Sackett Street Writers

8,000+ creative writers since 2002 in NYC & ONLINE

8-week Writing Sprints (all genres) generative class – begins wk of 1.12.25 – Clinton Hill

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Instructor: Erin Crosby Eckstine
Begins: wk of January 12, 2026 | meets once a wk | wknight tbd 7-9pm
Location: Clinton Hill – 293 Grand Avenue
Fee: $775 | $725 for returning Sackett writers

A writing sample is not required (but welcome) for this class. Please fill out an application with your contact info.

Writing Sprints is an exercise-intensive course designed to “unstick” writers struggling to start or continue new projects, boosting writing productivity.  The course relies heavily on writing exercises (for both fiction & nonfiction writers).  Students will produce a ton of new work in this class, and receive feedback on that work from the instructor and his or her classmates. This class is for writers of all levels looking for inspiration and motivation.

This workshop is open to writers working in all genres, and writers at all levels of skill and experience are welcome to join.

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Erin Crosby Eckstine is the author of Junie which was published by Ballantine Books in January 2025 and was a Good Morning America Book Club pick. Born in Montgomery, AL, Erin grew up between the South and Los Angeles before moving to New York City to attend Barnard College. Eckstine worked in a variety of digital media internships and jobs before pivoting to education and earning a master’s in secondary English education from Stanford University.

Eckstine went on to teach high school English in Brooklyn, NY for six years before becoming a full-time writer. She writes speculative historical fiction, personal essays, and anything else she’s in the mood for. When she’s not writing, she’s usually making pottery, reading, cooking, or playing The Sims. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and cats.

8-week Master Fiction – begins wk of 1.14.26 – Park Slope

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Instructor: Beth Morgan
Dates: begins January 14, 2026 | Wed 7-9pm
Location: Park Slope
Fee: $1150 / $1050 for returning Sackett writers

A writing sample is required for this class. Please fill out an application with your contact info and a brief sample of your writing.

Our Master Fiction Workshop is a selective class aimed at writers looking to polish their work for publication. Class is taught by our most experienced advanced fiction instructor whose students have gone on to attend top MFA programs and win prestigious awards. Class time is spent on in-depth discussion of student work and typed feedback from the instructor is included, as well as a private conference.

Writers should have extensive writing and writing class/workshop experience.

A private conference with the instructor is included.

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Beth Morgan is the author of A Touch of Jen, which she has also adapted for the screen. A Touch of Jen was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and named a best book of the year by The Rumpus. Her short fiction has been published in The Iowa Review, The Baffler, and The Kenyon Review online.

12-wk VIRTUAL Manuscript Generator I (novels, memoirs, story & essay collections) – begins 1.14.26

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Dates: begins January 14, 2026
Instructor: Monica West
Location: Meetings via video every OTHER Wednesday 7-9pm ET
Fee: $1250 | $1150 for returning Sackett writers

This generative class open to novelists, memoirists, and writers working on story and essay collections.

This section of Manuscript Generator is intended for writers who have not participated in a previous Manuscript Generator class.

A writing sample is not required but recommended for this class.

Every other week you will submit up to 5,000 words of your manuscript to the instructor and she will provide you with written feedback. You’ll also have the opportunity to receive feedback from your fellow writers on your project synopsis or outline, scene exercises, and your manuscript’s opening paragraphs. The two-hour bi-weekly meetings will be the chance for you to discuss your projects and engage with writing prompts in shared group writing time. The instructor also offers a 30-minute one-on-one consultation at the end of the course to discuss your manuscript in depth.

The workshop is open to writers who have completed one or more chapters of a novel or memoir, as well as writers working on short story and/or essay collections. Writers participating in this course will learn how to recognize the successful techniques in their writing – what engages the reader, and how that success is achieved. Carefully planned lessons and online discussions will focus on analyzing the many choices (point-of-view, tone, characterizing details, pacing, etc.) a writer must make concerning structure, character and language. This course is intended for writers who have some experience writing and workshopping.
A private conference with the instructor is included.

