Off Campus Writers Workshop upcoming events

Rebecca Makkai - I Can't Remember How to do This: Writing Memory in Fiction and Non-Fiction (April 23, 2026)

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 14:30:00 GMT

One of the most frequent questions I get from students is about transitioning into and out of memory or "flashback" or narrative backstory. Given that most of our consciousness is memory (who we are, who we're married to, how we got here, what we're supposed to be doing today), you'd think it would be an easier proposition to approach memory on the page. And it is easy! I promise!

But we tend to overthink things, and either mimic unhelpful film techniques or neglect memory altogether or present it in unwieldy chunks. Let's talk about how to avoid these pitfalls, how to represent memory accurately, and how not to write yourself into a flashback corner.

REBECCA MAKKAI is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel I Have Some Questions for You as well as four other works of fiction. Her last novel, The Great Believers, was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and was the winner of the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize among other honors. A 2022 Guggenheim Fellow, Rebecca teaches graduate fiction writing at Middlebury College, Northwestern University, and UNR Tahoe, and serves as Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.

Steve Trumpeter - The “Final” Draft: Getting Your Stories Ready for Submission (April 30, 2026)

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:30:00 GMT

Submitting our stories to literary magazines is an exercise in unbridled optimism. We’re throwing our work into the fray against hundreds, if not thousands, of other stories, hoping that it catches the eye of an overworked, underpaid reader and eventually finds its way to print. And while it’s easy to sell ourselves on the idea that publishing in the lit mag world is a numbers game, the truth is that at some level, good stories will find a home.

In this session, short story writer Steve Trumpeter will explore the craft elements that help stories stand out in the crowd. We’ll consider how to evaluate our own work as objectively as possible so we can be confident that we’re taking our best shot when we send our stories out into the world. We’ll learn strategies for breaking out of the eternal revision cycle and recognizing when we can call our drafts “final.”

STEVE TRUMPETER is a writer, artist, and musician from Chicago. His recent fiction has appeared in The Southern Review, Salamander, American Fiction, Chicago Quarterly Review and others. He was a finalist for the Chicago Tribune’s Nelson Algren Award and took 2nd place in Zoetrope: All-Story’s 2019 fiction contest. He teaches creative writing classes at StoryStudio Chicago. Discover his stories, paintings, music, and more here.

John McCarthy - Crafting the Perfect Literary Submission (May 07, 2026)

Thu, 07 May 2026 14:30:00 GMT

In this session, we’ll explore the end-to-end experience of submitting to literary magazines. We’ll go behind the scenes of popular submission platforms like Submittable and CLMP to understand how editors receive and review your submissions. Next, we’ll cover how to properly format your own work. You’ll receive cover letter templates and learn best practices for presenting your writing professionally. We’ll also discuss how to identify which literary outlets are a good fit for your work—and which ones might not be. Finally, we’ll reflect on the philosophical aspects of submitting creative work, including questions of ethics, readiness, and the rapidly evolving impact of AI on the literary landscape. Bring your questions and curiosity.

JOHN MCCARTHY is the author of three poetry collections, including Scared Violent Like Horses (Milkweed Editions, 2019), which won the Jake Adam York Prize. He is also the author of This Brutal Vanishing (Texas Review Press / Sam Houston State University, forthcoming 2028); and Ghost County (MG Press, 2016), which was named a Best Book of 2016 by The Chicago Review of Books. His poems have appeared in 32 Poems, Best New Poets, Cincinnati Review, Gettysburg Review and North American Review among many others. He is currently the Managing Editor of RHINO. Outside of poetry, John has spent the last decade in content design, researching and writing content for some of the world's biggest brands.

Goldie Goldbloom - Sforzando ~ Suddenly Very Loud: The Role of Dynamics in Writing (May 14, 2026)

Thu, 14 May 2026 14:30:00 GMT

This session examines the dynamics of writing, the way some moments have tremendous weight and volume, and others are so tiny and quiet that they slide right past, barely noticed.

