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There is no fee to come to the workshop once to try it out -- give Carol a call at (413) 584-7080 to learn when the next 10-week Thursday series will begin. Sessions meet at 16 Vernon Street, Northampton, MA (6:30 – 9:30 PM).  Enrollment is limited to twelve.

Now offering online enrollment and payment for workshops!  

Currently, I write fiction, memoir, dramatic dialogues and essays (see note below), and I love working among writers using these and other forms: non-fiction, poetry, songs, plays.  Writers in this workshop are encouraged to continue with any projects already in progress, and also to experiment, sketch, try new forms.  Participants vary in educational background, amount of writing experience, age, and culture.  We celebrate variety.  Because this is not an academic writing class, competition has no role, and we strive to create an atmosphere of caring and support in which to work.  Writing is an act which can make us vulnerable, so we are careful and thoughtful in managing fears and blocks to the creative process.

Each workshop series is structured to provide time for writing and response.  To begin, at 6:30, I present brief readings and writing exercises as a trigger for exploration.  After about an hour of writing time, participants may then share their work (or not, if privacy is preferred).

When someone wants critical response, he or she gives copies of an edited, typed manuscript to all participants.  Prepare  up to ten pages of prose, or six poems,  and consider including a question about what elements you want readers to focus on for commentary.  A week or two later we discuss the manuscript in the workshop, and copies are returned to the writer with written comments.  In addition, workshop participants may request one private consultation during each ten-week series.

Workshop Leader
Born and raised in Northampton, Carol Edelstein is a writer, editor and psychotherapist.  She began writing at the age of eight, and never likes to throw anything away.  She has published a chapbook of prose poems, 36 Questions, two books of poetry (The World Is Round, Amherst Writers and Artists’ Pressc.1994 and The Disappearing Letters Perugia Press, c. 2005.  Her poems, stories and essays have appeared in a number of literary magazines and anthologies, and she is the founder/organizer of the reading series "A Gallery of Readers." She has been leading the Thursday night workshop since September of 1988. 

Registration:  occurs prior to each ten-week series, or when an opening occurs.  Participants wishing to re-enroll will have first priority over those on the waiting list.

Fees:
There is no fee to come to the workshop once to try it out--give Carol a call at (413) 584-7080 or email caroledelstein[at]galleryofreaders.org to arrange a visit.
Fee is $250.00 per ten-week series. (Substitutes will pay $25.00 per meeting).