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Monica West is the author of the novel Revival Season which was a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick and a finalist for the 2022 Virginia Commonwealth University Cabell First Novelist Award. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, she received her MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop where she was a Rona Jaffe Graduate Fellow. She has received fellowships and residencies from Kimbilio Fiction, Hedgebrook, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Bread Loaf. She earned her B.A. in English Literature from Duke University and her M.A. in English and American Literature from New York University. She currently lives in Seattle where she teaches at the University of San Francisco.

20-week Online Manuscript Generator (open to fiction & nonfiction writers) – begins wk of 1.12.26

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Begins: week of Jan 12, 2026
Instructor: coming soon
Location: Meetings via video ten times every other week (weeknight tbd) 6:30-9pm ET
Fee: $2300 (writers returning to Sackett Street – $2100) 

This is a virtual class & video meetings are held every other week.

*This section of Manuscript Generator is intended for writers who have participated in a previous MG class but new writers are welcome to apply.

In this generative workshop, students have the opportunity to hand in chapters (up to 5000 words pages) every other week, and receive feedback from the instructor on these pages. The workshop is open to writers who have completed one or more chapters of a novel or memoir, as well as writers working on short story and/or essay collections. Writers participating in this course will learn how to recognize the successful techniques in their writing – what engages the reader, and how that success is achieved. Carefully planned lessons and online discussions will focus on analyzing the many choices (point-of-view, tone, characterizing details, pacing, etc.) a writer must make concerning structure, character and language. This course is intended for writers who have experience writing and workshopping.

A private conference with the instructor is included.

A writing sample is recommended to apply for this class.

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20-week Online Manuscript Generator – begins wk of 4.20.26

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Begins: week of April 20, 2026
Instructor: Julia Fierro
Location: Meetings via video ten times every other week (weeknight tbd) 6:30-9pm ET
Fee: $2500 (writers returning to Sackett Street – $2300) 

This is a virtual class & video meetings are held every other week.

*This section of Manuscript Generator is intended for writers who have participated in a previous MG class but new writers are welcome to apply.

In this generative workshop, students have the opportunity to hand in chapters (up to 5000 words pages) every other week, and receive feedback from the instructor on these pages. The workshop is open to writers who have completed one or more chapters of a novel or memoir, as well as writers working on short story and/or essay collections. Writers participating in this course will learn how to recognize the successful techniques in their writing – what engages the reader, and how that success is achieved. Carefully planned lessons and online discussions will focus on analyzing the many choices (point-of-view, tone, characterizing details, pacing, etc.) a writer must make concerning structure, character and language. This course is intended for writers who have experience writing and workshopping.

A private conference with the instructor is included.

A writing sample is recommended to apply for this class.

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Julia Fierro is the author of the novels The Gypsy Moth Summer and Cutting Teeth. She is one half of Cassidy Lucas, pen name of writing duo Julia Fierro and Caeli Wolfson Widger. Santa Monica, their first book together, was published by Harper in October 2020. Their second novel, The Last Party, set in Topanga Canyon on the westside of Los Angeles, was published in April 2022.

A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Julia founded The Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop in 2002, now a creative home to over 10,000 writers and named “New York City’s best writing class” by Time Out New York, the L Magazine, and Brooklyn Magazine; and a “Top Alternative to MFA programs” by Poets & Writers. Workshops are offered throughout NYC and online. Her work has been published in The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Buzzfeed, Glamour, Psychology Today, and other publications, and she has been profiled in The Observer and The Economist.

Julia has been an editor and writing coach since 2003, providing in-depth developmental feedback for authors of literary and commercial fiction. Books that she has worked on include books published by Penguin Random House, Riverhead, Simon and Schuster, Viking, Scribner, Harper Collins, Little A, Houghton Mifflin and more. She has traveled nationwide to give talks about writing, the teaching of writing, crafting creative communities, and publishing. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two children, and her father/gardening partner. She is at work on her fifth novel, a literary genre-bender set in Southern Italy during the WWII liberation.

8-week Personal Essay & Memoir starting wk of 1.12.26 – Bed-Stuy

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Instructor: Alexandra Butler
Begins wk of January 12 | meets once a week| wknight tbd 7-9pm
Location: Bed-Stuy
Fee: $850 | returning writers receive a $50 discount

A writing sample is not required (but welcome) for this class.

