Creative Writing Workshops

Creative Writing Workshops at Miami Book Fair are non-credit courses, offered throughout the year, that give aspiring writers the opportunity to receive critique and encouragement from published authors with extensive teaching experience.

*Creative Writing Workshops Refunds Policy
For courses that meet more than three times, full refunds will be given to participants who notify Miami Book Fair by e-mail or fax at least THREE BUSINESS DAYS before the first day of class that they wish to cancel. No refunds will be given once class begins. Allow at least two weeks for refunds to be processed. If a course must be canceled for any reason, you will receive a complete refund.

Upcoming Events

March 2024

Saturday, March 16 @ 1:00 pm
MDC Wolfson Campus

Creative Writing Workshop: Family Stories We (Tell Ourselves We) Can’t Tell with Maud Newton

Saturday, March 16, 2024 – 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. (2 hours) MDC Wolfson Campus Registration: $30 When writing about family, many of us come up against stories we believe we can’t tell. Maybe we worry it’s disloyal to tell difficult secrets. Maybe we’re afraid of embarrassing ourselves. Maybe our family history seems like a jumble, with so many complications and layers it’s hard to know where to begin. Or maybe telling stories about our ancestors seems impossible because we don’t know who our ancestors were or how they lived. …

April 2024

Thursday, April 4 @ 4:00 pm
On Demand (Virtual)

Taller La Divina Comedia con Silvio Mignano

Taller ONLINE: 8 sesiones, los días jueves, de 4:00 a 5:00 pm, hora Miami. Las fechas son: 4, 11, 18 y 25 de abril & 2, 9, 16 y 23 de mayo. Completa este Formulario para inscribirte en el Taller de la Divina comedia. El taller se propone permitir un acercamiento a la Divina Comedia, que Borges consideraba el mejor libro nunca escrito en la historia de la humanidad, no solamente a quien tenga experiencia de la literatura y especialmente de la italiana,…

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Past Events

February 2024

Saturday, February 17 @ 10:00 am
On Demand (Virtual)

Cómo escribir historias góticas en español (y no morir en el intento), con Juan Carlos Chirinos

Taller de creación literaria de 4 semanas con Juan Carlos Chirinos, ONLINE Los sábados febrero 17, 24 y marzo 2, 9. De 10:00 am – 12:00 m (hora de Miami, by 10am) En la mirada de los gatos: cómo escribir, hoy, historias góticas en español y no morir en el intento (ni descubrir el agua tibia.) Un taller que abordará las características góticas de la narrativa fantástica considerada «clásica» y la producida en español en nuestros días, haciendo un breve repaso por algunos de los textos contemporáneos más relevantes,…

October 2023

Tuesday, October 3, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
Miami Book Fair * Miami Dade College
300 NE Second Ave., Miami, FL 33132 United States

Nonfiction Workshop: The Art of Thinginess: Image and Detail as a Path to Meaning with Ella Jacobson

Tuesdays, October 3, 10, 17, 24 (4 weeks)  7:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST (2 hours) In Person, MDC Wolfson Campus In this four-week workshop, we will look at how image and detail can be used to deepen meaning in creative nonfiction. The first session will focus on generating topics from image and detail. The remaining sessions will cover how image and detail can be used to strengthen dialogue, descriptions of setting and place, and characterization.…

September 2023

Saturday, September 30, 2023 @ 1:00 pm
On Demand (Virtual)

Nonfiction Workshop: Family History with Imagination with Maud Newton

This class is sold out. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, please email Alannys Milano at amilano@mdc.edu. September 30, 2023, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. EST (3 hours) Virtual via Zoom (link provided after registering) Registration $65 It’s entirely possible to write factually about complex family history and ancestral harms while making space for creativity. Come explore ways of integrating empiricism, feeling, and imagination. Bring a pen, notebook, and index cards.…

Tuesday, September 5, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
On Demand (Virtual)

