The Faculty
Eight minds, eight lessons.
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For writers between workshops, between books, or between phases of practice — working on a novel or story collection, looking to refresh their craft. Intermediate to advanced. Fiction-focused — literary, genre, or anything between.
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First sentences are doors to worlds. They open. They grab. They lunge. We'll uncover what makes a sentence that captures and holds hostage a reader's attention — and you'll leave with a bank of first sentences as springboards for your own work.
Yale '23, Columbia MFA. Her work has appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, New Ohio Review, Black Warrior Review, The Yale Literary Magazine, and elsewhere. Nominated for Best of the Net. Teaches at Gotham Writers Workshop and The Center for Fiction.
Baylina was an amazing professor — always super compassionate and engaging, leaving great critiques on my work. She led discussions in a thoughtful, professional way while keeping them fun. She made critique sessions feel weighty, informative, and exciting. She really helped push my writing to the next level.— Past student
How can details in writing become as granular and textured as possible — and how, through them, can we immerse readers fully into a scene? We'll look at writers who render scene in astonishing detail (Eugenides, Ishiguro, Keegan, O'Connor, Bulawayo) and identify the craft decisions that enable them to do so. In-class exercises will let you implement what you learn.
Earned her MFA in fiction at Columbia, where she was a Henfield Prize nominee and taught as Adjunct Assistant Professor. Her work has appeared in Hobart Pulp, Dream Boy Book Club, and The New Limestone Review, among others. From Los Angeles.
We spend a lot of time mapping out our story — not enough time figuring out the best way to tell it. Scenes are how we deliver a story's pivotal moments. We'll use food and meals as an entry point: exploring the aspects of a scene and the ways to best serve them for our readers.
Author of the graphic novel Chhotu: A Tale of Love and Partition (Comic-Con India "Best Writer") and the travelogue Food of the Gods, both with Penguin Random House. Columbia MFA, Felipe De Alba Fellow. Teaches at Columbia, NYU, Center for Fiction, Gotham, and 826NYC.
Varud wasn't judgmental — he was realistic and didn't sugar-coat. He supported all his students and pushed us to learn, grow, change, and put out the best work we could. If I ever become an author, I'd like to credit him for being the catalyst that started my journey.— Former Gotham Writers student
How does it feel to speed through a lifetime in just a few pages? Is it possible to extend a single, brief moment to the length of a novel? We'll explore narrative timelines that stretch and condense, push and pull, ebb and flow — using in-class generative exercises spanning plot, style, and syntax to transform time in your own fiction.
Writer and translator in New York. Columbia MFA. Adjunct Assistant Professor in Columbia's Undergraduate Creative Writing Program; instructor with the Columbia Summer Pre-College Program; jury advisor with New Books in German. Previously director of Columbia Artist/Teachers; Fulbright grantee in Hamburg.
Regan was such a good instructor. She was super kind and understanding, but she also challenged us to experiment and go outside of our comfort zones. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher.— Past student
First person is the perspective of choice for twenty-first century writers — but how do we use it to the fullest? Successful first person cracks open the narrator's psyche and invites the reader to crawl inside. If everything has been done before, how can a single voice pop? Through specificity and filtering of information, first person can be one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal.
Weird-fiction writer from New York. Her work has appeared in Apex Magazine, Bloodletter Magazine, and elsewhere. Recipient of the 2022 Rex Warner Prize for fiction. Taught creative writing at Columbia University.
Professor Severino was the first creative writing prof I've had that really TAUGHT us things. She gave us tools, then told us to go out and use them — or not use them — as we please.— Past student
Three more working writers join the cohort. Each delivers the single craft lesson they keep coming back to. Stay in the loop below.
Three more working writers join the cohort. Each delivers the single craft lesson they keep coming back to. Stay in the loop below.
Three more working writers join the cohort. Each delivers the single craft lesson they keep coming back to. Stay in the loop below.
Live on Zoom, 120 minutes each — an interactive seminar with the instructor, with substantial Q&A and discussion. Each session ends with a generative prompt to keep you writing. The cohort opens with an orientation a week before the first session and closes with a roundtable a week after the last. The one-sheet for each week is yours to keep forever.
No. Each session ends with a generative prompt, but sharing is opt-in. Pilcrow is designed for writers who already have feedback channels — a workshop, a writing group, a partner. If you'd like instructor feedback specifically, 1-on-1 manuscript reviews are available separately.
Yes — built around the cohort itself. The series opens with a Cohort Orientation (Tue, Sept 8) where you meet the other writers, and closes with a Cohort Roundtable (Tue, Nov 10) for a broad Q&A and what's-next conversation. Many cohorts continue meeting as their own writing group after the series ends.
Tuition is $500 for the eight-week course — the introductory rate for our Fall 2026 pilot cohort.
Yes — after the course, you can request private mentoring sessions or manuscript reviews with any faculty member. All 1-on-1s are coordinated through Pilcrow: tell us what you need, we'll confirm availability with the instructor and send you a quote. See the 1-on-1 page for more.
Full refund within 14 days of enrollment, no questions. After the course begins, enrollment is non-refundable.
Starts Sept 15 · 14-day full refund · No questions asked
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