Replays

Replay Videos and Class Notes are password-protected for alumni only. They’re posted within two days of each class and accessible with a password emailed to registered students. If you did not receive a password for your registered class, check your email’s spam or newsletters folder, or email us for help. If you did not register for a class but would like to view it, you can purchase Replays from our Campus Shop.

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Spring ’20 Semester

The Secret of Longform Features with Omar Mouallem

May 29/20: This session with Omar Mouallem exposes the craft of longform narrative journalism in the style of The New Yorker, Harper’s, and Esquire. Journalism does not have to conform to the so-called “inverted pyramid” of facts. This webinar explains how to craft a riveting true story with nothing but the facts and an arsenal of interview questions. You’ll learn to apply traditional story principles to your subjects, such as tension and release and characterization, in order to create gripping stories that go beyond the headlines. All it takes is time and an ear for detail.

Starting Your TV Comedy Pilot with Kaitlin Fontana

May 28/20: This session with Kaitlin Fontana will get you started on your TV pilot outline, logline, and script. You’ve always wanted to write a half-hour comedy TV pilot, but where to begin? In this introductory session, Kaitlin, an Emmy-nominated writer for television and film, will show you how to develop your idea into a logline, and your logline into an outline. In 1.5 hrs, you’ll have your blueprint to begin writing your TV comedy pilot script.

Writing About Trauma (Including Your Own) with Christina Frangou

May 25/20: This session with acclaimed health journalist Christina Frangou will help you cross a minefield of the difficult questions raised covering difficult times. There is no right way to write about trauma but there are many wrong ways, especially when you are writing about the most difficult moments of someone else’s life. This talk will first cover Christina Frangou’s experiences writing about events in her life—what were the unexpected consequences of writing about her story? And how does this change the way she writes about other people?

Pitch Perfect: Selling Your Magazine Story with Omar Mouallem

May 19/20: This class with PanU creator Omar Mouallem will teach you how to craft a story pitch that editors can’t turn down. It may sound simple, but there are numerous unwritten rules to the magazine query. “Know the audience” and “study the book” are just a few, but there’s also the pressing question of how to get your foot in the door and structure your pitches. Join Omar Mouallem, a career-long freelance magazine writer and editor, for a 90-minute seminar that will get you one step closer to writing for your favourite publications.

When Journalism Gets Personal with Hadiya Roderique

May 18/20: This class with Hadiya Roderique, a gutsy journalist, lawyer, and public speaker, offers an inside look into the crafting of long-form and short-form personal essays. The personal essay is a popular and compelling type of creative nonfiction. You are the main event. You give the reader a glimpse or deep look into your life, your world, your mind, and your actions. In this class, we’ll explore the art of inserting yourself into a story via first-person narration where you are the main character. Hadiya Roderique will lead you through the creation of some of her first-person journalism, as well as the works of others, giving you an inside look into the crafting of long-form and short-form personal essays.

Here Be Monsters: Empathy & Crime Writing with Katherine Laidlaw

May 15/20: This session with National Magazine Award-winning journalist Katherine Laidlaw helps true crime storytellers raise the ethical bar of an often exploitative genre. In an era where a new, buzzy true crime story seems to hit the internet every week – either as a magazine story, podcast, or documentary – how do we as storytellers manage the myriad thorny ethical questions that come with reporting and writing these pieces? How do empathy and crime reporting fit together? How much empathy is too much? Do we always have to pick a side? And what happens when you empathize with both? These are questions that come up when covering perpetrators and victims of crime. Katherine will draw on seminal work by other journalists to outline the unexpected ways empathy can be an asset and a detriment in crime writing.

