About Community Adult Workshops

Thurber House is a literary center located in downtown Columbus, Ohio in the restored home of humorist, author, and New Yorker cartoonist James Thurber. We offer creative writing, cartooning, and graphic novel programs for young writers and adults that inspire innovation, build critical thinking, enhance education, and entertain readers, writers, and artists of all ages.

We offer Adult Workshops and Visiting Author Sessions for schools, libraries, nonprofits, businesses, and community groups. These programs can be held at your location or our multipurpose space (Thurber Center, 91 Jefferson Avenue). To schedule a community workshop or author session for adults, please contact us at thurberhouse@thurberhouse.org or 614-464-1032.

Our adult workshops are suitable for groups of adults and adults/teens. Looking to schedule a children’s/teen program at your school, library, etc. instead? Click here.

To schedule a community workshop or author session, please contact us at thurberhouse@thurberhouse.org or 614-464-1032.

Available Workshop Topics

We teach fiction and nonfiction, prose and poetry, creative writing and professional writing, as well as cartooning and graphic novel creation. If you don’t see a topic listed here that you’re looking for, custom workshops and experiences are also available. For all questions, or to schedule a workshop at your location or ours, please contact us at thurberhouse@thurberhouse.org or 614-464-1032.

Our adult workshops are suitable for groups of adults and adults/teens. Looking to schedule a children’s/teen program at your school, library, etc. instead? Click here.

Sample Ready-Made Workshops

Below are some sample workshops we’ve offered. Many other topics and variations of these workshops are available from different instructors. If you don’t see a topic you’re looking for, we can create a custom workshop or experience just for you. For all questions, or to schedule a workshop at your location or ours, please contact us at thurberhouse@thurberhouse.org or 614-464-1032.

CULTIVATING KIDS’ CREATIVITY

Creativity is an essential skill in the 21st Century. These days, however, our children have limited opportunities to think creatively and practice creative processes. In this workshop, educators will explore the brain science of creativity, the creative process, creative approaches to academic activities, and ways for responding to children’s work that promote creative development. Creativity exists in everyone and can thrive in all academic disciplines. Educators have creative abilities, too. So, in order to facilitate our own creative thinking, we will make journals in which to record our thoughts about creativity and begin to collect ideas for future creative possibilities.

CREATIVITY INTERVENTION: A Means to Safe and Emotionally Healthy Schools

Creativity Intervention Training explores how creative writing and the arts can help students identify their stressors and how empathetic adult responses can support and guide students through the life challenges that impact their school behaviors. We will explore our own written and/or artistic expression and practice self-reflection in a nonjudgmental/psychologically safe environment. We will review some educational psychology, find out about three different models of Creativity Intervention, and witness examples of students’ creative expression that made positive changes in their lives. All students can improve their lives through creativity, but students at risk of bringing violence into schools are especially in need of relationships with adults that, through creativity, help them to be known, better understood, and guided toward strategies and resources for dealing with their challenges. Creative expression has the power to transform lives and make school a more enriching and safe place to learn.

Tips and Techniques for Writing Memoir

Do you have interesting memories to share, but struggle with how to tell them? This session will help you transform your memories to the page with writing exercises. We’ll learn and apply techniques for writing the short memoir, including how to “unpack” transformative moments about a person, place or thing. We’ll read short essays and mimic their techniques. By workshop’s end, you’ll leave with at least three drafts to get you started, as well as with tips on how to keep writing — and revising. This workshop is geared toward the writer at any level, from the beginning writer who has “all these great ideas,” to the writer searching for a jump start.

Novel Writing Workshop

This workshop is for those who either wish to or have started writing a novel. We will go over how to hook a reader with an opening, how to keep going through the murky middle, and ideas for sticking the ending. We will touch on the basics: character, plot, structure and how to avoid common pitfalls. Come with your current or potential novel ideas so that you can complete a few writing exercises with your story in mind. Open to any genre!

Beating Writer's Block

Whether it's a nasty bout of writer's block, a hectic schedule, or a lack of confidence, nearly every writer suffers through dry seasons or times of feeling stuck in a less-than-satisfying routine. This class is for anyone who has faced the blank page and the blank mind at the same time. We will experiment with prompts and exercises to kick-start your writing and discuss practices to adopt long term to help defeat the infamous writer’s block. Learn practical tips and exercises to bust through bad habits, make smart goals, find fertile writing ground, and stretch yourself to level up.

CREATING AUTHENTIC CHARACTERS

Whether we write fiction or creative nonfiction, we want our characters to stand out (and if you’re writing a memoir, yes, the people in your lives are characters). In this session, we’ll learn and apply several techniques to help make the characters in our storytelling authentic, be they fierce and messy or curious and quiet. We’ll read short excerpts from fiction and memoir—and we’ll study those techniques to generate our own writing. We’ll look at ways that dialogue, sensory descriptions, and pacing can keep our characters captivating. By workshop’s end, you’ll have drafted scenes to get you started, as well as receive tips on how to keep writing—and revising.

Commit to Submit

You’ve written an essay, a short story, some poems, or maybe a novel. So, what’s next, if you want to publish it? This session offers a step-by-step process for how to conduct a targeted search of where to publish your work, plus tips for organizing that process. Specifically, you’ll learn about online tools for doing a targeted search, the protocols for submitting your work (including links to drafting query letters), and use a sample worksheet to create your own action plan. This session also includes a handout that lists ways to find agents (primarily fiction/novel) and non-agented, small independent presses.

Disclaimer

Views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by event and program speakers in all mediums are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Thurber House, its affiliates, or its staff/board.

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