Latina, and multiracial women creative writers of the African diaspora who aspire to become professional authors. The fellowship is designed for women who do not yet have a lengthy list of publishing credits, are not under a publishing contract, do not have literary agent representation, and do not have a doctoral degree in English, Creative Writing, or Literature (a Master's degree in these subjects is fine, such as an MFA or MA). A Bachelor's degree is required.

Participants complete a comprehensive learning and support curriculum that equips them with the strategies, tools, and knowledge they need to transition from creative writing students or hobbyists to professional authors. The fellowship launches attendees into the literary profession with a series of professional development workshops, writing workshops, and co-working sessions. After writing an article, personal essay, or paper in professional manuscript format, fellows will submit their work to publications, conferences, and contests during the last four months of the program.

Learn more details about the Fellowship Program and apply at https://www.cfplist.com/CFP/41747

This seminar is geared for writers who want to apply for literary grants and fellowships to support a creative writing project. The tools you need for this level of monetary support are considerable and critically important. We'll discuss how to locate legitimate funding opportunities, application strategies, and how best to position yourself to land one. Enroll at https://grubstreet.org/seminar/applying-for-grants-residencies-fellowships-undefined

As a writer in the twenty-first century, you will need some incarnation of an artist statement for grant, fellowship, and other funding applications; your residency applications; and your author website. The statement is your opportunity to demonstrate that you are a thoughtful, deliberate writer who takes their literary career seriously. In this class, we'll read statement examples, learn how vetting committees use them, and then craft, workshop, and revise several drafts of your own statement until it is ready to impress! This workshop is open to writers of all genres, including fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, prose writing, essays, and graphic novels. Registration is now open!

** SOLD OUT **

This professional development workshop, especially geared for creative writers of color, is an empowering, vital asset addressing the nuts and bolts of producing a sustainable literary career. Becoming a professional writer requires just as much work outside of the studio as within it. If you are a serious, committed writer of color invested in developing yourself as a professional, this workshop is for you. We will cover how to market yourself as a professional author, how to create industry-standard marketing materials such as your literary resume, author bio, artist statement, and online profiles, where to secure funding to support time off for your projects, how to create and use a literary calendar to open doors of opportunity, and more. You will receive a comprehensive packet of handouts to guide you as you build your career. This class is best suited for digitally savvy participants who maintain a regular writing practice. As we will draft several revisions of the artist statement, as well as write author bios, students should be comfortable sharing work with their classmates.  https://grubstreet.org/findaclass/class/building-a-career-as-a-literary-writer-of-color

In a safe, supportive community, learn how to plan a submissions strategy, create a plan of attack for your work, research markets, and locate the ones that are the best fits for your writing. Begin by learning proper submission etiquette and protocol, avoiding pitfalls that mark you as an amateur and get your submission tossed onto the "No" pile—before editors have even read it. Then we will submit short stories, articles, poems, essays, novel excerpts, and/or creative nonfiction pieces to several markets. It's time to set aside the bevy of excuses about why you're not sending your work out to creative writing journals, magazines, and contests! Register at https://murphywriting.com/workshops/strategic-submission-an-online-workshop

This two-week, six-hour writing bootcamp is open to writers of all genres including fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, songwriting, essays, and graphic novels. As a writer in the 21st century, you will need some incarnation of this statement on your grant, fellowship, and other funding applications, your residency applications, and your author web page. This statement serves as your opportunity to demonstrate that you are a thoughtful, deliberate writer who takes their literary career seriously.

You'll learn how to cast your work in its strongest, most evocative light. You will read several statement examples, learn how vetting committees use them, and then craft, workshop, and revise several drafts of your statement. You will complete a series of writing exercises to generate ideas about how to talk about your work. We'll polish your statement until it is ready for prime time! Reserve your seat at https://wordcrafters.org/craft-your-artist-statement

Did you know that it's possible to sell a book on the strength of a book proposal alone—even if you haven't yet finished writing your book? A book proposal is an equation: a business case married with a marketing plan that you submit to publishers. In this six-week workshop, students will learn the full spectrum of writing a first-draft proposal: what to include, what to leave out, faux pas to avoid, structuring your proposal in a professional format, and how to demonstrate to publishers that you're a serious writer who understands the 21st century publishing landscape. Each week, students will write one draft section of their proposal. They will receive weekly critique on their drafts from the instructor, and they will also workshop some sections with one another in small groups or partners. Students should have a completed or in-progress nonfiction manuscript, and be comfortable using Word, Google Docs, or Scrivener.

Reserve your spot at https://grubstreet.org/findaclass/class/craft-a-winning-nonfiction-book-proposal 

Note: Due to conflicts with the AWP Conference, this class does not meet February 6th.

This workshop offers information, guidance, and strategies for writers ready to present their work on a conference panel, whether virtual or in-person. You will learn how to choose the right writers' conferences, prepare polished submissions, create a conference plan, obtain financial support to attend, practice conference etiquette, and avoid common, costly mistakes in your materials that mark you as an amateur. Open to writers who feel ready to present their work at a professional writers' conference. Register at https://hugohouse.org/product/get-invited-to-read-your-work-at-literary-conferences

This three-hour seminar is geared toward African American, Afro Latina, and multiracial women of the African Diaspora who are interested in a safe, nurturing, intentional space to write, develop, and share their hair stories. For over four hundred years, Black natural hair has been the target of erasure efforts, keeping us in the margins. This workshop explores how writing about one of the still-remaining systemic biases in schools, academia, and corporate America might lead to greater understanding, respect, strength, and a sense of agency.

Poems, essays, short scenes, and hybrid pieces are all welcome. Have your favorite brainstorming materials handy, whether that be that a notebook, journal, sketchbook, or a roll of newsprint or butcher paper. All emotions that surface—anger, sadness, outrage, empowerment—are welcome. Open to all levels of writers from beginning through advanced. Register at https://grubstreet.org/findaclass/class/narrative-healing-writing-our-hair 

This workshop is designed for writers who are thinking of enrolling in a Creative Writing MFA program, but feel intimidated by the application process. Do you fret about how to make your application rise to the top in a stack of fierce competitors? What are the most common pitfalls, and how can you avoid them? You probably know how competitive these programs are and how exacting the admissions requirements can be. Learn to present each aspect of your application in the strongest light, and avoid both the blunders and the omissions that many of your fellow applicants will make. During this workshop, you will complete several drafts of the dreaded "tell us about yourself" statement, compile your literary CV, understand the differences and (often surprising) variations among MFA programs, and consider which program model may be the best fit for you. Though this class is geared for people thinking about or planning to apply to an MFA program in fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry, playwrights and screenwriters are also welcome. Registration is now open at https://grubstreet.org/findaclass/class/ace-your-mfa-application