First Look: Announcing Our Spring 2026 Writing Classes!
Want to write micro-nonfiction, break into the personal essay marketplace, or finally get your big project on track? We've got all that and more on tap this April and May.
Spring always feels like a reset button. The light shifts. The energy changes. And if you’re anything like me, you start thinking: Okay, this is the season I’m really going to write. At Narratively Academy, we’ve built our spring class lineup around exactly that feeling—not just inspiration, but momentum. These classes are designed to help you generate ideas, deepen your voice, and, most importantly, actually produce pages (and finish things).
This season includes a mix of brand-new offerings and new sessions of some of our most in-demand classes—ones that consistently sell out and that past students rave about—plus a special free class.
Let’s go!
30 Days, 30 Poetry Prompts for Essayists
If you’ve been stuck—or just want a creative jolt—this is your reset. Amy Barnes’ prompt-based classes are some of our most popular offerings—writers love how generative, surprising, and creatively freeing they are. This brand-new class takes that approach in a fresh direction, using poetry as the entry point into personal writing.
Through daily prompts and readings, you’ll experiment with image, compression, and language in new ways—unlocking unexpected paths into your essays. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s momentum. Show up, write something (even something messy), and by the end of the month you’ll have a stack of new ideas and early drafts to build from.
Writing the “What If”: Speculative Nonfiction
What if you could rewrite the past? Reimagine a turning point? Explore the roads not taken? In this inventive writing workshop, you’ll experiment with blending memoir, essay, and imagination—using speculative techniques to deepen emotional truth and expand what nonfiction can do. It’s an especially powerful approach for stories that feel just out of reach in traditional forms.
Personal Essay Incubator (10-Week Memoir Mentorship)
Our signature essay incubator is one of our most in-demand programs, and it consistently fills quickly. This is a rare opportunity for just six writers to work directly with Narratively Executive Editor Jesse Sposato in a small, focused group. Over 10 weeks, you’ll receive detailed feedback, real accountability, and hands-on editorial guidance as you develop and refine your work.
The Insider’s Guide to Writing Personal Statements and Applying for Grants & Residencies
If you’ve ever felt intimidated by the world of grants, fellowships, and artist residencies—or unsure how to present yourself and your work—this class pulls back the curtain.
In this intimate, two-day workshop, you’ll learn how to craft a clear, compelling personal statement and build a strong application that stands out in a competitive field. You’ll break down what actually makes these applications work, get hands-on guidance in shaping your own materials, and leave with a much clearer path toward securing funding and opportunities for your creative work.
This is one of our most in-demand classes, and it’s limited to just 8 students—so it tends to fill quickly.
AI for Writers: The 24/7 Writing Coach to Help You Finish What You Start
Jay Dixit has taught writing at Yale University and written features for The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Psychology Today. He was also OpenAI’s first Head of Writer Community, educating writers on how to use ChatGPT to supercharge their creative process. Never by letting the AI do their writing for them, but by using it as a sounding board, editor, and thinking partner to provide instant feedback, help them get unstuck and push through resistance, and keep them accountable so they can get it done and published. In this free seminar, Jay will introduce the approach he developed called Socratic AI — a methodology that turns AI into an iterative thinking partner instead of a ghostwriter.
The Art of Micro Memoir: How to Write Great Short Essays
Short doesn’t mean small. In this fun and creative workshop led by poet and essayist Rebecca Evans, you’ll learn how to distill big emotional truths into tight, powerful pieces—often under 500 words. Drawing on techniques from poetry and narrative nonfiction, this class will help you create work that feels both concise and complete.
Finding Your Writing Rhythm
Struggling to stay consistent? This class is all about building a writing practice that actually sticks. And let’s be honest, who among us doesn’t need that?
Instructor Josh Krigman has taught in a wide variety of settings, with a focus on accessibility and building a generative, sustainable writing practice. In this intimate class, Josh will guide writers through a curriculum designed to make your relationship to writing both more productive and more enjoyable. Through structure, prompts, and accountability, you’ll develop a rhythm that works for your life—and keeps you moving forward, even when motivation dips. This is a great entry point if you’ve been trying (and not quite succeeding) to build a sustainable writing habit on your own.
Advanced Craft Workshop: Finding Your Structure
In this three-part class, author Kristina Gaddy will lead students to examine the ways that other top nonfiction writers structure their work in both conventional and unconventional ways. Sometimes, with the right scaffolding, a piece becomes easier to write, revise, and understand. There are only 10 seats available, and this one always sells out quickly!
The Art of Crónica: Writing Immersive, Voice-Driven Nonfiction
I’m so excited to have this new class led by award-winning writer Javier Sinay.
In Latin America, crónica represents the pinnacle of literary journalism—deeply reported, vividly written, and unapologetically personal. In this four-week workshop, you’ll learn how to blend reporting, voice, and narrative into immersive nonfiction that pulls readers in and stays with them. It’s an opportunity to expand your toolkit—and your sense of what nonfiction can be.
Deeply Personal: Writing First-Person Essays on Raw and Difficult Topics
This is one of our most beloved and in-demand classes, and it regularly fills up with a waitlist. In this intimate workshop, you’ll learn how to approach your most personal material with honesty, care, and craft—developing essays that are both emotionally resonant and structurally strong. Writers consistently describe this class as a rare space where they’re able to go deeper than they thought possible.
All Narratively Academy classes are designed to be supportive, rigorous, and deeply human, taught by working writers and editors who care about your work and your growth. Wherever you are in your writing journey—just getting started, returning after a break, or pushing toward something bigger—there’s a place for you here.
If one of these classes speaks to you, I’d love to have you join us this spring.
Want to see a different class—or teach one yourself? Drop us a line: academy@narratively.com