Looking Again: Moving Through Images: A Poetry Workshop with Shelley Wong

Tuesdays, September Sept 5, 12, 19, 26 (4 weeks) | 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST Virtual via Zoom / Register to receive link Registration: $200 Sylvia Plath’s bees, Ada Limon’s lady horses, any poet’s ode to a beloved. How can we use images in our writing to propel our poems in new directions? Together, we’ll read poems looking for the essence of image-making and how an image can spark a poem, building through repetition, place,…

Tuesday, September 5, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
On Demand (Virtual)

Taller de creación literaria: Realidad, memoria y ficción con Héctor Abad Faciolince

SOLD OUT! Lamentablemente, ya no hay cupo para el taller. Para apuntarse a la lista de espera, por favor registre sus datos en esta página: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJDEUdzD-P_Qvg7NFvNPT1u5jcPNJW9Fnbo7N_eCw9IabJdA/viewform?usp=sf_link Le informaremos si surge una oportunidad de que participe. Gracias por su interés.   Taller de creación literaria con Héctor Abad Faciolince ONLINE: Septiembre 5, 6 y 7 de 7:00 a 9:00 pm (hora Miami) Hay muchas maneras de concebir la fantasía. Esta, sin embargo, no está desligada de la experiencia, sino que –como los sueños– se nutre de ella.…

August 2023

Tuesday, August 1, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
Miami Book Fair * Miami Dade College
300 NE Second Ave., Miami, FL 33132 United States

Prose Workshop: Decolonizing Your Voice with Siham “Sam” Inshassi

5 weeks: Tuesdays, August 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. EST Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus Can you use your native language/slang in your writing? Should you translate, when, and how much? When and how much should you explain your culture or community in your writing? If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, you are not alone. Typically, these questions boil down to audience—who you are talking to, or rather, who you want to talk to. Often the confusion comes because much of what we are still told regarding what good writing looks like is from the lens of Western neocolonialism.…

June 2023

Thursday, June 29, 2023 @ 6:30 pm
On Demand (Virtual)

1-Day Masterclass: Blending Genres to Benefit Your Story with Alex Segura

1 Day Masterclass: Thursday, June 29, 2023 Virtual / Register to receive Zoom link Registration: $50 Capacity: 50 Alex Segura, acclaimed and bestselling author of the comic book noir novel, Secret Identity, walks students through the best way to integrate the most powerful elements of different genres to create something wholly new and innovative. Alex will share his experiences mixing graphic novel storytelling in the prose/mystery medium and his noir-tinged superhero tales, like The Awakened and The Black Ghost. Scholarships Available for MDC Students Miami Book Fair is offering two (2) full-tuition scholarships for MDC students interested in attending the above-listed creative writing workshop.…

May 2023

Thursday, May 18, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
On Demand (Virtual)

Publishing 101 with Literary Agent Rayhané Sanders

One day | May 18, 2023 – 7:00 to 8:30 PM Registration: $35 In this seminar, we will discuss what an agent does, the Big 5 Publishers vs. Indie Publishers, what the publication process looks like, the money of publishing, and other “publishing overview” questions and concerns. We will also go over the dos and don’ts of the query letter, with sample letters provided as examples. If there is interest and time, we will discuss the elements of a book proposal.…

All day event.
Monday, May 8, 2023 @ 12:00 am
On Demand (Virtual)

Manuscript Consultations with Literary Agent Rayhané Sanders

Various times, as appointed (Mon. – Fri.). All appointed times in EST. 15-minute manuscript consultations are limited to 25 people. Online via Google Meet | Register to receive link Once you have registered online, please submit the following materials by 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, April 28, 2023. SUBMIT MATERIALS Genres Accepted: Literary, historical, and upmarket book club fiction; narrative nonfiction; memoir. Manuscript materials must be formatted in a single document as follows: • A query letter or 1-page synopsis. • The opening 10 pages of your manuscript.…

