Classes and workshops for the community
Wherever you are, we're here to meet you
The Piper Writers Studio (PWS) offers creative writing classes, workshops, and other educational opportunities for writers of all backgrounds, genres, and levels of experience.
Our classes are intended for and open to the public. You do not need to be an ASU student to attend. Class sizes are kept small—usually between 8 and 16 students—in order to maximize the amount of instruction and to develop closer relationships between students, faculty, and the class as a whole. Individual classes range from single afternoons to multiple weeks. Classes are taught by local and visiting faculty and are offered at various times throughout the year. While individual costs vary depending upon the content and duration of the course, classes usually cost between $39-$250, with a number of discounts available for various sectors of the community.
Fall workshops and classes
Three Saturdays | September 20, 27, and October 4 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Phoenix Time
Writers Wellness Workshop
In-person with Jaime Glasser
The Writer’s Wellness Workshop offers 3 mini-two-hour-retreats with different topics. Each illustrates using mindfulness to affirm creativity and provides tools to support increased joy and ease in writing, even on difficult days.
All writers at any experience level and of all genres are welcome. Both poets and prose authors will benefit from the mindfulness exercises and generative writing during each session. Sharing with a small group of peers will enhance the individual experience as well as empathy for each other’s similar challenges.
Sessions include introductions, short grounding, guided meditations and movement for all abilities, lessons on the topic, prompts to discover personal relationship to the subjects, short generative exercises, optional small support circles, group discoveries, new tools to facilitate the week’s writing, and a closing guided meditation.
What to expect at a glance:
- Learn to address hindrances to writing and creativity without judgement
- Gain simple mindfulness tools to support increased joy and ease in writing, even on difficult days
- Learn how to use mindfulness to rediscover and support your unique voice
Jaime Glasser is an artist, veterinarian, pet hospice consultant, and certified mindfulness meditation teacher who writes. Mesa, Arizona, is home with her family of cats and dogs. She is writing a memoir with tales of her patients. Her storytelling is poignant and will make you laugh out loud.
She writes flash and short-form memoirs, is active in the Narratively community, and has two publications on Substack. Between Breaths: A Writer’s Pause is home to her personal, often amusing essays, and The Gift of Love Journals is on the less-funny topic of our pets as teachers to accept death and introducing animal hospice care. She has been writing a memoir for too long, submitting many essays, teaching mindfulness for writers, and MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction).
She graduated from high school, university, art school, veterinary school, and most recently MMTCP (Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification), an ironically intensive two-year program under Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield.
Jaime is also a lifelong artist, community instigator, built giant Spirographs, and a mobile photography/digital art pioneer. She is a proud founder of the Mesa Urban Garden, the International Association of Animal Hospice and Palliative Care, the Millet House Community Art Gallery, and a recovering triathlete.
Two Thursdays | October 30 and November 6 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm Phoenix Time
Bilingual Creative Writing
Virtual with Ofelia Montelongo
In this bilingual creative writing workshop, students will explore how code-switching can make stories and poems more authentic and unique. They will write in two or more languages and experiment with blending them in their work. The class will be generative, with students creating new pieces each week. We will also read authors such as José Olivarez, Julián Delgado Lopera, Elizabeth Acevedo, Sandra Cisneros, and Gloria Muñoz for inspiration and craft discussion.
What to expect at a glance:
- New pieces of writing
- A deep understanding of contemporary bilingual poetry
- Techniques for implementing code-switching in your own work
Ofelia Montelongo is a bilingual writer from Mexico. She has an MBA in Strategic Leadership & an MA in Latin American Literature. Her work has been published in The Rumpus, Latino Book Review, Los Acentos Review, and elsewhere. She was the editor of the Latine Monsters issue at Barrelhouse. She is a PEN/Faulkner writer in residence, a Macondista & a PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow. Tin House, VONA, Key West Seminar alumna.
Four Mondays | November 3, 10, 17, and 24 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm Phoenix Time
From Fact to Fiction: Writing Compelling Historical Narratives
Virtual with Jen Knox
In an energizing and practical four-session workshop, Jen Knox will guide you through the art of crafting historical fiction that is both rich in accuracy and alive with compelling storytelling. You’ll learn how to organize research and weave it seamlessly into your narrative, creating immersive worlds without overwhelming the reader with facts. We will explore proven methods, narrative techniques, and examples from acclaimed historical novels that strike the perfect balance between authenticity and imagination.
Whether you are beginning a new project, revising a draft, or deepening your current work, this workshop will equip you with tools to create vivid settings, believable characters, and plots that resonate with modern readers while honoring the past. With dedicated time for practice, discussion, and feedback, you will leave each session with both inspiration and actionable steps to move your project forward.
