If you are a writer between the ages of 13-18 and you are looking for something to do in August, then consider signing up for one of GrubStreet’s awesome TEEN WRITING CAMPS! Scholarships are available for all classes.

In particular, you should enroll in a Week of Creative Writing from August 6-10, taught by yours truly. It’s going to be so fun. Let me know if you have any questions!

Plus, there are always free snacks at GrubStreet, so I don’t really know what else you want.

The post Looking for an August activity? Sign up for a GrubStreet teen writing camp! appeared first on E.B. Bartels.

Sign up now! Contact me with any questions.

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Creative Nonfiction I
Fridays, September 15 – November 17, 6pm-9pm

• 10-week course.
• Open to all writers.
• Scholarships available!

What defines creative nonfiction? Writers can’t even agree on the name: “Few seem willing to embrace the term,” writes essayist and memoirist Dinty W. Moore, “though by this point, almost everyone uses it.” And yet, the fundamentals of creative nonfiction are as old as Montaigne, and the genre has thrived in recent decades—from the tell-all memoirs of Mary Karr to the online personal essay boom. More readers are feeling “reality hunger,” it seems, craving stories based in fact.
 
In this course, we’ll explore what creative nonfiction is, what it isn’t, and what it might be, examining a mix of published nonfiction works—personal essays, memoirs, lyric essays, narrative journalism—to better understand the array of styles and approaches writers bring to true stories they tell. Focusing on voice, details, perspective and language, we’ll analyze work that fits neatly within nonfiction norms as well as boundary-pushing work that lives on the fringe, and apply this craft awareness to our own writing. Authors may include: Hilton Als, Eula Biss, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Brian Doyle, Roxane Gay, Leslie Jamison, Margo Jefferson, Maxine Hong Kingston, Maggie Nelson, and/or Mary Roach.

During ten weeks of class, students will submit at least two manuscripts up to fifteen pages each, and learn to critique the work of their peers. You’ll gain a strong foundational knowledge of creative nonfiction, along with a sense of its possibilities and where such work is being published. This class is ideal for novice writers or more experienced writers looking to delve into this ever-evolving and flourishing genre.

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FREE Brown Bag Lunch Writing Series
Wednesday, October 18, 12:30pm-1:15pm

• Open to all writers.
• ***100% COMPLETELY FREE!*** 
• No registration necessary!

Do you work downtown and want to fit some writing into your day? Or do you have a schedule that gives you free afternoons instead of evenings? Join our FREE Brown Bag Lunch Writing Series.

Bring your lunch and come on over to GrubStreet on Wednesday, October 18th from 12:30pm – 1:15pm. For 45 minutes, you’ll meet fellow writers and get your creative juices flowing with some cool writing exercises. Led by one of our award-winning instructors or ambassadors.

Best of all, you’ll leave lunch with some new ideas to ponder for the rest of your day and beyond. No need to RSVP — just come!

*Be sure to arrive early, as space is limited!

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Young Adult Writers Program: Playwriting for Drama Queens and Kings
Saturday, October 21, 12pm-4pm

• Open to writers aged 13-18 years old.
• ***100% COMPLETELY FREE!*** 
• Includes free pizza for lunch!

Has someone ever told you to stop being so dramatic? If so, disregard that advice and come take Drama Queens and Kings! Through acting and improv games, you will generate material to create the beginnings of your own play and figure out what it takes to make drama exciting, interesting, and, well, dramatic. In addition to theatre exercises, you will work off writing prompts to help inspire engaging dialogue and read excerpts from great playwrights, both contemporary and classic. By the end of the class, you will have one or more scenes that you will be able expand into a play. Writing notebooks will be available, but feel free to bring your own. For writers age 13 – 18 ONLY.

Join GrubStreet’s Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP), a FREE creative writing workshop for Boston-area high schoolers. Our students come from a wide variety of high schools in the Boston area and enjoy cool writing exercises, mingling with fellow young writers, snacks, and an optional open mic. After four great years, YAWP has already been recognized by the Boston Globe as Boston’s hub for writing teenagers. You must be 13-18 years to register.

