Sackett Street Writers

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

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Online Writing Classes

 


8-week workshops are limited to 9-10 writers (8-wk classes) and 8 writers (6-wk classes), and generative classes (Writing Sprints and Manuscript Generator) have no more than 12-15 writers. All workshops include opportunities to share work in class and receive feedback from both the instructor and classmates. To register, please complete an application and, if required, include a sample of work (1500-2000 words).

8-week ONLINE Personal Essay & Memoir – starting 2.4.26

November 3, 2025 By Julia Fierro

Instructor: Sarah Herrington
Dates: begins February 4, 2026

Location: Online (wkly video meetup Wed | 7-9pm ET)
Fee: $750 ($700 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.

Filed Under: Memoir, Nonfiction, Online, Personal Essay, Upcoming Workshops

8-week ONLINE Writing Autofiction – begins 2.16.26

November 17, 2025 By Julia Fierro

Begins February 16, 2026
Instructor: Amy Shearn
Location: Online (weekly video meet-up MON 7-9pm ET)
Fee: $725 (returning writers receive a $50 discount)

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

A private conference with the instructor is included.

Start, finish, or polish your autofiction story in this supportive, genre-defying workshop in which we’ll explore the blurry space between novel and memoir that is autofiction. This popular modern sub-genre houses work from writers as varied as Sherman Alexie, James Baldwin, Elif Batuman, Alexander Chee, Teju Cole, Annie Ernaux, Sheila Heti, Ernest Hemingway, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Ben Lerner, and Ocean Vuong, many of whom we’ll read in this workshop. Open to writers both new to autofiction and long familiar with it, this course will explore the origins and merits of this at-times contentious sub-genre and examine the craft unique to it. Students will read published examples, write to autofiction prompts, and workshop each other’s writing.

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

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Amy Shearn is the award-winning author of the novels Animal Instinct, Dear Edna Sloane, Unseen City, The Mermaid of Brooklyn, and How Far Is the Ocean From Here.
She teaches creative writing at the Yale Writers’ Workshop, Sackett Street Writers Workshop, and Writing Co-Lab, an experimental cooperative she co-founded. Amy’s work has appeared in many publications including The New York Times Modern Love column, Slate, Poets & Writers, and O: The Oprah Magazine. Amy lives in Brooklyn and, alongside her own writing, she works with writers as a developmental editor, book coach, and retreat-leader.

Filed Under: Autofiction, Fiction, Generative, Nonfiction, Online

8-week writing Sprints generative class (all genres) – begins 2.18.26

November 18, 2025 By Julia Fierro

Begins: February 18, 2026
Instructor: Erin Crosby Eckstine
Location: Online (wkly video meet-up Wed 7-9pm ET) 

Fee: $650 | returning writers receive a $50 discount

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.

Filed Under: All Genres, Fiction, Generative, Nonfiction, Online

6-week Fiction Writing I/II – starting 2.10.26 – Prospect Heights

December 10, 2025 By Julia Fierro

Instructor: Sari Wilson
Begins February 10 | meets once a week| Tues 7-9pm

Location: Prospect Heights
Fee: $650 | returning writers receive a $25 discount

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

Do you have an idea for a story but aren’t sure how to get it on the page? Our Fiction I/II class is perfect for writers looking to learn more about writing compelling fiction and generate new work.

In the first half of the session, students will generate new writing in and out of class with the aid of inspiring and informing writing prompts, then develop that work into “stories” or a section of a novel-in-progress. In the final weeks of the session, that work will be discussed in a supportive and craft-focused analysis that focuses on using a full range of literary techniques to engage the reader.

This workshop is open to writers working on short stories and/or novels and writers at all levels of skill and experience (and working on all genres of fiction) are welcome to join.

APPLY NOW

Sari Wilson is the author of the acclaimed novel Girl Through Glass, which was long-listed for the Center for Fiction debut novel prize, an Amazon Book of the Month, a The Millions Best seller, and featured on NPR and in The New York Times. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Catapult, Slice, AGNI, and other publications. She is the recipient of a Wallace Stegner Fellowship, a Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center Fellowship, and residencies from The Corporation of Yaddo, Ragdale Foundation, and Byrdcliffe. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, the cartoonist Josh Neufeld. She and Josh co-edited Flashed, a linked collection of prose and comics, published by Butler University Press.

