Wednesday evenings over Zoom: 9/30/2026- 11/4/2026
7:10 pm - 9:10 pm PT
Investment: $351 for member; $390 for non-members
August 11: Member registration opens at 10:30 am PT
August 18: General registration opens at 10:30 am PT
August 25: Scholarships open
August 30: Last day of Early Bird discount
“I live with the presence of death...I'm keenly attuned to how death relates to the systems we interface—how expensive it is, how preventing it can logistically ruin our lives, and also how it makes clear our relationships to people in our lives and what we're really here to do. Because of the way my walk with death has shaped my life, it's exciting and powerful to get to hold that space for other writers.” –Katherine Standefer, instructor
Everything dies.
It’s a fundamental truth, a universal experience, but it’s one we spend our whole lives grappling with.
Writing about death is equally complicated-- because death, in all of its sorrow and grief, coexists with our most precious, beautiful experiences. It can feel impossible to condense these complex feelings into words on a page, but in a culture obsessed with youth, constant growth, and newness, we need powerful storytelling about death, decline and decomposition more than ever. In this six-week reading and generative writing class, we’ll explore the craft of writing about death in all its complexity and richness.
We’ll read essays from writers like Audre Lorde, Jesmyn Ward, Eva Saulitis, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Emily Rapp Black, and discuss the way these writers talk about their relationship with death: How do these writers make long, slow declines interesting on the page? How do they make dense medical terminology accessible to readers? How do they balance the visceral, often gross nature of death with respect for those dying? How do their stories illuminate the systems and cultures we live within? In response to these striking essays and book excerpts, we’ll write into our own experiences, too. Leave with a new essay draft and starts for many more.
Perfect for creatives wanting to explore their relationship with death on the page.
This class focuses on:
Generative Writing: Producing new writing through prompts and exercises.
Craft & Technique: Improving writing skills, exploring elements like theme, voice, character, and more.
Close Reading & Analysis: Engaging deeply with published texts to examine craft, language, and style.
What to expect:
Reading & Analysis: Published works will be closely read as part of the learning process.
Class Discussion: Facilitated class conversation
Prompts & Exercises: Class features guided writing activities.
In-Class Writing Time: Class will include dedicated time to write.
Peer Feedback: Students share and critique each other’s work.
2-3 hours of reading and/or writing outside of class per week.
Students say…
“This was an excellent class, with thoughtful and diverse readings and perspectives, I feel I was introduced to a very wide breadth of literature on death which has helped me solve some problems I'm having in my own writing.”
“I was so grateful to find, in Kati, someone who was sensitive and empathetic to everybody's varying emotions around a difficult subject, while also being able to access humor and help us do the same. I am so grateful for the space she created, the way she and the readings validated a variety of perspectives around death, and the way she made it safe for us to take risks and safe to hold back if that was what we needed.”