Cookbook Confidential: Recipe of a Misunderstood Artform with Jennifer Cockrall-King

May 11/20: This workshop Gourmand World Cookbook winner Jennifer Cockrall-King and chef Shane Chartrand shares what it really takes to make a successful cookbook. Whether you are hoping to turn your family’s treasured recipe collection into a beautiful keepsake or you want to land a deal with a major publisher, writing a cookbook is more than just a collection and transcription process. Learn about the fundamentals of writing solid recipes, how to make sure they work in most kitchens, and find the thread of a story line that pulls them all together. Then consider photography and other important publishing decisions–whether you work with a publisher or go it on your own.

(Write It!) Like Disaster: Poetry in the Time of Coronavirus with Michael Lista

May 9/20: This workshop with acclaimed poet and literary critic Michael Lista will inspire you to turn this global pandemic into meaningful art. We’ll look at the poems of Elizabeth Bishop, Philip Larkin, Robert Frost, and Seamus Heaney, with an eye to how they each in their own way transformed fiascos, both personal and political, into poetry. For both writers and readers, this class will examine how some of the greatest literary minds of the last hundred years articulated disaster, and made music from it.

Writing From Afar (Once That’s OK Again) with Marcello Di Cintio

May 7/20: This session with Marcello Di Cintio walks you through the artform—why it matters and what makes it sing. In a world where every place has been discovered, what is the point of travel writing? In this workshop with a famously thoughtful travel writer, we will discuss the changing role of narrative travel journalism in today’s hyper-connected world. When writers go off to seek stories in the great wide world, what are their goals and responsibilities, how do they portray the Other, and how far should they go to create compelling art?

Edge of Your Seat: Mastering Conflict and Tension with Ayelet Tsabari

May 1/20: This class with Ayelet Tsabari lifts the veil on how story tension works—and how it can work even better. Conflict and tension are two literary terms that may seem vague or elusive, and are often used interchangeably. What is the difference and what is the relationship between conflict and tension? How do we create a narrative that makes readers feel on the edge of their seat? In this seminar, a memoir and short fiction master will discuss ways to create tension in our fiction and creative nonfiction, and highlight conflict by using literary techniques such as pacing, rhythm, dynamic dialogue, foreshadowing, withholding, and more.

Quarantine is the Best Time to Write That Book Proposal with Michael Hingston

Apr. 30/20: This session with Michael Hingston demystifies the elusive nonfiction book proposal while helping you land an agent and publishing contract. When it comes to non-fiction, you have to write the proposal before you write the book. The award-winning author and publisher has written many of these proposals over the years. From the overview to market research to the table of contents, Michael will share real-life examples and show you how to put together a proposal that will make your idea shine.

Beyond 3124: The Power of Structure in True Stories with Jana G. Pruden

Apr. 25/20: This workshop Jana G. Pruden proves there are almost endless methods to reporting a true story. She looks at the use of narrative structure in journalism and nonfiction. The class will consider both classic and non-traditional story structures, and how these forms can be used to organize research and source material, and guide storytelling. Using practical techniques and real-life examples, this workshop will give participants valuable insight into how one of the foundations of fiction can be used to tell true stories.

The Modern Writers’ Tech Toolbox with Omar Mouallem

Apr. 21/20: Watch prolific freelancer Omar Mouallem crack open his toolbox to show how you can make your workflow more efficient and organized. Omar will introduce you to all the latest tech making 21st Century writing more efficient, from word processors built to manage huge projects, surprisingly accurate automatic transcription, A.I. that polishes prose, and “smart pens.” Omar will also give advice on optimizing basic tools, like voice-to-text and text-to-voice, and demo distraction-killer apps to keep your ass in your seat.

An Appetite for Story: Food Writing Fundamentals with Jennifer Cockrall-King

Apr. 20/20: Watch Jennifer’s crash-course for food bloggers, journalists, and gourmands alike. Whether you want to record family memories, start a food blog, pen memoirs or essays with food in the starring roles, or pitch an idea to your favourite magazine or newspaper, this course is for you. Jennifer will provide you with a toolkit to find your communication medium. Her class will help you zero in on your subject matter, establish your food writing voice, and finally get going on your dreams.