The Adirondack Center for Writing (ACW) is offering six online writing classes this winter.

Classes include five, 5-week online writing classes – poetry, fiction, nonfiction, comedy, and performance – and a one-time seminar on how and where to submit your work for publication. Every class offers one-on-one feedback from talented writers and teachers, plus the opportunity to grow as a writer in the constructive, supportive company of others.

“This winter, no matter what you write, where you live or whether you even consider yourself a ‘writer’ yet, we’ve got something for you,” said ACW Program Manager Tyler Barton. “In 2025, ACW is taking a more holistic approach with our online class offerings. This means we’ve got more classes than ever before, and we’re reaching out to a wider range of writers with classes that go beyond the standard genres of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Due to the popularity of our comedy writing workshop at the Kickass Writers Festival, we added a humor writing course led by frequent New Yorker contributor Bryn Durgin, as well as a class on writing monologues and one-off performances.

Classes are available on a pay-what-you-can sliding scale of $50–$250. Learn more and register at adirondackcenterforwriting.org/events.

“We want to help writers understand what they can do with their work when they’ve finished revising it,” said Nathalie Thill, ACW’s Executive Director. “That’s why we are also offering a ‘Submitting Seminar’ focused on the best practices and effective strategies for getting your work out into magazines and other publications. And for anyone who’s not feeling ready to take on a 5-week commitment, we have a drop-in workshop on the basics of creative writing here at ACW (and on Zoom) on Wednesday, Jan. 15 with Plattsburg-based novelist and film-maker, Julie Canepa.”

Class descriptions and instructor bios

Go Off-Kilter – writing short, fabulist fiction with Moriah Hampton

This course will familiarize students with fabulism – fiction that is grounded in realism, but shoots off in fantastic, odd or horrific directions.

Moriah Hampton is a graduate of SUNY-Buffalo’s English doctoral program with concentrations in Modernist Literature and Critical Theory, Moriah Hampton teaches in the Writing and Critical Inquiry Program and Honors College at SUNY-Albany, including classes on Metamorphosis Tales and Short Fabulist Fiction. Her fiction, poetry, photography, and critical writing have appeared or are forthcoming in Ponder Review, The Coachella Review, Hamilton Stone Review, Poetry South, Route 7 Review, Gargoyle Magazine, the quint and elsewhere. Her photographs have appeared as cover art for Typehouse Literary Magazine and Wildroof Journal and in group exhibits at Artworks Gallery Workshop 13, Arts Center East, Main Street Arts, and elsewhere.

You Do Not Have to Be Good – how to write and read poems with generosity with Devin Gael Kelly

In this five-week class, students will take an expansive and holistic approach to engaging with poetry and crafting their own.

Devin Gael Kelly is a writer and high school teacher in New York City. He writes the newsletter Ordinary Plots and his work has been published in Longreads, The Guardian, Redivider, DIAGRAM, The Year’s Best Sportswriting, and more. He is the author of two books of poetry, and his first novel, Pilgrims, is forthcoming in 2025.

All Roads Lead Home – how hometowns inspire essays with Athena Dixon

Students will use a variety of creative writing methods and techniques to explore the memories, perceptions, and experiences of their own hometown.

Athena Dixon is the author of essay collections The Incredible Shrinking Woman and The Loneliness Files and her work appears in publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, Shenandoah, Grub Street, Narratively and Lit Hub among others. She is a Consulting Editor for Fourth Genre and the Nonfiction/Hybrid Editor for Split/Lip Press.

The Fundamentals of Funny – a how-to for humor writing with Bryn Durgin

Whether you’re an aspiring humorist or just curious about the craft, this five-session workshop is open to participants of all experience levels. Students will explore satire, parody, essays, memoirs and short fiction.

A writer and humorist living in Sarasota, FL., Bryn Durgin is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, whose work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times. She is the Director of Programming for an independent bookstore where she runs the popular Banned Book Club (which is no laughing matter). A certified Master Gardener and a Blue Butterfly Family Grief Program volunteer, she is also a Featured Storyteller with The Moth’s Mainstage.

Exit, Pursued by Bear – writing drama, plays, and performance with Syr Beker

In this class, students will approach play-writing from an intuitive and playful space to discover how writing for the stage can enrich our writing across genres.

Syr Beker is a playwright and the co-founder of Queer Cat Productions, a performing arts company specializing in immersive art experiences that leave our audiences more connected. Beker has co-written, produced, and directed plays and immersive experiences since 2015.

Submitting Seminar – how and where to publish your writing with Shira Dentz

During this three hour seminar, you’ll learn the basics about how to submit work to literary magazines, best practices for making sure your work is considered and suggestions for magazines, journals, and websites that might be the perfect home for your writing.

Shira Dentz is the author of five books including SISYPHUSINA (PANK Books and soon to be republished by Astrophil Press), winner of the Nassar Prize 2021, door of thin skins (CavanKerry), the sun a blazing zero (Lavender Ink), black seeds on a white dish (Shearsman, UK) and how do i net thee (Salmon Poetry, Ireland), a National Poetry Series finalist, as well as two chapbooks including FLOUNDERS (Essay Press). Shira’s poetry, hybrid and visual writing, nonfiction, criticism, and conversations have been featured in Poetry, American Poetry Review, Iowa Review, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, Pleiades, The Rumpus, Seneca Review, Gulf Coast, Brooklyn Rail, Cincinnati Review, FIELD, jubilat, Black Warrior Review, Denver Quarterly, Colorado Review, Lana Turner, VOLT, New American Writing, Quarter After Eight, Idaho Review, Apartment, Annulet, The Rumpus, Diagram, NPR, Verse Daily, Poetry Daily, The Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day Series (Poets.org) and The Poetry Society of America and The Poetry Foundation websites.

The Adirondack Center for Writing has been bringing people and words together for 25 years through provocative events and meaningful programs. For more information about ACW, visit adirondackcenterforwriting.org or follow @adkctr4writing on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.