Begins Monday, January 13th, 2025

Now Enrolling!

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button (lower left) to talk with us.

Taught by Diana Spechler, author of the New York Times Opinion series Going Off. You can also find Diana's work in GQ, Esquire, Harper's, The Paris Review, and elsewhere, including two stories in The New York Times Opinion and a cover story in The New York Times Sunday Review. She writes a Substack about travel writing called Dispatches From The Road.

If you travel, you have to eat. (Even if you don’t travel, you have to eat.) Many people travel to eat. And there's a reason that traveling and eating go hand in hand: Food is never just food--it’s history, it's culture. It's also love, politics, luxury, necessity, art, and science. It is inextricable from both its place of origin and wherever it’s served.

In this class, we’ll talk about combining “food” and “place” into compelling stories. The "places" you write about can be as accessible as your hometown, or as far-flung as wherever your travels have taken you.

The majority of the writing in here will be in the form of personal essays. Weekly prompts will all you to experiment, and community interaction will give you support and feedback on your work. I will share great published essays for instruction and inspiration. By the end of the class, you will have drafts of four travel-and-food essays.

STUDENT TESTIMONIALS:

"I completed my first Writing Workshops class with Diana Spechler and it was actually my first writing class ever! It changed my view on writing/my writing. Diana was such a positive force for authentically and constructively encouraging the writer in me. I am forever grateful." -former student

“I cannot say enough about how much I enjoyed my online class through Writing Workshops with Diana Spechler. I was encouraged, challenged and had a blast; and my writing is finally getting the workshopping it needs. Thank you Blake and Diana for creating such an incredible experience! Will definitely be taking more classes ASAP!” -former student

“Diana’s workshop was a very good experience. It provided some good direction and structure for my writing, and that is exactly what I needed. I may want to repeat the course in the not too distant future in hopes of taking the next step with my writing.” -former student

"This workshop inspired me to explore the rich connections between food and place in my writing." -former student

"The Writing Essays About Travel & Food workshop was fantastic. Diana's guidance, combined with the community's feedback, helped me craft essays that truly captured the essence of my culinary and travel experiences." -former student

"Diana Spechler's workshop was an enriching experience. The prompts were thought-provoking, and the class discussions were incredibly supportive. I loved how the course intertwined the elements of food and travel, making each essay more vibrant and engaging. By the end, I had four solid drafts and a newfound appreciation for writing about these intertwined topics." -former student

"Diana Spechler's insights and prompts pushed my creativity in unexpected and delightful directions. The class was fantastic!" -former student

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

This class is entirely asynchronous which means you complete the weekly assignments on your own schedule. There are no set meeting times in order to allow for greater participation; your cohort will consist of writers from across different time zones, which allows for a wonderful diversity of voices.

Along with your weekly deadlines there is plenty of interaction with Diana and your peers within Wet Ink, our dedicated online classroom. Craft materials, lectures, reading assignments, and writing prompts are all available through the online classroom. Students also post work and provide and receive feedback within the online classroom environment.

You can get the work done as you see fit week-to-week, so it is perfect for any schedule. There are discussion questions each week inspired by the assigned readings and topics in the lecture notes. Students are encouraged to take these wherever is most compelling and/or useful for them. Diana engages with these discussions throughout the week and you will receive feedback from all assigned writing activities.

HOW DOES WET INK WORK?

Wet Ink was built and designed specifically for online writing classes. Wet Ink is private, easy to use, and very interactive. You can learn more about the Wet Ink platform by Watching a Class Demo.

• Instructor: Diana Spechler

• Class Starts Monday, January 13th, 2025
  

• Course is fully ONLINE; students can work according to their own schedule within weekly deadlines. Once you have enrolled the instructor will send you a link to our online classroom, provided via Wet Ink.

• Tuition is $259.