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Kay Hanifen
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Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem: A Crime Writing Course
with Katharine Hanifen
The Art of Writing: Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem is a four-week writing workshop focused on writing mysteries. In the words of the great Sherlock Holmes, “The game’s afoot!”
As writers, the mystery genre is one of the most challenging, because it is a game you play with your reader, doing your best to keep them from solving the case until the very end while still having the solution make perfect sense in hindsight.
Throughout this writing course, we’ll explore the great detectives and the kinds of mysteries from classic to noir to cozy and how to construct one that will keep your readers guessing.
By the end of the course, you’ll have a collection of fresh writing, peer feedback, and practical tools to continue your writing journey beyond the workshop.
Come ready to write, share, and grow.
This workshop is open to writers of all levels and genres.
Ages 15+
Fridays 6-8 pm
April 10th - May 1st
Class Fee: $152
Mother Nature's Revenge: Writing Ecohorror
with Katharine Hanifen
The Art of Writing: Mother Nature’s Revenge is a four-week Eco-Horror themed writing course. The world is on fire, and it only seems to be getting worse by the day.
With climate anxiety at an all-time high, it can help to channel it into writing. In this course, we’ll explore and define the genre of Eco-Horror, from sci-fi horror like Annihilation to fantasy like The Hallow, not just through writing but also discussing our favorite pop cultural examples.
By the end of the course, you’ll have a collection of fresh writing, peer feedback, and practical tools to continue your writing journey beyond the workshop.
Come ready to write, share, and grow.
This workshop is open to writers of all levels and genres.
Ages 15+
Fridays 6-8 pm
May 8-29
Registration Fee: $152
Memories on Paper
with Katharine Hanifen
2026 is the year to give back to yourself, and these wellness workshops are a great place to start!
This will be a class centered on journaling as a form of wellness. I primarily journal during vacations and when I want to remember something, but anything can be journaling if you want it to be.
We’ll go over Notes App thoughts and quotes as well as how to finally start filling that journal that feels too pretty to use.
Saturday, May 16th
1-4 pm
Class Fee: Free!
This free wellness class is brought to you in partnership with UVA Health.
The Art of Fanfiction
with Katharine Hanifen
Ages: 13 - 18
One of the best ways to get started writing is by playing in other people’s sandboxes. The art of fanfiction will explore the history of the genre, from The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost to Star Trek Conventions and modern sites like AO3. Throughout this course, we’ll explore how fanfiction is always in conversation with the original text, how to get your characters to sound like the original source material and the types of fanfic you can write.
By the end of the course, you’ll have a collection of fresh writing, peer feedback, and practical tools to continue your writing journey beyond the workshop.
Come ready to write, share, and grow.
This workshop is open to writers of all levels and genres.
Ages 13-18
Monday-Friday, 2-5 pm
June 8-12
Registration Fee: $285
So Much Drama: A Screenwriting Course
with Katharine Hanifen
Ages: 13 - 18
So Much Drama is a weeklong generative stage and screenwriting course for teenagers that explores the structure and forms around both playwriting and film writing. Throughout the week, we’ll practice getting down the structure and format, discuss our favorite plays and films, and create our own short works ready for the stage and screen.
By the end of the course, you’ll have a collection of fresh writing, peer feedback, and practical tools to continue your writing journey beyond the workshop.
Come ready to write, share, and grow.
This workshop is open to writers of all levels and genres.
Ages 13-18
Monday-Friday
June 22-26
Registration Fee: $285
The Art of Writing: Summertime Scares
with Katharine Hanifen
The Art of Writing: Summertime is a four-week Horror themed writing course. Summer: the time of year when kids spend weeks at camps, people enjoy nature, and slashers hunt down unlucky camp counselors looking for love. Throughout this course, we’ll explore why summer camps are magnets for killers, discuss our favorite pop culture summertime scares, and write our own horror for the hottest time of year.
By the end of the course, you’ll have a collection of fresh writing, peer feedback, and practical tools to continue your writing journey beyond the workshop.
Come ready to write, share, and grow.
This workshop is open to writers of all levels and genres.
PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO CLASS ON 7/24!!
Ages 15+
Fridays 6-8 pm
July 10- August 7
Registration Fee: $152