What to expect at a glance:
- Learn strategies for efficient, targeted historical research, while also giving yourself creative freedom to tell the best possible story
- Discover techniques to integrate historical detail naturally into your scenes
- Practice building authentic dialogue and period-accurate settings
Jen Knox is an educator and storyteller who teaches writing, leadership, and meditation. Her first novel, We Arrive Uninvited, won the Steel Toe Books Award, and her second novel, Chaos Magic, was released from Kallisto Gaia Press 2025. She is also the author of The Glass City, which won the Press Americana Prize for Prose. Jen's short fiction can be found in Chicago Tribune, Prose Online, McSweeney's Internet Quarterly, The Saturday Evening Post, and more. She won CutBank’s Montana Prize in Nonfiction for "Disembodied" and the San Miguel Contest for her essay, "Teeth." Jen is the proud recipient of grants from the Greater Columbus Arts Council and the Ohio Arts Council to complete a collection of narrative essays, At Work, which will be released by Cornerstone Press UWSP. www.jenknox.net
Four Tuesdays | November 4, 11, 18, and December 2 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Phoenix Time
Blues Poetry & The Cento
Virtual with María Fernanda CantoMundo Graduate Fellow
Blues poems have many forms. The first half of this poetry workshop considers various forms of the blues poem, both sonically and contextually. To honor the foundational contributions of blues women and femmes in music, generative writing exercises will be shaped by their song lyrics and poetry, alike. For the second half of the workshop, we will write “centos,” a poetry form named after the Latin word for garment pieces sewn together to create a patchwork. Writing exercises will specifically echo the African and African American traditions of quilting, also known as Nsaduaso or Kente. Participants will leave with two new poems. For further reading, I recommend one of my favorite books, author Daphne Duval Harrison’s Black Pearls: Blues Queens of the 1920s.
What to expect at a glance:
- A deep understanding of Latin American and African quilting traditions
- A history of the blues poem in all its forms
- Two new poems
María Fernanda (she/hers) writes full time. Her work explores the intimacy of sisterhood, the anchor of intergenerational coexistence, and grief. Awarded The Norma Elia Cantú Award in Creative Writing, María Fernanda has received literary appointments from The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), The Arizona Commission on the Arts, and the DC Commission on the Arts.
A published contributor of the Library of Congress, María Fernanda has appeared as a guest speaker and moderator at MoMa PS1, Lincoln Center, and more. She is the founder of a poetry garden, where Black poets and gardeners discuss their creative and historic connections to gardens.
María Fernanda’s literary works appear in Cheryl Clarke's born in a bed of good lessons inspired by Lucille Clifton, Cave Canem's Dogbytes, and elsewhere. She opened for Nikky Finney as part of an anonymous submission pool. María Fernanda is a Callaloo fellow.
Two Wednesdays | November 5 and 12 @ 5:30 - 7:30 pm Phoenix Time
Potential, Poetry & Portraits: Self-Portrait as Lyrical Exploration
Virtual with Rosebud Ben-Oni CantoMundo Graduate Fellow
How can poets utilize the idea of Self-Portrait both creatively and critically as a means to explore their culture(s), histories and communities? How can the feeling of Belonging in a larger collective sense– those who make up the social fabric of your life– inform and evolve one’s poetry? In this two-day workshop, we will explore the transformative power of poetry, which reveals larger truths stemming from everyday occurrences as well as significant milestones. Touching on themes of family, mythologies and community as gratitude, we will also read and discuss recent work by Robin Coste Lewis, Deborah Paredez, and Ross Gay. During this workshop, you’ll be given writing exercises and poetry prompts, as well as takeaways at the end of the workshop to create new work through self-reflection.
What to expect at a glance:
- New poems
- Poetry prompts and exercises exploring the theme of belonging in one’s community
- Writing exercises to continue your discoveries in self-reflection
Rosebud Ben-Oni is the author of several collections of poetry, including If This Is the Age We End Discovery (March 2021), which won the Alice James Award and was a Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. She has received fellowships and grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, City Artists Corps, Café Royal Cultural Foundation,CantoMundo and Queens Council on the Arts. Her work appears in POETRY, The American Poetry Review, Academy of American Poets’ Tin House, Guernica, Electric Literature, among others. Her poem "Poet Wrestling with Angels in the Dark" was commissioned by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in NYC. In 2022, Paramount commissioned her video essay “My Judaism is a Wild Unplace" for a campaign for Jewish Heritage Month. In 2023, she received a Café Royal Cultural Foundation grant to write The Atomic Sonnets, a full-length poetry collection based on her chapbook 20 Atomic Sonnets (Black Warrior Review, 2020), which she began in honor of the Periodic Table’s 150th Birthday in 2019. In January 2023, she performed at Carnegie Hall on International Holocaust Memorial Day, as part “We Are Here: Songs From The Holocaust," and in the summer of 2023, her poem "When You Are the Arrow of Time" was commissioned by the Museum of Jewish Heritage— A Living Memorial to the Holocaust to accompany Andy Goldsworthy's Garden of Stones exhibit.
