The Workshop prides itself on being a safe, nurturing space for writers of all levels and ethnicities to develop artistically and professionally. Novelists Min Jin Lee, Ed Lin, and Monique Truong first began to find their ways as writers via our writing workshops and literary enrichment programs. Our writing workshops are affordable and intimate, a space where one builds friendships that often last longer than the duration of the class. Former Poet Laureate of Queens, Ishle Yi Park has said, "The Workshop nurtured and raised me. A home away from home, a nest, a gathering place, a refuge, a resource. Word."

How to Sign up for a Creative Writing Workshop

(1) If you're interested in signing up for a writing workshop, you can do so either at the website for that specific workshop (see below) or by calling us at (212) 494.0061. We want you to be able to try out a class to see if you like it, so your credit card will be charged a non-refundable deposit for the first class only. (For one-day sessions, you will pay the full price of the session.) Unless otherwise noted, workshops are at The Asian American Writers' Workshop, 16 W. 32nd Street, 10th fl.

(2) Assuming you like the class, we'll then charge you for the remainder of the fee for the course.

- If you paid via telephone, your credit card will be charged the remainder of the fee for the course, unless you bring an alternative form of payment (cash or check) on the first day of class.

- If you paid online, please bring your preferred form of payment to the first class (credit card, cash, or check).

In either case, receipts will be given to you at the second session. Should you decide to drop the class, please notify us via telephone by 7pm on the business day following the first class. There are no refunds for classes missed voluntarily. We hope you enjoy the class!

Screenwriting Master Class with Eric Byler
Saturday, June 6, 1-5pm

Although independent films often avoid the genre tropes found in popcorn movies, there is a method to the madness of writing an art film. Led by Asian American independent film pioneer Eric Byler, this workshop will begin with the framework and the orthodoxy for writing screenplays in general -- such as the three act structure made famous by Syd Field -- and then move on to specific techniques for bringing forth the poet inside you who wants to tell a story visually.

Those who register for the workshop will be asked to bring a 2-page scene they have written, and asked to read a screenplay, which will be emailed to them.

Eric Byler was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his debut feature Charlotte Sometimes hailed by film critic Roger Ebert as a breakthrough for Asian American filmmakers. His films have won 12 international film festival awards, and paved the way for a new generation of post-identity Asian American filmmakers.

Eric's Charlotte Sometimes semi-sequel TRE won the Special Jury Award at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival before being released theatrically by Cinema Libre Studio. His third film Americanese won the Audience Award and the Special Jury Award at the South by Southwest Film Festival and was acquired by IFC Films.

Eric and his partner Annabel Park have reached millions of viewers with their YouTube videos about Asian American political empowerment, civil rights, and human rights issues. They have recently been featured by CNN and the Washington Post for their experimental YouTube documentary 9500Liberty, soon to be a feature length documentary about the politicization of the immigration issue in Northern Virginia. Eric and Annabel have been invited to speak at colleges and universities in Asia and around the United States, and are known for their grassroots/netroots activism during the 2008 Presidential race in support of Barack Obama , and during the 2006 Virginia Senate race in support of Jim Webb

$90 General / $80 Members

Poetry Workshop
Wednesdays, June 10-July 15, 6:30-8:30pm (6 Sessions)
STOP MAKING SENSE! with Luis H. Francia

Mean without meaning to. Chance upon delight, mystery, paradox, and other linguistic revelations as, given free rein, words can lead you to broad and unexpected spaces/places. In approaching the writing of a poem, this workshop emphasizes play, lyricism, and an openness unbeholden to narrative. Worry not about the latter: its texts are indelibly written in the everyday. Worry not, therefore, about your grandmother, your sexuality, your roots. They will never leave you.

For those seriously beginning to write poetry. Limited to twelve participants.

Luis H. Francia's poetry collections include Museum of Absences and The Arctic Archipelago and Other Poems. His semiautobiographical Eye of the Fish: A Personal Archipelago won both the 2002 PEN Center Open Book and The 2002 Asian American Literary Award. His poetry theater piece, The Beauty of Ghosts, premiered at Topaz Arts in 2007. He edited Brown River, White Ocean: An Anthology of Twentieth Century Philippine Literature in English, and is co-editor of Flippin': Filipinos on America, and Vestiges of War: The Philippine-American War and the Aftermath of an Imperial Dream, 1899-1999. He is the author of the Introduction to Penguin Classic's Doveglion: Collected Poems by José Garcia Villa. He teaches at New York University's Asian/Pacific/American Studies program.

$225 General / $200 Members; $40.50 General Deposit/ $36 Member Deposit

Working on a project you want to get published? Few agents these days accept unsolicited manuscripts, so the Workshop is proud to offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bypass the slush pile. Sign-up for a personalized consultation with a major editor or agent on your fiction or nonfiction manuscript. You'll receive direct feedback on your project and the chance to connect with a publishing professional. Past writers who have participated in Speed Dating! have retained an agent on the basis of their consultation.

