11-Week Courses

Advanced Novel Workshop
Instructor: Patricia Dunn and Jimin Han
Fridays, 10 a.m. – noon
February 15 - April 26
11 Sessions, $775*

*The Advanced Novel class is capped at 8 students. Enrollment requires permission of the instructors.

This course is for more experienced writers in the process of revising a completed manuscript or close to completing a first draft. Students should be familiar with the craft of the novel and be prepared to read and discuss their work, and the work of their classmates, in terms of language, story, dialogue, theme, character development, dramatic arc, plot, structure, setting, and other craft issues essential to a successful novel. This course will also give you the opportunity to prepare your novel for the marketplace.

Online registration is NOT available for this class, and all available spaces for spring of 2013 have been taken. If you would like to be considered for this workshop in the future, please contact Katrina at   kbrown1@sarahlawrence.edu. Enrollment in this class is contingent upon instructor approval.

Patricia Dunn earned her MFA in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Her writing has appeared in Global City Review, Salon.com, Women’s eNews, The Christian Science Monitor, The Village Voice, The Nation, and L.A. Weekly. Her work has been anthologized in Stories of Illness and Healing: Women Write Their Bodies; Progressive Muslim Identities: Personal Stories from the U.S. and Canada; and, most recently, in the bestselling anthology, Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women. Her debut novel, Rebels by Accident, is scheduled for release in the fall of 2012.

Jimin Han received her BA from Cornell University and her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. Her work can be found in The Nuyorasian Anthology, Global City Review, The Asian American Pacific Journal, “Weekend America” on NPR, Koreanamericanstory.org, and eChook's memoir app, among others. Follow her tweets @jiminhanwriter and her blog at Tumblr.com/blog/notesfromstonebarn.

The Art of the Memoir (Advanced)
Instructor: Joelle Sander
Mondays, 10 a.m. – noon
February 11 - April 22
11 Sessions, $575*

*Permission of the instructor is required to register. 

Many people have personal experiences they would like to write about. Converting these experiences into art, however, requires honing critical skills: the conveyance of insight into one’s experience, so that a piece isn’t merely anecdotal; writing effectively using fresh, clear language; learning how to organize a work; finding an appropriate narrator’s voice; developing characters and dialogue; and learning to use particulars rather than generalities. Students will be asked to write every other week, to read their work out loud, and to offer constructive comments about the work of other students. Readings by other writers will also be assigned.

Online registration is not available for this class, and all available spaces have been taken for Spring 2013. Please email kbrown1@sarahlawrence.edu if you would like to inquire about future space.

Joelle Sander received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College and MA from New York University. She served as associate director of the Center for Continuing Education for 20 years, and her book, Before Their Time: Four Generations of Teenage Mothers, won the Janus Korchak Award for best adult book about children. Her writing frequently focuses on adolescent fathers, mothers, and pregnancy, and her articles have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, Parents Magazine, and Parenting.