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Writing About Family
Saturday, November 11, 10am-5pm

• 6-hour seminar.
• Open to all writers.
• Scholarships available!

Course description and sign-up link coming soon!

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Young Adult Writers Program: Writing Inspired by Found Objects
Saturday, November 18, 12pm-4pm

• Open to writers aged 13-18 years old.
• ***100% COMPLETELY FREE!*** 
• Includes free pizza for lunch!

Have you ever found an old photograph at a flea market and wondered: who are these people, and what is their story? That’s how Ransom Riggs wrote Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, structuring the plotline entirely around found photographs. Using Miss Peregrine as our model, this course will be all about looking for inspiration for your writing in the objects that surround you, creating narratives out of things that already exist. We will look at an array of items––old photographs, video footage, antique maps, even junk and trash––and find the stories and poems hidden within. You’re welcome to bring in your own items, but objects will be provided––you just need to find their story. We will even take a trip to the antiques store next to GrubStreet for inspiration! This course will also explore the relationship between images and words, looking at examples such as Brian Selznick’s Wonderstruck and Tom Phillips’s A Humument. A great course for those who are visual artists in addition to writers. Writing notebooks will be available, but feel free to bring your own. For writers age 13 – 18 ONLY.

Join GrubStreet’s Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP), a FREE creative writing workshop for Boston-area high schoolers. Our students come from a wide variety of high schools in the Boston area and enjoy cool writing exercises, mingling with fellow young writers, snacks, and an optional open mic. After four great years, YAWP has already been recognized by the Boston Globe as Boston’s hub for writing teenagers. You must be 13-18 years to register.

The post Fall classes at GrubStreet! appeared first on E.B. Bartels.

Did you know that I am available for hire as a private writing/English tutor in the Boston area? Well, I am! I can also provide assistance as a writing coach remotely, via email and Google Docs. Learn more about my teaching experience on my website.

Did you know that I also work as a freelance editor? Well, now you do! I’m happy to help with all editing needs, from personal statements to college essays to cover letters to book-length projects. Learn more about my editing experience, also on my website.

Please use the contact me form to inquire about rates and references. Feel free to reach out with any questions!

The post Need a writing coach, English tutor, or editor? Hire me! appeared first on E.B. Bartels.

I, inside bagel
shop; you on the curb, looking…
Our eyes lock in love.

The post Haiku for a Dog I Don’t Know, Part 18 appeared first on E.B. Bartels.

To read the full piece, buy a copy of Infinite Scroll, either online or at Magpie in Davis Square.

Below you’ll find a preview.

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In the summer, the office gets hot. The large picture windows let in scorching light, and when the air conditioner is off, I’m a goldfish in a bowl in direct sun. When the air conditioner is on, however, I’m in a Siberian blizzard, and the high school summers that I worked at Andersen Insurance––my family’s business––my desk was in line with the blower. I suffered equally from wind-chill and heat stroke. The ancient motor of the air conditioner was deafening: a plane taking off in a hurricane with all the passengers screaming.

“What, pal?” My grandfather, Puppy, shouted over the roar.

“I’m almost done with filing!”

“What?”

“I said: I’m – ”

“Wait a minute, pal.” Puppy reached up to the window, using a long wooden stick to power off the air conditioner.

Silence followed, except for ringing in my ears and a sigh from Donna, the office’s longest-running non-familial employee.

“I said: I’m almost done with filing,” I repeated, already feeling heat from the windows.

The post Claustrophobia appeared first on E.B. Bartels.

Sweet, sad Bassett — ears
dragging on sidewalk. Owner
washes them daily.

The post Haiku for a Dog I Don’t Know, Part 17 appeared first on E.B. Bartels.

Black and white hound mix
with mismatched eyes; you would be
loved by D. Bowie.

The post Haiku for a Dog I Don’t Know, Part 16 appeared first on E.B. Bartels.

We met all eight pounds
of you and were smitten: small
soft Dachshund named Bev.

The post Haiku for a Dog I Don’t Know, Part 15 appeared first on E.B. Bartels.

Gleeful dash across
the street, that German Shepherd
running on three legs.

The post Haiku for a Dog I Don’t Know, Part 14 appeared first on E.B. Bartels.