Goldie will explore stories as if they are a piece of music that we are all learning to play with the assistance of a good conductor. How can we learn to use masterful dynamic phrasing in our own work? This craft talk will demystify some of these skills of make them accessible to all of us.

GOLDIE GOLDBLOOM is a writer, teacher and editor, author of four internationally award-winning books of fiction, most recently On Division (winner of the Prix des Libraires in France), and many articles, short stories and essays that have appeared around the world. For more than fifteen years, she was on the faculty at Northwestern University and/or the University of Chicago. She currently runs a developmental editing service for best-selling authors, celebrities and talented writers from all walks of life. She is the mother of eight children and an LGBTQ activist.

JP Solheim - Chicago: Writing Setting (May 21, 2026)

Thu, 21 May 2026 14:30:00 GMT

In poetry, lyric, and sloganeering, Chicago is often described as a town of swagger and bluster, violence and blight. But in storytelling, whether fiction or nonfiction, Chicago often appears to be a place of subtle contrasts, ever changing, and the city setting is often baked into narrative like character, influencing action and plot.

In this class we’ll look at some examples of Chicago as setting, and write from prompts inspired by our readings to generate our own settings.

JP will accept manuscripts for review. See our Manuscripts page for details; deadline to receive is May 5.

JP SOLHEIM has been published in Bellevue Literary Review, MQR: Mixtape, Midwest Weird Audio Literary Magazine, The Pinch and The Southampton Review. They hold a PhD in French from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Writing and Literature (fiction) from the Bennington Writing Seminars, and taught at the University of Michigan, Université de Paris VII and University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as writing centers across the United States. They serve as the Associate Director of the BookEnds novel revision fellowship at The Lichtenstein Center of Stony Brook University.

Michael Zapata - Revision for Artistic Vision and Publication (May 28, 2026)

Thu, 28 May 2026 14:30:00 GMT

As the musician, actor, painter, and all-around artistic vagabond John Lurie once said about making art: “See what it gives you.” In this class, we’ll go through and discuss the process of revision for publication. We’ll cover and discuss wholeness, cohesiveness, exactitude, clarity, excavating material, and, perhaps most importantly, staying true to your artistic visions and the possibilities they may still contain.

Additionally, we’ll consider and discuss what various editors have to say about the endlessly exciting, if occasionally sticky, matter of putting your work out into the world. The class will also include a Q&A.

MICHAEL ZAPATA is a founding editor of MAKE Literary Magazine and the author of the novel The Lost Book of Adana Moreau, winner of the 2020 Chicago Review of Books Award for Fiction, finalist for the 2020 Heartland Booksellers Award in Fiction, and a Best Book of the Year for NPR, the A.V. Club, Los Angeles Public Library, and BookPage, among others. He is on the faculty of StoryStudio Chicago and the MFA faculty of Northwestern University. As a public-school educator, he taught literature and writing in high schools servicing drop-out students. He currently lives in Chicago with his family.

Christina Clancy - How to Optimize Feedback You Give and Receive (June 04, 2026)

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:30:00 GMT

Sharing creative writing with friends, mentors, editors, and writing groups is an act of extreme vulnerability. It's hard sometimes to separate criticism of the work from criticism of ourselves, since it's our thinking and perspective on the page.

In this session, we'll discuss the role of feedback at various stages in a manuscript's journey, and cover some artist-centered strategies that don't demoralize the writer, but help make the writing less wobbly and more emotionally impactful. We'll go through the various types of feedback and ask: what sorts of comments and line edits truly help? What should you tune in and out? Who should we listen to? How is your writing influenced by your fear of criticism? How do you find a writing community? And once you're published, how should you respond to ratings and reviews?

CHRISTINA CLANCY is the author of The Second Home, Shoulder Season, and The Snowbirds (out Feb. 4, 2025). Her stories and essays have appeared in The Sun Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, Lit Hub, The Minnesota Review, Hobart, and elsewhere. She has a PhD in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She lives in Madison.