Filed Under: Brooklyn, Fiction, Generative, In person

8-week Fiction Writing I/II – begins 2.23.26 – Carroll Gardens

December 10, 2025 By Julia Fierro

Instructor: Natalie Adler
Begins Feb 23, 2026 | meets 1x/wk| Mon 7-9pm 

Location: Carroll Gardens – 243 Smith Street, Brooklyn
Fee: $850 | returning writers receive a $50 discount

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

Do you have an idea for a story but aren’t sure how to get it on the page?Our Fiction I/II class is perfect for writers looking to learn more about writing compelling fiction and generate new work.

In the first half of the session, students will generate new writing in and out of class with the aid of inspiring and informing writing prompts, then develop that work into “stories” or a section of a novel-in-progress. In the final weeks of the session, that work will be discussed in a supportive and craft-focused analysis that focuses on using a full range of literary techniques to engage the reader.

This workshop is open to writers working on short stories and/or novels and writers at all levels of skill and experience (and working on all genres of fiction) are welcome to join.

APPLY NOW

Natalie Adler‘s novel, WAITING ON A FRIEND, will be published by Hogarth Books in 2026.
Natalie is an editor at ReadLux, was a Center for Fiction Emerging Writer in 2022-2023, earned her PhD at Brown in Comparative Literature, and her MFA at Brooklyn College. Her fiction and essays have been published widely.

Filed Under: Brooklyn, Fiction, Generative, In person

8-week Master Fiction – begins 3.11.26 – Park Slope

December 16, 2025 By Julia Fierro

Instructor: Beth Morgan
Dates: begins March 11, 2026 | Wed 7-9pm
Location: Park Slope – 273 Prospect Park W
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.

APPLY NOW

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.

Filed Under: Brooklyn, Fiction, In person, Novel Writing, Short stories

8-week Master Fiction – begins 3.10.26 – Sunset Park, BK

December 16, 2025 By Julia Fierro

Instructor: Ted Thompson
Dates: begins March 10, 2026 | Tues 7-9pm
Location: Sunset Park, BK
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.

APPLY NOW

Ted Thompson is the author of The Land of Steady Habits, which was published by Little, Brown in 2014 and was a finalist for the Center for Fiction Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. The novel is being adapted by Nicole Holofcener for a feature film starring Ben Mendelsohn, Edie Falco and Connie Britton, to be released in late 2017. His short stories have been published in Tin House, American Short Fiction, One Teen Story and Best New American Voices, and he’s had fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the MacDowell Colony. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Ted has proudly taught for Sackett for over eight years, as well as at Amherst College and in the Brooklyn College MFA program. He lives in Brooklyn with his family.

Filed Under: Brooklyn, Fiction, In person

12-week Virtual Manuscript Generator (fiction & nonfiction writers) – begins 3.18.26

January 22, 2026 By Julia Fierro

Dates: begins March 18, 2026
Instructor: Julia Fierro
Location: Meetings via video every OTHER Wednesday 6:30-9pm ET
Fee: $1575 | $1475 for returning Sackett writers

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

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

The Manuscript Generator is our most productive class. Every other week you will submit up to 5,000 words of your manuscript to the instructor and she will provide you with notes. 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 pages. 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 one-on-one consultation at the end of the course to discuss your manuscript in depth.

Class meets six times over a period of twelve weeks.

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, story shape, order of information, beginnings and endings, 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.

APPLY NOW

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 15,000+ 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.

Filed Under: Fiction, Generative, Nonfiction, Online

8-week Master Fiction – begins 5.12.26 – Sunset Park, BK

February 3, 2026 By Julia Fierro

Instructor: Ted Thompson
Dates: begins May 12, 2026 | Tues 7-9pm
Location: Sunset Park, BK
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.

