{"id":4629,"date":"2025-08-10T14:28:29","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T18:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/?p=4629"},"modified":"2025-08-10T14:28:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T18:28:29","slug":"charlotte-lit-serves-up-a-smorgasbord-of-classes-and-events","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/blog\/2025\/08\/10\/charlotte-lit-serves-up-a-smorgasbord-of-classes-and-events\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlotte Lit Serves Up a Smorgasbord of Classes and Events"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I am half Swedish. My mother\u2019s ancestors immigrated to America from Sweden in the early 20th<\/sup> century, and they brought with them traditions that my mother honored throughout my childhood.  On celebratory occasions, my mother would set up a traditional Swedish smorgasbord that included a wide variety cold and hot dishes.  My love of pickled herring can be traced back to my mother\u2019s elaborate smorgasbords.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The word smorgasbord <\/em>popped into my head when Paula Martinac, Charlotte Lit\u2019s Community Coordinator, sent me a writeup about Charlotte Lit\u2019s programming for this fall. Like a traditional Swedish smorgasbord, Charlotte Lit\u2019s fall lineup includes a variety of tempting offerings. Also like a smorgasbord, it has a celebratory quality to it, for this year\u2019s programming marks Charlotte Lit\u2019s tenth anniversary of providing the Charlotte community with writing courses and literary events. \u201cBut you don\u2019t have to take my word for it,\u201d as LeVar Burton said on Reading Rainbow. <\/em>Here is what Paula sent to me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlotte Lit is starting its tenth year of programming this fall\u2014and in our brand-new studio space in Uptown! We have a great selection of classes and events designed to appeal to writers and readers with different interests in the literary arts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making its debut in our class lineup is the mini-lab, a condensed version of our signature writers’ intensives, <\/em>Authors Lab<\/em><\/strong><\/a> and <\/em>Poetry Chapbook Lab<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. Mini-labs incorporate expert instruction with discussion, prompts to get folks writing, a workshop component, and most important, community building. Students can choose a six-week class in personal essay writing with Rebecca McClanahan, or a five-week class in short-form prose with Luke Whisnant. We recently ran spotlights on both Rebecca and Luke on <\/em>our blog<\/em><\/a>. There will be mini-labs in playwriting and poetry in Winter\u2013Spring 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re also premiering a four-week literature class taught by UNC Charlotte Professor Emerita Jennifer Munroe. Watch out, because Jen will be highlighting the somewhat weirder elements of Shakespeare\u2019s plays, including poisons and potions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our short classes highlight special topics in all genres, with favorite teachers like Tara Campbell, Angelo Geter, Patrice Gopo, David Hicks, and C.T. Salazar. 2025 GoodLit Poetry Fellow Olivia Dorsey Peacock, a self-described \u201ctea maven,\u201d will lead a tea meditation designed to awaken the senses and spark creativity. In fiction fundamentals, Paula Martinac will demystify point of view while Heather Newton from Flatiron Writers Room in Asheville will explore how to strengthen dialogue. For those ready to submit work for publication, Paul Reali\u2019s class will take the angst out of the often-confusing process.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to in-person classes that showcase our new space, we\u2019ve got online sessions for those who live farther away. Most of our classes appeal to all levels of writers, from beginners on up, but we offer master classes for more advanced students. This semester, Robin Hemley will be in town to lead a master class on using objects in creative nonfiction, and Jan Beatty will teach about writing risk in poetry.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exclusively for Charlotte Lit members, Rebecca McClanahan will offer a free multi-genre session musically titled \u201cBewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered: Three Pathways to Our Deepest Work.\u201d (Pro tip: You can join Charlotte Lit any time before September to get this benefit.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fall 2025 class schedule is available now at <\/em>charlottelit.org\/classes<\/em><\/a>. In November, we\u2019ll announce the Winter\u2013Spring classes, featuring new offerings by popular faculty like Bryn Chancellor, Kathie Collins, Judy Goldman, and Charlotte Poet Laureate Junious \u201cJay\u201d Ward.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, of course, we\u2019ll have plenty of events! <\/em>O<\/em>ur official studio launch is Friday, October 3, which will be a jam-packed day of special programming\u2014watch our newsletter for the lineup. In addition, we\u2019ll host a faculty talk on memoir writing, with Judy Goldman and Robin Hemley; a book launch for Lola Haskins\u2019 new poetry collection; an evening edition of our popular Pen to Paper writing community, with Megan Rich; a reading by Poetry Chapbook mentor Nickole Brown; and a panel discussion called \u201cLessons from the Slush Pile: <\/em>Advice on Journal Submissions from Editors and Readers.\u201d There\u2019s a lot going on, and folks will find full descriptions on our website: <\/em>charlottelit.org\/<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would like to offer Charlotte Lit a toast for providing Storied Charlotte with this veritable smorgasbord of classes and events, so in the tradition of my Swedish ancestors, let\u2019s raise our virtual glasses and say sk\u00e5l!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am half Swedish. My mother\u2019s ancestors immigrated to America from Sweden in the early 20th century, and they brought with them traditions that my mother honored throughout my childhood.  On celebratory occasions, my mother would set up a traditional Swedish smorgasbord that included a wide variety cold and hot dishes.  My love of pickled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[288],"class_list":["post-4629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-storied-charlotte","tag-charlotte-lit"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4629"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4631,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4629\/revisions\/4631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/mark-west\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}