Learn more about the Piper Writers Studio
About the Studio
At the Piper Writers Studio, we believe in the power of your words. We believe in your artistic momentum and in how education can transform dreams into realities. We encourage professional development in all areas of creative writing and literary professions for beginning writers to intermediate writers to seasoned authors to those who don’t know they are writers yet. PWS welcomes all levels of learners and seeks to meet you where you are at on your creative journey. We offer high-quality educational experiences and multi-genre learning opportunities in a diverse array of creative writing genres as well as multiple classes on the business of writing. Our faculty are all published writers and skilled teachers of writing.
We provide a listening ear and an open door and are honored to be the place where artists go to further their skills and build their imaginations. We strive to foster authentic creativity and craft, one writer at a time.
Discounts
As part of our continuing efforts to increase access to creative writing education across diverse communities, the Piper Center offers a number of discounts for students, veterans, ASU affiliates, and senior citizens, as well as individuals experiencing economic challenges.
Generally speaking, discounts are between 10% and 15% off each class, and are claimed by entering an ID number or contacting the Piper Center at [email protected] to receive a discount code.
Please note: Discounts are not available for every class. Only one discount code can be used for each class. However, there is no limit to the number of classes for which the discount can be used. The Piper Center reserves the right to ask for further verification of all discounts upon request.
Accessibility
Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing is committed to ensuring that all individuals have fair and equal access to Piper Center events and programs.
All venues are accessible to individuals with mobility challenges, hearing loss, or other forms of disability.
ASL interpreting services, printed versions of presentations, large print handouts, translations, and alternative forms of materials for classes, workshops, or other programs are available with two to three weeks advance notice (upon request).
To request materials or contact the Center with any other accessibility questions or concerns, call the Center directly at 480.965.6018 or send us an email at [email protected].
Teach with us
Teach with Piper
Educating and inspiring our writing community
Interested in teaching a class or workshop? Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing is now accepting proposals for creative writing classes and workshops through the Piper Writers Studio (PWS).
Before you begin your application, be sure to have the following ready (as you won't be able to save and return to your application):
- A brief bio (200 words or less)
- Proposed course title
- Proposed course description (200 words or less)
We will NOT ask you for a CV, writers resume, or list of your publications. Instead we will ask you to provide a short personal statement letting us know why you think you're a good fit to teach with us including what your involvement may currently be in our literary community.
We recognize that filling out an application like this can feel intimidating, especially if you're new to processes like this. To help, we will offer some advice along the way. You can also check out our FAQs or our PWS Instructor Informational Guide.
For other opportunities with Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing, you can apply for a Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference Teaching Fellowship. For more information about course proposals, you can view past classes or contact coodinator for educational programs, [email protected]
Contact
Can't find an answer to your question? Email us!
Can't find an answer to your question? Email our coordinator for educational programs, [email protected] or send a general query to [email protected].
Invest in us
With your support, Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing is able to host free educational opportunities. Give writers from Arizona and the Southwest access to classes and workshops from expert faculty. Help writers of all levels receive the knowledge, training and assistance necessary for their personal, professional and artistic development. Your gifts also ensure excellent free and fair-cost literary programming across our diverse communities. Become an essential part of our community story with your gift to Piper today.
FAQ
The entire registration process can be completed online by following the links above. You will receive a confirmation email once you are registered for the workshop. Registration closes for all workshops at the start of the first session.
Workshops range from $50 to $250.
ASU Students, OLLI Members, and Mirabella residents are eligible for registration discounts of anywhere from 25% to 50% off. Keep an eye out for coupon codes in our monthly newsletter as well. Subscribe here.
All PWS workshops are open to the public!
ASU credit is not awarded for PWS workshops. For-credit writing classes are taught through the ASU Department of English.
Yes, you can. For every 10 instructional hours, you can receive 1 CEU credit. CEU credits require a $30 registration fee in addition to PWS registration costs. Once you’ve signed up for a course, please fill out the CEU Professional Development Form. When you have completed the course, you will receive a certificate via snail-mail confirming your credit hours.
Workshops meet at the Piper Writers House at ASU, local bookstores, and virtually through Zoom.
Class lengths vary. Many of our evening classes meet for 1-2 hours a week. Saturday classes tend to meet between 3-5 hours, allowing participants to explore a topic in depth. Four-week classes are scheduled for two hours each week, on a single night. One-day courses meet for five hours on a Saturday and explore a topic in depth.
Workshops are updated before each new semester. If you would like to receive notices when new workshops are scheduled, please subscribe to our newsletter.
The Piper Center offers registration fee refunds up to 72 hours before the workshop date. A $5 processing fee will be deducted from the refund. We cannot offer refunds within the 72-hour window before the workshop date. Please email Sasha Hawkins, the Piper Center’s Education Coordinator, at [email protected] for more information.