Tuesday, May 2, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
Miami Book Fair * Miami Dade College
300 NE Second Ave., Miami, FL 33132 United States

The Poem as Rendering & Reclamation: A Poetry Workshop with Soleil Garneau

Tuesdays, May 2, 9, 16, 23, 2023 (4 weeks) at 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST In-Person, MDC Wolfson Campus (300 NE 2nd Avenue) Pay-What-You-Can Pricing: To ensure that these special workshops facilitated by our Emerging Writer Fellows are as accessible as possible to the widest audience possible, we’re putting it into your hands to pay what you can for this workshop. Choose a ticket price, ranging from $35 to $100, based upon what feels right to you.

March 2023

Saturday, March 18, 2023 @ 1:00 pm
On Demand (Virtual)

Workshop: Other Worlds Than These: The Business of Writing Genre Science Fiction & Fantasy

In order to enhance the security of our website, purchasing a workshop on the Miami Book Fair website now requires you to create an account and enter a password as you complete your checkout. Saturday, March 18, 1:00 p.m. EST Registration: $15 (workshop access provided after registration) Open to writers of all experience levels, this class will guide participants through pitching and selling their work in the wide world of genre science fiction and fantasy. With longer manuscripts like novels,…

October 2022

Thursday, October 6, 2022 @ 7:00 pm
On Demand (Virtual)

Finger Exercises for Poets with Dorianne Laux

4 weeks: Thursdays, October 6, 13, 20, 27 | 7 – 9 p.m. EST Online | Register to receive link | Registration: $200 Write new poems and receive in-depth feedback from poet Dorianne Laux. Poet Dorianne Laux will lead participants in five writing prompts, or “finger exercises.” Writers will generate new poems and receive feedback on work drafted during this workshop. Dorianne Laux’s sixth collection, Only As the Day is Long: New and Selected Poems was named a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.…

September 2022

Thursday, September 1, 2022 @ 7:00 pm
On Demand (Virtual)

Nonfiction Workshop: Writing About Family Without Making Them Hate You with Dawn Davies

This workshop has sold out. To be placed on the waitlist, please email Marci Cancio-Bello at mcanciob@mdc.edu Thursdays, September 1, 8, 15, 22, 2022 (4 weeks) 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. ET | Online via Zoom | Register to receive link Learn strategies to help you decide when and how (or if!) you should write about family through craft lectures, deep discussion, and writing practice. Writing about family dynamics and experiences can help us reveal truth in our lives,…

June 2022

Wednesday, June 22, 2022 @ 7:00 pm
On Demand (Virtual)

REFUSE TO BE DONE: Rewriting and Revision at Every Stage with Matt Bell

Wednesday, June 22, 7 – 9 p.m. EST Online | Register to receive link | Registration: $85 Shake up your writing with practical strategies in this interactive workshop. In this interactive workshop, novelist Matt Bell details a practical and straightforward approach to writing fiction, focusing on specific tactics for generating a strong first draft of a novel, including creating compelling characters and structuring a fine-tuned plot, and for polishing your final manuscript to prepare it for submission and publication.…

April 2022

Saturday, April 9, 2022 @ 10:00 am
On Demand (Virtual)

Taller de escritura: “Escribir desde la infancia” con Fanuel Hanán Díaz

SOLD OUT! Lamentablemente, ya no hay cupo para el taller. Para apuntarse a la lista de espera, por favor registre sus datos en esta página: https://forms.gle/YGM39zfBVPnv2Zva8. Le informaremos si surge una oportunidad de que participe. Gracias por su interés. Taller de 4 semanas, los sábados de 10:00 a.m. a 12:00 m. Del 9 al 30 de abril. El taller tiene como objetivo estimular la creación de textos narrativos breves a partir de los recuerdos de infancia, la mirada que podemos rescatar en un viaje al pasado para narrar una escena cercana a nuestros recuerdos,…

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