To participate

(1) Email your submission (we are accepting short story manuscripts and fiction and nonfiction book chapters with 25-page, double-spaced limit) to desk@aaww.org. Include your name, contact information, and a short bio. Write "Speed Dating," your name, and your category (fiction or nonfiction) in the subject line. Please indicate whether you would like to speak to an editor, an agent, or both, in which case you will pay two consultation fees.

Deadline to submit is Wednesday, June 3rd, but we encourage you to submit your piece earlier, both to ensure you'll have a space and to give the agent or editor time to read your work.

(2) If your submission is chosen, the Workshop will forward it to the appropriate editor or agent who will read your work in advance and be prepared to offer personal feedback. We will email you to confirm your time slot and receive payment, which is due upon acceptance.

(3) Come on time to your assigned half-hour meeting and ask whatever you want. If you are unable to attend the event in person, but would like to participate, we will be accepting phone appointments also.

Iris Blasi (Union Square Press)
Alexis Gargagliano (Scribner)
Alex Glass (Trident Media Group, LLC)
Juliet Grames (The Overlook Press)
Ayesha Pande (Collins Literary)
Peter Steinberg (The Peter Steinberg Agency)
Diana Szu (St. Martins)
Eva Talmadge (Emma Sweeney Agency)
Renee Zuckerbrot (Rennee Zuckerbrot Literary Agency)

$55 General / $50 Members

Fiction Workshop
Tuesdays, June 23-July 28, 7-9pm (6 Sessions)
The Great American Short Story with Rajesh Parameswaran

This course is for those interested in reading short works by major American writers, as well as for those interested in writing their own short stories. Because a focused engagement with literature enriches a writer's craft and expands her sense of what is possible, the workshop will be roughly equal parts literature course and writing workshop. We will examine how themes of race and identity have endured and evolved over the last two hundred years of American literature. We will also investigate how this tradition might inform your own practice as writers. Students will read and critique each other's work, with the goal of developing a critical eye to guide their own writing.

For writers of all levels. Limited to twelve participants.

Rajesh Parameswaran's short stories have appeared in Best American Magazine Writing, McSweeney's Quarterly, Zoetrope: All-Story, and elsewhere. His story in McSweeney's was one of three for which the magazine won the 2007 National Magazine Award for fiction. He has been awarded residencies at the MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, and Yaddo, and he was the 2007 Philip Roth Creative Writing Resident at Bucknell University.

$225 General / $200 Members; $40.50 General Deposit / $35 Member Deposit

Wednesday, July 22, 7-10pm
Flash Fiction Writing Workshop with Tara L. Masih

Want to write fiction but struggling to get past the first page? Flash fiction, defined as a short story under 1000 words, is a hot new genre with increasing publication markets in print and online. You'll learn about the history of the short short story through lecture, fun and highly effective writing exercises, and reading materials, including magazine excerpts and stories by Asian master writers Rabindranath Tagore, Yasunari Kawabata, and Yukio Mishima. Let go of the constraints of writing longer prose, and gain a better understanding of word choice, scene setting, pacing, self-editing, and opening and closing, which will help you in every genre. The next day, workshop participants will have their pieces read by professional actors at our Flash Fiction reading, where the audience will vote on their favorite story.

Open to writers of all levels.

Tara L. Masih is editor of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction: Tips from Editors, Teachers, and Writers in the Field. In addition to writing award-winning flash fiction, she has published two small chapbooks with The Feral Press, along with Poet's Farthing Cards featuring her flash. She is the intercultural essay judge for the annual Soul-Making Literary Contest, and her essays on race and culture were often featured in The Indian American and Masala magazines. You can find more info at www.taramasih.com

$40 General / $35 Members

Tues July 14, 21 & 28, Thurs July 16, 23 & 30, 6:30-8pm (6 Sessions)
Writing In Chinatown: All Genre Workshop with Henry Chang

Having trouble generating new material? Join Henry Chang, a New York Times-praised novelist and Chinatown native, for a 'total immersion' creative approach to voice, characterization, and setting. In this class, we will write at various locations throughout Chinatown, which will serve as sites of inspiration, incorporated in prompts, story brainstorms and various writing exercises to get your creative juices flowing. Be prepared to open up creative channels you didn't realize existed while New York City's Chinatown is your muse. Fiction writers, poets and nonfiction writers are welcome.

For writers of all levels and genres.

Henry Chang is the author of Chinatown Beat and The Year of the Dog. The Chicago Sun-Times called The Year of The Dog "a worthy debut" and praised Chang's ability to write "with stark power and authority, covering the territory as only an insider can. He evokes the spirit, sights, smells and language of his setting in compelling fashion." Chang's follow-up, Chinatown Beat, is a novel with a "cool, measured style" that ... "should make the locals sit up and gasp" (New York Times Book Review). Read about Chang's thoughts on Chinatown and the literary imagination in this New York Times story.

Location TBA