APPLY NOW

Ted Thompson is the author of The Land of Steady Habits, which was published by Little, Brown in 2014 and was a finalist for the Center for Fiction Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. The novel is being adapted by Nicole Holofcener for a feature film starring Ben Mendelsohn, Edie Falco and Connie Britton, to be released in late 2017. His short stories have been published in Tin House, American Short Fiction, One Teen Story and Best New American Voices, and he’s had fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the MacDowell Colony. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Ted has proudly taught for Sackett for over eight years, as well as at Amherst College and in the Brooklyn College MFA program. He lives in Brooklyn with his family.

Filed Under: Brooklyn, Fiction, In person

7-week Master Fiction – begins 7.7.26 – Sunset Park, BK

February 3, 2026 By Julia Fierro

Instructor: Ted Thompson
Dates: begins July 7, 2026 | Tues 7-9pm
Location: Sunset Park, BK
Fee: $1000 / $900 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.

APPLY NOW

Ted Thompson is the author of The Land of Steady Habits, which was published by Little, Brown in 2014 and was a finalist for the Center for Fiction Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. The novel is being adapted by Nicole Holofcener for a feature film starring Ben Mendelsohn, Edie Falco and Connie Britton, to be released in late 2017. His short stories have been published in Tin House, American Short Fiction, One Teen Story and Best New American Voices, and he’s had fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the MacDowell Colony. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Ted has proudly taught for Sackett for over eight years, as well as at Amherst College and in the Brooklyn College MFA program. He lives in Brooklyn with his family.

Filed Under: Brooklyn, Fiction, In person

8-week Fiction Writing I/II – begins 3.16.26 – Dumbo

February 3, 2026 By Julia Fierro

Instructor: Kyle McCarthy
Begins March 16 | meets once a week| Mon 7-9pm

Location: Dumbo
Fee: $850 | returning writers receive a $50 discount

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

Do you have an idea for a story but aren’t sure how to get it on the page? Our Fiction I/II class is perfect for writers looking to learn more about writing compelling fiction and generate new work.

In the first half of the session, students will generate new writing in and out of class with the aid of inspiring and informing writing prompts, then develop that work into “stories” or a section of a novel-in-progress. In the final weeks of the session, that work will be discussed in a supportive and craft-focused analysis that focuses on using a full range of literary techniques to engage the reader.

This workshop is open to writers working on short stories and/or novels and writers at all levels of skill and experience (and working on all genres of fiction) are welcome to join.

APPLY NOW

Kyle McCarthy is the author of the novels Everyone Knows How Much I Love You (Ballantine, 2020) and Immersions, forthcoming from Tin House in May 2026. Her work has appeared in Best American Short Stories, American Short Fiction, n+1, and elsewhere.

Filed Under: Brooklyn, Fiction, In person

12-week Virtual Manuscript Generator (open to fiction & nonfiction writers) – begins wk of 6.10.26

February 3, 2026 By Julia Fierro

Dates: begins June 10, 2026
Instructor: coming soon
Location: Meetings via video every OTHER wk (wknight tbd) 7-9pm ET
Fee: $1150 | $1050 for returning Sackett writers

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

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

The Manuscript Generator is our most productive class. Every other week you will submit up to 5,000 words of your manuscript to the instructor and she will provide you with notes. 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 pages. 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 one-on-one consultation at the end of the course to discuss your manuscript in depth.

Class meets six times over a period of twelve weeks.

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, story shape, order of information, beginnings and endings, 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.

APPLY NOW

Filed Under: Fiction, Generative, Manuscript generator, Nonfiction, Online

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Upcoming In-Person Classes

8-week Writing Sprints: all genres generative class – begins 1.29.26 – Park Slope (accepting new writers)

6-week Fiction Writing I/II – starting 2.10.26 – Prospect Heights

8-week Fiction Writing I/II – begins 2.23.26 – Carroll Gardens

8-week Personal Essay & Memoir starting 3.3.26 – Carroll Gardens

8-week Writing Sprints (all genres) generative class – begins 3.10.26 – Park Slope

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