WHERE TO LEARN TO WRITE
Where in Rochester can you take classes to learn to be a writer? Or to better develop your literary skills?
The colleges and universites are terrific places to go. But if college life isn't for you, there are three places that can show you how to write.
WRITERS & BOOKS
Writers & Books. This is Rochester's premiere community literary center, and in fact one of the largest community-based literary centers in the entire country. Each year it guides over 25,000 people through a wide range of readings and instructions in virtually every literary genre.
Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Writers & Books programs include:
- writing classes and workshops for youth and adults held at our facilities;
- outreach programs held throughout the community, in schools, hospitals, libraries, senior citizen centers, recreation centers, and social service agencies;
- readings and talks by visiting and regional writers;
- residency programs at our rural retreat center, The Gell Center of the Finger Lakes;
- an annual Festival of Reading;
- an annual Regional Playwriting Competition held in collaboration with Geva Theater;
- internships in literary programming and management for high school and college students.
Writers & Books is simply and without a doubt the place to go in Rochester for literary instruction and for connecting with and learning from other writers. It's located at 740 University Avenue, near Atlantic Avenue in the Neighborhood of the Arts.
WRITE BOOKS AND GIFT SHOP
The Write Book and Gift Shop is led by co-owner and novelist Nick DiChario, who was Programs Director at Writers & Books for serveral years.
Located in the idyllic village of Honeoye Falls, New York, the Write Book and Gift Shop sells books and gift items, but also has an espresso bar for writers to sip while discussing their latest plot twist, and hosts literary talks and classes in writing. And very good ones too, by top-caliber local writers such as Tim Wright, Nancy Kress, and Nick DiChario himself.
Write Book and Gift Shop doesn't run the wide range of community programs that Writers & Books does, but the writing classes it offers are no less high in quality, and the Honeoye Falls setting makes it a pleasure to visit.
ROCHESTER INFO-COURSES
Rochester Info-Courses has taught courses in what seems like every topic under the sun, from Feng Shui to Photoshop to Casting Astrological Charts to Low-Fat Cooking.
Info-Courses' course offerings don't focus exclusively or even largely on writing, but they do offer writing classes in literary as well as non-literary subjects, and their course catalog is worth a visit.