What is Radiant Academia?

A writing, revision, and feedback class where we analyze mentor texts to gain new craft skills, present on and analyze each others’ work in a workshop of recognition, and do annotations on a physical copy of your 50-200 page manuscript.

When is it?

September 3 - December 20, 2024

Class meetings Tuesdays at 12pm EDT;

9/3

9/10

9/17

9/24

11/5

11/12

11/19

Mini-group meetings at your group’s discretion

What’s the vibe?

• Expanding possibility in your work — making it more experimental, unique, and specific to your artistic vision

• Learning new craft and revision concepts in Tuesday lectures

• Academic — highlighting, annotating, post-it-noting, colored pen notes on physical manuscripts

• Careful reading & thoughtful feedback

• Close-knit community with other dedicated writers

• Making serious progress on your manuscript

What makes Radiant Academia special?

This class has a lot of the core features of a supportive writing class, such as live meetings, deadlines, and guided revision and writing exercises. But there are a few unique elements that I have curated over the years to best serve writers and their unique visions;

Mini-groups

You’ll be placed into a mini-group with two other writers who are tackling similar ambitious writing goals, or operating in the same genre as you. This is a place where you can share more overlap in your reading lists and be close readers to each others’ work. In addition to the regularly scheduled meetings that I’ll lead with the three of you, you can also design further meetings with your mini-group or smaller deadlines to help each other finish your work. I’ll be assigning more specific goals to the mini-groups as we get deeper into your projects so that you can all apply your own writing skills and perspectives to each others’ work.

Manuscript Review

The final third of Radiant Academia is an exchange of physical manuscripts. Throughout the fall, you’ll use revision exercises and workshop to put together a 20-300 page manuscript to submit. You will then be printing out and annotating the two manuscripts from your mini-group, and then mailing them off in November. You’ll receive back three annotated copies of your own manuscript, from your mini-group members and from me. After our revision-focused classes, you’ll spend some time applying the handwritten notes to your revised draft. We’ll then read your revised draft and discuss in mini-groups.

Hackathon Week

We have daily write-ins to keep up the momentum and make sure you finish any lingering projects that you don’t want to bring with you into the new year. During this week we’ll also wrap up our review of your annotated manuscript notes.

Are there any genre requirements?

There are no genre constraints. The only commonality between writers in this class is that everyone is working towards a manuscript — it could be fiction, non-fiction, memoir, experimental poetry, epic fantasy, realism, surrealism, etc.

In your mini-groups of 3 writers you’ll likely be placed with writers who have similar aesthetics or goals (ex. multi-pov fantasy novels) so that you can help each other with the common pitfalls and celebrate the strengths of your specific genre.

Is this a good fit for me?

If you’re feeling like you want to give your writing project a big push, and if you’re someone who works well with accountability, deadlines, and community, then this is the spot for you!

You should also fill out the syllabus request form below and let me know your writing goals for this fall. We already have a wonderful group of writers signed up for this class, and I’m making assignments for mini-groups based on genre, goals, and scope of the project, so I’d love to know more about what type of writing you’re bringing to the class.

Can I sign up even if I’m not in the Mini MFA?

Yes! The Mini MFA consists of two semesters, Radical Collapse in the Spring and Radiant Academia in the fall. However, you can register for either one of these classes on their own.

If you join Radiant Academia for this semester, I promise you won’t be a fish out of water! There are all-new cohorts formed in the fall and I put a lot of thought into the curation of the mini-groups. You’ll fit right in!

When is the registration deadline?

August 20.

Can I read the syllabus?

Request your syllabus at the form below!

(Mini-MFAers who are already registered — be sure to check your email for your syllabus!)

Are we required to wear tweed blazers to class?

No, this isn’t dark academia, it’s radiant academia. So please wear neon.