The Virginia G. Piper
Center for Creative Writing

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The Piper Writers Studio

Serving writers of all backgrounds, genres, and levels of experience

Beyond our annual creative writing conference, the Piper Writers Studio is the educational arm of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University, offering creative writing classes, workshops, and other educational opportunities in in-person and online formats for writers of all backgrounds, genres, and levels of experience.

All classes are non-credit, and are intended for and open to the public. You do not need to be an ASU student to attend.

Each student who completes a class receives an electronic certificate. Students also have the opportunity to read at our annual Piper Writers Studio Showcase.  

To learn more about the Piper Writers Studio, you can visit the about page or view upcoming classes below. You can also meet our instructors, view past classes, or even teach a class yourself.

For other educational opportunites, you can learn about our Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference.

For for-credit classes, you can contact the Creative Writing Program at Arizona State University. 

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Find Upcoming Classes and Workshops

Story Starters
Leah Newsom
Date: Monday, August 10, 2020, 5:30 p.m to 7:00 p.m.
Type: Generative Workshop, Workshop
Genre: Fiction, Mixed Genre, Short Stories
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In this ‘creative calisthenics’ course we will explore a variety of ways to start the writing process through prompts, exercises, and avenues of exploration and play unique to your instructor. We will work through the hurdles of starting a story and develop methods to make our own creatively generating exercises. Regardless of the genre you're writing in, this course will provide tools for getting the figurative (or literal) ink on the page.

World Building
Ilona Andrews
Date: Saturday, August 22, 2020, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Type: Generative Workshop, Presentation, Workshop
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
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Fictional characters are a product of their environment and their choices are dictated by their world. This course will explore building a world “from scratch” based on random criteria chosen by the audience. It will cover topics such as how the fictional setting shapes the characters, how to integrate existing mythology and create original mythological elements, and how to develop a cohesive magical theory.

Poetry Workshop
Sean Avery
Date: Mondays, August 24 - 31, 2020, 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Type: Generative Workshop, Workshop
Genre: Poetry
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This class investigates or states the effects of having one's social identity (identities) (mis)represented by a beloved fictional character. Poets like Marlin M. Jenkins, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, and A. Van Jordan, are in conversation with animated television shows, comic-books, and live-action series, expressing how these popular icons influence one's perception of self. Through studying a few of their poems, we explore complicated feelings around projection, identity markers in speculative fiction, and commodification of identity.