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. 

Find a Class

Learn more about the Studio

Find Upcoming Classes and Workshops

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Seven Ways to Disrupt Your Poetry
Terese Svoboda
Date: Saturday, April 20, 2019, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Type: Workshop
Genre: Poetry
Registration Closed

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Re-lineate, incorporate, untranslate, narrate, collaborate, investigate and capsize your ailing poem. Participants will look at the work of Brenda Hillman, Sean Singer, Latasha Nevada Diggs, Tusiata Avia, Maureen Seaton/Neil de la Floor/Kristine Snodgrass, Jayy Dodd to illustrate charged ways to reinvigorate stale or unformed material. Please bring a poem that needs resurrection and be prepared to celebrate at its innate genius – and play.
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From Query Letter to Publication: Navigating the Publishing Eco-system
Yi Shun Lai
Date: Saturday, April 27, 2019, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Type: Generative Workshop, Lecture, Workshop
Genre: Agents, Business of Writing, Publishing
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Publishing is a big world, with a lot of intricate moving people—not parts—to talk to and get to know. Before you can navigate it, you need to know the basics: What function each person has on your road to publication. What role you play, and what roles you are expected to play. In this lecture and workshop, we’ll cover the various publishing models (self-publishing, small or indie press publishing, and Big Five publishing) and each of them works. We’ll also work on query letters and cover letters, and craft some working models for you to draw on when you go to write your own.

Publishing Opportunities for Fiction and Nonfiction Writers
Beth Staples
Date: May 1 - June 12, 2019
Type: Online Class
Genre: Agents, Business of Writing, Creative Nonfiction, Editing, Fiction, Publishing
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The goal of this course is to give you a basic understanding of the publishing industry: how it is structured, how to navigate it, and how to make the best choices for your writing life and the life of your books. You are a writer, an artist—the most important thing you can do is focus on your work. But when the time comes to bring your writing to an audience, a host of other skills and knowledge come into play. While it’s true that the publishing world exists to support and promote art, it is also a business; agents, editors, and publishers must be mindful of the market and of money.

Revising Your Novel
Corey Ann Haydu
Date: May 1 - Jun 5, 2019
Type: Online Class
Genre: Crime Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Genre Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mixed Genre, Novels, Science Fiction, Young Adult Literature
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Through video lectures, activities, discussions, video conferences, peer reviews, and direct feedback from your instructor, you will learn new tools and methods for tackling a deep and intensive revision, gain knowledge on how to work with edit letters from publishing professionals, leave this course with revised pages from your own novel, and create a solid plan for moving forward to complete a full revision.

Wild Transformations: Vital Secrets for Creating Compelling Narratives
Todd Mitchell
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2019, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Type: Generative Workshop, Workshop
Genre: Fiction, Novels, Short Stories
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Looking to create a story or character that leaves your reader wanting more? Learn the necessities of constructing compelling narratives with author and educator, Todd Mitchell. In this interactive workshop, participants will explore effective techniques for increasing conflict, revealing characters, and writing stories that readers (and editors) won't be able to put down. Topics will include:

We Cannot Look Away: Exploring a Social Conscience Through Writing
Stella Pope Duarte
Date: Saturday, June 15, 2019, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Type: Generative Workshop, Workshop
Genre: Human Rights, Mixed Genre, Research, Social Justice, Social Practice, Therapeutic Practice, Women's Studies
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When confronting a tragedy, we might ask ourselves several questions: What is going on over there? How can this be happening? Why doesn't someone do something? These are questions often asked by writers who look at society with an eye for tackling tough issues and standing up for what is right. In this course, writers will explore society’s dark side.
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Built Environments: The Craft of Formal Innovation
Saretta Morgan
Date: July 23 - August 13, 2019, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Type: Generative Workshop, Workshop
Genre: Creative Nonfiction, Experimental, Fiction, Hybrid, Poetry
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We experience our lives through form. The layout of a house, the format of a letter, or the etiquette of public interaction. When these forms shift, we are forced to take notice. In this cross-genre writing studio, we will examine how language and narrative develop differently according to structural decisions crafted by the author. Participants will explore how voice, themes and images emerge through attention to life’s many architectures, and experiment with new narrative and poetic forms based on their own unique personal experiences and close readings of a range of texts.