San Francisco is proud to use The Writers Studio method, developed by Pulitzer Prize winner Philip Schultz over the past 35 years. We use the Writers Studio method to help students discover and nurture their own voices by “trying on” many approaches to fiction and poetry. We welcome students at all stages, from those who have only dreamed of writing fiction or poetry to those with MFAs hungry for additional serious, ongoing instruction. Students provide the desire to write and the willingness to learn, and we provide the structure, the technical know-how, the professional feedback and the friendly community to help them reach their full potential. 

Students attend The Writers Studio San Francisco writing classes at their scheduled times via Zoom. We see more and more students from all over the country join our classes and are delighted at this blossoming. 

Zoom allows us to create an in-person class environment without the commute. Join us to listen, laugh, read, and learn with fellow writers. Each week, every student writes, every student gets feedback and we look together at the exercise for the week to come.

We are also now scheduling a variety of in-person events where readings, chat, and celebration abound. 

The Writers Studio San Francisco branch opened in 2007, and our students have been exceptionally successful with over 100 publications in the last few years, and several Pushcart Prize nominations and book publications. 

Interested in poetry and fiction? Begin our in-depth core curriculum comprising four levels: workshop, intermediate, advanced and masters. 

Interested in essays as creative nonfiction? We offer two levels: workshop and advanced.We are glad to be part of the large fabric of classes offered by The Writers Studio across the country and now in Rome. If you have taken classes from other teachers in other locations, we are happy to welcome you into our classes and events. Just drop Gail Ford, director, a line at gail@writerstudio.com.

Online Essays and the Persona Narrator

The San Francisco branch also offers Online Essays and the Persona Narrator–both an introductory and advanced course that introduces students to using the Writers Studio method in the service of essay writing.

For more information, email Gail Ford, director of The Writers Studio San Francisco at gail@writerstudio.com. Receive news of workshops, readings and other literary offerings by adding your name to our San Francisco newsletter.

When I took an introductory Writers Studio class with Lorraine Babb and began writing ‘Thirst,’ I could not have predicted that the first piece of fiction I’d publish would win a Pushcart Prize. Babb’s class taught me how to craft a narrator with a distinctive voice and I am delighted at where that took me!
Taymiya R. Zaman

Available San Francisco Courses