We offer free evening and weekend workshops designed to foster creativity, strengthen writing skills, and provide students with a forum for executing projects they might not otherwise have the support to undertake. Workshops range from the playful to the practical, and all are taught by volunteer writers, artists, educators, and publishing professionals.
PLEASE NOTE: Due to increased demand, enrollment for workshops are now determined by lottery. Once you have signed up for a workshop, please look for an email from workshops@826nyc.org, verifying that we have received your request. If you have not heard from us after 48 hours, feel free to call.
Our workshops are limited enrollment and often generate wait lists. With this in mind, please only sign up if you can make every session of a workshop. Thank you!
Write! Act! Direct! Become a Triple Threat
4 Wednesday sessions: October 19, 26, November 2, 9
6-8pm
Taught by Miriam Siddiq
Ages 14 and up, limited to 12 students
Are you ready to handle the fast-paced, creative atmosphere of guerrilla theatre? This class offers a chance to learn how to develop and stage short scenes with nothing but a pen, some paper, and your brain. Students try different aspects of storytelling through writing, directing, and performing their own skits. We will focus on quality, not quantity. The end result: a short skit that packs a dramatic punch.
The Thing in the Forest: A Horror Fiction Writing Workshop
4 Tuesday sessions: October 4, 11, 18, 25
6-8pm
Taught by Adrian Van Young
Ages 10-14, limited to 10 students
What does the witch see through her one good eye? Where do ghosts go in the morning? How did the fishman get his scales? Just what is that thing in the forest? Now, it's up to you. Write a bonechilling tale just in time for Halloween and share it with your friends and neighbors.
Did a Dragon Throw Up on His Shoes? Fun with Photography and Storytelling
3 Sunday sessions: September 18, 25, October 2
12-2pm
Taught by Johanna Gohmann
Ages 8-10, limited to 8 students
Did you ever see a photograph of someone laughing, and wonder, what on earth was so funny? Did someone just fall down? Tell a joke? Or ask them if they'd like to buy a bag of dirty toucan beaks? Have you ever seen a picture of a little boy crying, and tried to imagine what brought on the tears? Did a dragon just throw up on his new shoes? Did aliens just steal his lunch money?
All pictures have a story to tell. In this class we will have fun letting photographs inspire new stories, and letting these stories in turn inspire new photographs. Armed with a pen, a paper, and a disposable camera, each student will have the chance to explore the link between photography and story-telling. Our finished product will be turned into a lovely book, worthy of any Brooklyn coffeetable
Your First Galactic Empire
4 Wednesday sessions: September 14, 21, 28, October 5
6-8pm
Taught by Chris Zic
Ages 12-16, limited to 10 students
Sure, your personal shuttle may have a killer paint-job, but does it carry enough fuel to break out of the dense atmosphere of your home planet? How long will it take your Interstellar Fleet to reach that renegade star system 100 light years away? Do you believe in hyperspace?
Science Fiction may be all about letting your imagination run free, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any rules. Many of the best ideas in sci-fi were discovered by writers who were trying to come to terms with real issues that make the prospect of space travel and colonization so challenging.
This workshop will help students create their own science fiction universes by discussing these basic principles. Knowing them will not only help you develop more convincing alien worlds, cultures and technologies, it can also lead you to ideas that are stranger than you would ever have imagined on your own.
The Animated Life
4 Monday sessions: September 12, 19, 26, October 3
6-8pm
Taught by Josh Martin
Ages 12-14, limited to 10 students
Have you ever wondered how Wile E. Coyote was able to walk on thin air? Or how Spongebob manages to keep his pants so perfectly square with seemingly no effort? Come learn these secrets and more as you work with a group of peers to create your own animated short. Whether you love to write, draw, make weird sound effects, or just love cartoons, you will have the opportunity to participate in each of these important steps.
By the end of this workshop, we will have produced one cartoon that each student will get a copy of on DVD to take home and wow their friends and family with.
Putting Yourself on the Page: The College Entrance Essay
3 Saturday Sessions: August 13, 20, 27
12-2pm
Taught by Khaliah Williams
Ages High School Seniors, limited to 10 students
This workshop will focus on crafting the college admissions personal statement. We will begin by brainstorming possible ideas for topics, and then look at the elements of what makes an essay standout, while writing our own. Finally we will hold a mock admissions committee to demonstrate how admissions counselors view and evaluate essays.
Students should arrive at the workshop with a few ideas in mind about what they would like to write about. We will take those initial ideas and turn them into Personal Statements.
