Classes & Workshops
“Every course I have taken at NOWW has been on point! The teachers all share a passion for creativity! Inspiring indeed.”Isabella Christodoulou on NOWW Teachers
White knuckles, frayed nerves:Practical Strategies for Generating Suspense in Fiction
(All Levels, In-Person)
Instructor: Adrian Van Young
Genre: Fiction
Number of Sessions: 1
Meets: 1 – 4 PM CT
Dates: Saturday, October 17, 2026
Where: Burnt Canoe Studios (4820 Banks St New Orleans, LA 70119)
Cost: $155/ $140 early bird until September 1, 2026.
– Two first come discounted spots for BIPOC students at $77.50/ $70 until September 1, 2026.
This hands-on workshop is for any fiction writer–genre or literary–who wants to create visceral, palpable suspense on the page. We’ll take a deep dive into the fragile and powerful craft of suspense, including the narrative mechanics of building tension in-scene, atmosphere and setting as the handmaidens of discomfort, and the importance of withholding on the page. Short excerpts from contemporary writers will offer participants key insights into techniques for building suspense in fiction, before we move on to custom, guided exercises designed to generate material that will keep your readers on the edge of their seats.
As your instructor, I’ve spent decades writing and editing dark, suspenseful stories and novels that subvert genre expectations and leave readers feeling haunted and squirmy, so I’ll also be sharing personal experiences from my own writing process, including choices and challenges I faced in writing my latest novel, Rough Beast, a New Orleans noir psychological thriller. In short, I’ll be offering up to the class what I wish someone had shown me eons ago.
Test your skills: tuition includes written feedback from the instructor on a scene to be submitted via email in the week after the workshop. 2000 words max.”
adrian van young
Adrian Van Young is the author of five books of fiction–most recently, ROUGH BEAST, a heavy metal New Orleans noir novel coming from Black Lawrence Press in October 2027. His fiction, non-fiction & criticism have been published or are forthcoming in Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, Conjunctions, Guernica, BOMB, Granta, McSweeney’s and The New Yorker online, among others. He teaches part-time in the MFA Program at University of New Orleans, is a professional freelance editor, and currently splits his time between New Orleans and Paris, where he lives with his family. More at: adrianvanyoung.com.
Let’s Get a Little freakY: A Friday the 13th tarot inspired evening
(All Levels, In-Person)
Instructor: Allison Alsup
Genre: Narrative
Number of Sessions: 1
Meets: 6 – 8:15 PM CT
Dates: Friday, November 13, 2026
Where: Burnt Canoe Studios (4820 Banks St New Orleans, LA 70119)
Cost: $80/ $74 early bird until November 1, 2026.
– Two first come discounted spots for BIPOC students at $40/ $37 until November 1, 2026.
Calling all creative spirits: join us for a fun, interactive craft session in which the tarot will be our guide. While we won’t necessarily be telling the future, we will be engaging in custom exercises and generating new pages built around the tarot’s endless possibilities. No need to bring story ideas; we’ll let the cards fall as they will with participants picking the cards on the spot.
The tarot has survived over five hundred years, precisely because of its narrative appeal, drawing on universal archetypes and images that beg for interpretation. No knowledge of the tarot required–although you will leave knowing a thing or two about the cards, including how to use them as a writer, prompting ideas and even adding juice to existing material.
We’ll have a break, offering time to mix with other writers, refill your glass and nibble on cheese and charcuterie before diving into a second round of custom exercises. This session is designed for writers of all levels–whether you’re a first time workshop participant or a seasoned writer looking for fresh takes on process and craft..
Note: Wine and sparkling water, as well as a hearty snack spread, provided.
Special Critique Option–Tarot Participants Only:
Put your skills to the test and get detailed, written feedback from your instructor on your tarot-inspired material. Work to be submitted via email within nine days of the session. 2500 words max. $65.
allison Alsup
Allison Alsup is an award-winning writer, teacher and editor. Her debut novel, Foreign Seed, was published by Turner Publishing in June 2024 and was named a finalist in debut fiction by the 2025 American Jewish Book Awards. She holds an M.F.A. in Fiction from Emerson College. Her short fiction has won multiple contests and appears, among other places, in the 2014 O’Henry Prize Stories and the U.K.‘s 2018 Manchester Fiction Prize shortlist, her non-fiction in Best Food Writing 2015.
As co-founder of the New Orleans Writers Workshop, Allison has taught a multitude of classes, helping hundreds of writers to hone their craft and achieve their creative writing goals–whether that be revising a story, seeking their first publication or applying to M.F.A. programs.
Allison also mentors writers one on one, both in New Orleans and across the United States, on projects ranging from short personal essays to full-length novels. She oversees the developmental editorial services for the New Orleans Writers Workshop.
november nights, new pages:A 3-Week Writing Lab
(All Levels, In-Person)
Instructor: Jessica Kinnison
Genre: Narrative
Number of Sessions: 3
Meets: 6 – 8 PM CT
Dates: Thursdays, November 5, 12, and 19, 2026
Where: Burnt Canoe Studios (4820 Banks St New Orleans, LA 70119)
Cost: $210/ $195 early bird until October 15, 2026.
– Two first come discounted spots for BIPOC students at $105/ $97.50 until October 15, 2026.
Whether you are crafting the opening sentence of your first story, returning to the page after a long break, or searching for a fresh spark of inspiration, this class is designed for you. This course is also the perfect launchpad to develop new material in preparation for a longer-form critique workshop.
Over three evening sessions in November, we will demystify the creative process in a supportive, low-pressure environment. Each week features a short craft talk and a guided writing exercise followed by a take-home assignment to keep your momentum going between classes. To ensure your words get the attention they deserve, the instructor will provide personalized, written feedback on a piece of your choice after our last session.
What’s Included:
- Three live evening workshop sessions.
- Three guided, in-class writing exercises.
- Three at-home writing assignments to build your portfolio.
- One final piece of comprehensive instructor feedback on your work of up to 3000 words after the course ends.
jessica kinnison
Jessica Kinnison’s work has appeared in The Historic New Orleans Collection, Columbia Journal, and The Southern Humanities Review, among other publications. A 2018 Kenyon Review Peter Taylor Fellow, her work has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. In April 2020, she was listed among eight New Orleans poets to watch in POETS & WRITERS. She holds an MFA in fiction and pedagogy from Chatham University in Pittsburgh where she taught at the Allegheny County Jail. A Mississippi native, she is co-founder of the New Orleans Writers Workshop and cohost of the writing podcast Writing Stories.