Begins Monday, July 13, 2026

Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Mondays, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM EDT

🌍 Class Start Times by Time Zone: Los Angeles (PDT): 4:00 PM / Chicago (CDT): 6:00 PM / New York (EDT): 7:00 PM

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Instructor Bio

Instructor Jonathan Russell Clark has been publishing for more than a decade. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, LA Times, Esquire, Washington Post, Literary Hub, Vulture, Boston Globe, Rolling Stone, and dozens of other publications. He is also the author of three books: TIMECODES: THE CONVERSATION (forthcoming 2026), SKATEBOARD (2022), and AN OASIS OF HORROR IN A DESERT OF BOREDOM (2018). He holds an MFA from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Who is this class for?

This writing workshop is designed for essayists at any level who want to expand their structural range and tackle the pleasures and challenges of the braided form. Whether you're new to the essay or a practicing nonfiction writer looking to push your work in new directions, this course will give you the tools, the prompts, and the community to do it.

What to expect:

Great essays often occur at the intersection of multiple subjects. In this 8-week online writing workshop, Jonathan Russell Clark will guide students through the process of weaving together seemingly unrelated threads into a cohesive, surprising, and resonant braided essay. You won't begin with a plan — that's the point. Each week, you'll draft, discover, and gradually find the connections between your two assigned subjects, guided by close readings of essays that demonstrate both successful and unsuccessful approaches to the braided form.

The workshop structure combines craft discussion with hands-on peer workshopping. Each week, the class will examine a published essay alongside student work, building a vocabulary for what makes the form sing. Workshops are intimate and focused: every student will workshop their essay — or whatever portion they've produced — with the full class and receive written feedback from Clark. Beyond the weekly Zoom sessions, Clark will also meet individually with each student twice during the course: once at the start to discuss intentions and approach, and once after the essay draft is submitted to discuss revisions and next steps.

This creative writing course emphasizes surprise, possibility, and the productive discomfort of not knowing exactly where you're going. By working with materials that don't obviously connect, students learn to discover meaning rather than impose it — one of the most valuable skills any nonfiction writer can develop.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will produce a working draft of a complete braided essay, developed and revised across the full eight weeks. Each student will workshop their essay with peers and receive written comments from the instructor, as well as two one-on-one sessions with Clark for individualized guidance. Students will leave with a finished draft, a set of structural techniques applicable to future nonfiction projects, and greater confidence in their ability to work across disparate ideas and tones.

Readings

Readings may include essays by:

Lilly Dancyger, "Looking at an Eclipse" Zadie Smith, "Meet Justin Bieber!" Eula Biss, "Time and Distance Overcome" Chuck Klosterman, "T Is for True" Jonathan Russell Clark, "Control the Echoes"

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: Introduction — After a brief introduction to the braided essay form, students will each pick or be assigned two subjects that will anchor their essays. Topics may be selected at random or chosen by the student; instructor encouragement leans toward assignment, but student comfort is respected.

Week 2: Workshop #1 — Discuss Lilly Dancyger's "Looking at an Eclipse" + the mathematical approach to essay structure.

Week 3: Workshop #2 — Discuss Zadie Smith's "Meet Justin Bieber!" + finding connections between disparate subjects.

Week 4: Workshop #3 — Discuss Eula Biss's "Time and Distance Overcome" + the infinite possibilities of space breaks.

Week 5: Workshop #4 — Discuss Chuck Klosterman's "T Is for True" + the joy and pain of research.

Week 6: Workshop #5 — Discuss Jonathan Russell Clark's "Control the Echoes" + balancing tone.

Week 7: Workshop #6 — The pain and joy of revision.

Week 8: Final meeting — Discuss how tackling this project has informed your writing practice moving forward.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• A completed working draft of a braided essay, developed and revised across eight weeks
• Written feedback from the instructor on your essay draft
• Two one-on-one sessions with Jonathan Russell Clark for individualized guidance
• Techniques for structuring essays around multiple narrative threads, including mathematical approaches to organization and the use of space breaks
• Strategies for finding and deepening unexpected connections between disparate subjects
• Greater confidence in approaching structurally complex nonfiction projects

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $545 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Jonathan Russell Clark
• Begins Monday, July 13, 2026
• Class will meet weekly via Zoom on Mondays, 7:00 PM EDT
• Tuition is $545 USD.