THE WORKSHOP (application-only)
The core Banyan Writers’ Workshop offering is the online workshop.
Experience: This course is best suited for people who have been writing for a little while. You do not need to have prior workshop experience or publications, but you do need to have material ready to submit for feedback.
Genre: All literary prose (fiction or nonfiction) is welcome.
Meets weekly for ten weeks over Zoom for two hours at 5 pm Pacific/8 pm Eastern.
The Cohort: Intimate! Eight students.
Workshops: Each student will submit writing for workshop twice.
Pricing: $900
Career Day: At the end of each workshop, another writer will visit, and we’ll do a class devoted to all things career. I’ll lay out my personal career path, explain everything I know about placing stories in literary magazines, pitching journalistic outlets, querying agents, and attempting to actually make a writing life.
Applying? Scroll down to learn more about the next open course.
WORKSHOP: FALL 2026
The inaugural Banyan Writers’ Workshop launches in fall of 2026.
Dates: This ten-session course will meet on Tuesday nights over Zoom for two hours at 5 pm Pacific/8 pm Eastern, starting on September 15th and running through November 17th.
Requirements **updated on July 18th: You will workshop two pieces of fiction of up to 7,000 words. I recommend having at least one ready to go for the first round of workshops. If you are working on a novel or a memoir, I encourage you to submit the book’s opening rather than later chapters. That said, it’s your class, and you may workshop what you wish.
Other Homework: You should set aside time to read your classmates’ fiction each week, and to write thoughtful feedback letters.
Class size: The course is capped at eight people.
Pricing: $900 for ten weeks. At least one full tuition scholarship will be available, reserved for a writer who shows excellent promise and who comes from an underrepresented background in literature.
How to apply
Apply for the FALL 2026 batch by August 14th, 2026 by sending 10 pages of literary prose (double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt font) to banyanwritersworkshop AT gmail DOT com.
Incomplete work is fine. Please do not send more than 10 pages.
Write “Application for Fall 2026 Workshop” in the subject line. In the body paragraph of the email, please include a 1-paragraph bio including your full name.
You should also write a cover note of no more than 500 words, explaining your interest in the course. Your note should discuss the reasons you write, what you hope to get out of the workshop, any prior experience you have in creative writing or literature (none is required), and what you like to read.
If you are applying for the half-tuition scholarship, please indicate that in your cover note, and explain the ways in which your background is underrepresented.
If you use an LLM in crafting any part of your application, please disclose that and explain what you believe the purpose of using A.I. in your writing is. In very rare cases, I may be open to working with writers who are using A.I. in intelligent ways, but I am generally unsympathetic to its uses in creative arts. I may disqualify cover notes that appear to be written with A.I. Try to sound like yourself — a human.