Through group discussion of student work, plus that of published authors, writers in this workshop will examine the art and craft of creative nonfiction. The focus will be on learning to understand and use a full range of literary techniques in order to tell a truly compelling nonfiction story. Topics such as the use of dialogue, the creation of scene, attention to style and how to craft structure from true events will be discussed. Participants will also spend time talking about the particular responsibilities that come with writing creative nonfiction. In-class writing prompts will be used to inspire and motivate students to produce new work.

This workshop is open to writers working on memoir and personal essays, and writers at all levels of skill and experience are welcome to join.

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Alexandra Butler is the author of Walking the Night Road, a memoir published by Columbia University Press, and a book of poems, Circling the Same, published by Moran Moran. She has written for the New York Times and the Times Literary Supplement. Alex co-wrote two short films, Ivy Holland, produced by Tribeca Films, and The Song is You, featured in The New Yorker magazine’s Screening Room Series. She works as a script consultant in both film and the art world. She is currently at work on a novel titled Bone Break Marble and a collection of short stories. You can read more about her in The New York Times: Introducing a Poet Who Works in 3-D. Alex holds a Master of Social Work from Columbia University and is a therapist in a bilingual group practice in her hometown of New York City.

8-week ONLINE Personal Essay & Memoir I/II – begins wk of 1.19.26

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Instructor: Sarah Herrington
Dates: begins week of Jan 19, 2026
Location: Online (wkly video meetup wknight coming soon | 7-9pm ET)
Fee: $750 ($725 for returning writers)

A writing sample is not required (but welcome) for this class. Please fill out an application with your contact info and a 3-5 page sample.

Through group discussion of student work, plus that of published authors, writers in this workshop will examine the art and craft of creative nonfiction. A portion of in-class time will be spent on writing via prompts to help students produce new work. The focus will be on learning to understand and use a full range of literary techniques in order to tell a truly compelling nonfiction story. Topics such as the use of dialogue, the creation of scene, attention to style and how to craft structure from true events will be discussed. Participants will also spend time talking about the particular responsibilities that come with writing creative nonfiction.

This workshop is open to writers working on memoir and personal essays.

Our online class platform includes thoughtful craft lessons and writing exercises to inform and inspire writers, a class homepage for discussions, book recommendations and more, and an in-line commenting tool that allows for supportive and constructive feedback.

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Sarah Herrington is a writer, poet, editor, writing instructor and longtime yoga and meditation teacher. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times (Modern Love, Opinion, Anxiety, Solver Stories), the Los Angeles Times, Poets & Writers, Salon, Interview Magazine, Slice, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other outlets. She’s the author of four books on yoga (Penguin, Rodale/Random House) and is a regular contributor to Yoga Journal. Sarah holds MFAs from New York University, where she was a Goldwater Fellow in Creative Nonfiction, and Lesley University. Her nonfiction has been supported by the Community of Writers, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and NYU’s Graduate Research Initiative. She currently teaches writing at Fordham University and leads private workshops and mentorships for writers. Her work on yoga and ethics has been featured on NPR, CNN, and The New York Times.

8-week ONLINE Advanced Personal Essay & Memoir – begins wk of 1.19.26

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Instructor: Ly Tran
Dates: begins wk of Jan 19, 2026
Location: Online (wkly video meetup wknihgt coming soon | 7:30-9:30pm ET)
Fee: $850 ($825 for returning writers)

A writing sample is not required but recommended for this class. Please fill out an application with your contact info and a 3-5 page sample.

Through group discussion of student work, plus that of published authors, writers in this workshop will examine the art and craft of creative nonfiction. The focus will be on learning to understand and use a full range of literary techniques in order to tell a truly compelling nonfiction story. Topics such as the use of dialogue, the creation of scene, attention to style and how to craft structure from true events will be discussed. Participants will also spend time talking about the particular responsibilities that come with writing creative nonfiction.

This workshop is open to writers working on memoir and personal essays, and writers should have writing experience.

Our online class platform includes thoughtful craft lessons to inform and inspire writers, a class homepage for discussions, book recommendations and more, and an in-line commenting tool that allows for supportive and constructive feedback.

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Ly Tran is the author of the memoir, House of Sticks, chosen as “Best Book of the Year” by NPR and Vogue, and won the New York City Book Awards Hornblower Award. She has been awarded fellowships from MacDowell, Art Omi, Yaddo, and Millay Arts.