Tag Archives: classes

WRITERS: 8 Amazing University Classes You Can Take For Free

by Diane Holmes, (a) Chief Alchemist of Pitch University, (b) lover of learning, and (c) writer of fiction, non-fiction, and the occasional manifesto.

As our very own Joe Wallace begins his Recording Arts For Film program at Tribeca Flashpoint Media Academy in Chicago,

  • I celebrate his multi-tasking insanity and
  • I seize the opportunity to take Free, WORLD-CLASS, (online) University classes, through the innovative site Coursera.

Take a look at these 8 classes to power-up your BUSINESS and WRITING.

Set Your Words On Fire

#1 Modern & Contemporary American Poetry

Al Filreis, University of Pennsylvania

This course is a fast-paced introduction to modern and contemporary U.S. poetry, from Dickinson and Whitman to the present. Participants (who need no prior experience with poetry) will learn how to read poems that are supposedly “difficult.”

Next session: 10 September 2012 (10 weeks long)
Workload: 5-8 hours/ week

About the Instructor:

Al Filreis is Kelly Professor; founder, and faculty director of the Kelly Writers House; director of the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing; co-director (with Charles Bernstein) of PennSound; and publisher of Jacket2 — all at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has been teaching since 1985.

Among his books: Counter-Revolution of the Word: The Conservative Attack on Modern Poetry, 1945-60; Wallace Stevens and the Actual World; and Modernism from Right to Left.

He has also (with Beverly Coyle) edited the letters of José Rodríguez-Feo and Wallace Stevens (Secretaries of the Moon), and has edited and introduced a new edition of Ira Wolfert’s Tucker’s People. He hosts an ongoing podcast series,PoemTalk, a collaboration of the Kelly Writers House, PennSound, and the Poetry Foundation. He is currently working on a book about poetry and poetics in 1960.

He has won every major teaching award given to faculty at Penn, and in 1999-2000 he was chosen as the Pennsylvania Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation.

Write With the Power of Myth

#2 Greek and Roman Mythology

Peter Struck, University of Pennsylvania Continue reading WRITERS: 8 Amazing University Classes You Can Take For Free

The Christian Writers Guild

guildToday we would like to take a closer look at an organization that is geared specifically for Christian writers. Freelance-Zone.com asked the admissions manager there (Leilani Squires) to tell us a bit about the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild, which is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado…

1. Can you tell us a little about the Guild?

The Christian Writers Guild exists to train writers through our courses, conference, critique service, and contest. For more information and details about the services we offer, visit our website.

 2. Where is your annual conference held, and what is offered there?

Our next Writing for the Soul conference will be held at the Grand Hyatt in Denver, Colorado, February 10 – 13, 2011. Our keynote speakers for this year include Liz Curtis Higgs, Ken Davis, McNair Wilson, Brandilyn Collins, and Dr. Dennis E. Hensley. The Writing for the Soul conference equips and inspires writers of all levels as they receive top-notch writing instruction, meetings with editors and agents, and unparalleled spiritual enrichment.

3. I understand that you have a mentoring program. Can you tell us what that entails?

The Guild provides several writing courses, mentored by highly successful published authors, for youth and adults. Each course is offered over email, so students can be anywhere and still take our courses. We have several international students as well… Continue reading The Christian Writers Guild

Classes For Writers At WritersCollege.com

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Today we’d like to bring Freelance-Zone readers a closer look at WritersCollege.com, a resource for writers who want to learn more about the craft. Enjoy this Q & A with Stephen Morrill, the Director, and be sure and drop by their site to check out all that they have to offer…

1. Can you tell Freelance-Zone readers a bit about when Writers College began and what it is?

Sure. It’s actually WritersCollege.com (that’s the listed name with the Florida Department of State and the trademark too). Started in 1998, it’s been a labor of love for me since then. (I have to love it because I make almost no money from it. The classes are very cheap and the teachers and overhead get the money while the students get the knowledge.)

Students may register online or by postal mail. All class materials go back and forth by e-mail.

2. What types of classes do you offer, and for what kinds of writers?

We offer about 60 online writing courses for beginners and experienced writers alike. They run the gamut from greeting cards (seriously – good income there – who knew?) to the various aspects of fiction, poetry, essays and the like, to nonfiction books, magazines, newspaper writing. We have grammar courses and even a course in photography for writers. I teach five of the courses and some 30 other teachers cover the rest. I suggest that people go to our catalog page to look over the full list. It’s rather long.

3. Who are your instructors and what are their qualifications?

Ah. This is the biggest sticking-point for most would-be teachers because WritersCollege.com is not an academic degree-granting institution and operates by very different rules. We actually expect teachers to know what they’re talking about. Specifically, we look for teachers with, in the following order of importance… Continue reading Classes For Writers At WritersCollege.com