3-WEEK WORKSHOP | Words That Matter: Writing for Advocacy and Change
July 23 @ 5:00 pm – August 6 @ 8:00 pm EDT
Words have the power to inform, move, and mobilize. Learn to craft essays that mine your experience while speaking out on important issues, challenging injustice, and calling on readers to act.
Open to 10 writers only, working in Creative Nonfiction, Narrative Nonfiction, or Personal Essay
Live On Zoom | Thursdays, July 23 – August 6, 2026 | 5-8 pm Eastern
In this generative writing workshop, we’ll explore how the creative nonfiction essay conveys important themes and messages and questions the status quo, bends a critical eye to social norms, and brings to light a range of issues that need addressing, from the small to the big.
We’ll explore a variety of essay styles and stories, from thoughtful commentary to powerfully emotional pieces, many of which explore difficult, political, and important contemporary issues: works rooted in truth but done so with the creative flair of artful formatting and prose. Most importantly, we’ll practice and write our own advocacy essays.
If you’re passionate about speaking out against injustice, expressing dissent, and stimulating imagination of a better world, join us to refine your skills and build your publication record with essays that make a difference.
Includes the instructor’s written feedback on your work.
Over these three weeks, you will …
- QUESTION creative nonfiction essays to understand how they can convey important themes and messages
- PRACTICE employing craft elements to successfully advocate for issues in a way that emotionally connects with readers
- WORKSHOP one another’s work to provide diverse feedback, perspectives, and reactions
- EXPLORE a variety of essay styles and stories featuring difficult, political, and important contemporary issues
- GENERATE new writing to develop into powerful essays
Schedule
- Week 1: Short writing practice to get into the writing zone; discussion of essay examples distributed and read before class; longer writing sprint with brief on-the-spot reading/feedback
- Weeks 2 and 3: A workshop of up to 1,000 words for each student; discussion of essay examples distributed and read before class; end with short writing practice to send us off with more idea
Following the final session, the instructor will send written feedback to each student
This course is for beginning and intermediate writers who …
- want to learn how craft elements create effective messaging
- desire to use their craft for advocacy purposes
- have stories to tell or want to speak out on issues they are passionate about
- want to explore more experimental styles of essay writing
Closed captioning is available. ✔
Think you might miss a class? No worries, replays will be available. ✔
ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Amy Shea is an essayist with an MFA and a doctorate in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow and is the author of Too Poor to Die: The Hidden Realities of Dying in the Margins.
An energetic and encouraging teacher, Amy focuses on practice-based instruction with time to write, play, and close-read examples to stretch your writing skills. Always inclusive, she loves to provide lots of examples, so students end up with lots of SWAG (Stories We All Get [to read])!
Amy Shea’s work has appeared in The Missouri Review, Portland Review, The Massachusetts Review, the Journal of Sociology of Health & Illness, among others. She works as the Writing Program Director for Mount Tamalpais College, a free community college for the incarcerated people of San Quentin. Learn more about her work at https://amysshea.com.
Testimonials from past students:
“Amy Shea’s classroom presentations to my college writing classes were excellent and informative. She was a guest writer in both introductory and advanced writing classes, and in both cases the students raved afterwards about how helpful her presentations were for them. Her focus on different kinds of research, writing, and editing in the context of writing creative nonfiction is useful for writers at all levels. Highly recommended!” –David Buuck, Academic Director, Oakland Clemente Course in the Humanities & Assistant Adjunct Professor of English, Mills College
“Amy is a wonderful lecturer and educator! She asks great questions that always stimulate lots of discussion and creates a great learning environment for the attendees with her warmth and creativity.” –Justine Juson
“Amy presented her research and writing practices to my students, who mostly saw research and writing as exacting hard work that was beyond them but not beyond others. Amy’s descriptions, sometimes humorous and always instructive, encouraged my students to think differently, and by the end of class, my students felt empowered to explore creativity and research in their own writing practices.” –Jeff Magnin
THE FINE PRINT
We understand that life can get in the way of your plans. We want you to be able to get the most out of your course, and our refund policy is designed to balance your need for flexibility with our deadlines and obligations to our teachers.
Before the first class, you may request a refund (less a $25 processing fee).
After class begins, you may request a refund for the remaining value of the course (less a $25 processing fee).
No credits or refunds will be available after the 1st class.
Questions? Please email Info@writingcraft.com
