Hello Jane,

I am writing to tell you about the wonderful fiction workshop I took with Jamey Genna through the Writing Salon. I found Jamey to be an experienced and thoughtful teacher, structuring the class to cover basic, and later advanced, writing issues, bringing well-written and interesting stories into class for group analysis and discussion of writing craft. She brought many new writers to my attention in this way. Jamey’s classes introduced basic craft lessons for the beginning student and reinforced the skills of the advanced writers.

In the second part of the evening we shared our work with each other. Jamey’s class attracted a great circle of writers. The other students in the fiction workshop were helpful, insightful, friendly, never competitive. We all checked our egos at the door and got some real work done, giving and receiving constructive feedback on our writing.

The most helpful feedback was always from Jamey who I found was respectful of my artistic intent and gave me specific suggestions which I could implement to improve my writing. The insights I garnered from this fiction workshop helped me bring my own work up to a publication-ready level. In December 2008 I published my first piece of serious literary fiction, “The Palindrome” in the Exquisite Corpse and I have recently had “The Milk Brother” accepted for publication by Alimentum magazine in 2010. Both of these stories were pieces I polished in her fall 08 and winter 09 fiction workshops.

I highly recommend this class for fiction, flash or creative nonfiction writers from beginning to advanced. Working with Jamey has been great. I loved it so much, I re-upped, along with a group of other students. What better recommendation can there be than that?

Laura Riggs

Hi Jamey,

Just wanted to thank you for a great class. I learned a great deal and felt thoroughly challenged throughout, but most importantly for me, the class got me writing actual pieces, which was a huge victory and has made the entire process feel a lot more approachable. Things moved pretty fast for me and I was introduced to a lot of new ideas, and I feel like I could use some time to practice and review before taking another workshop, but I’d like to again in the Fall.

Thanks again for your help getting me started in this strangely compelling mess that is creative writing. Have a lovely summer, hope to see you again in a couple months, hopefully with some new writing to show for myself. Gonna’ start on that now…

Take care,
Elijah

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I’d like to take a moment to let you know how I found Jamey Genna’s winter fiction class. I wasn’t sure when I signed up for the class last winter how I would find her teaching style. As well, I wondered whether my fellow students and I would be a match.

I was thrilled by the class she taught. Each Wednesday evening, our time would be split into discussion of elements of fiction, and discussion of prominent published fiction writers; both current and some from past decades. Finally, the majority of the time was spent discussing two or three of the class members’ work. Each student was required to submit via email, their writing the week prior to the class and to Jamey, if it was to be workshopped that week. This was the greatest strength of the class; the in-depth analysis, written and verbal comments provided by Jamey to the student being workshopped. An important addition was the ongoing commitment of our fellow students to provide analysis and positive and constructive suggestions to the fellow student being workshopped. Together, this synergy between the instructor and her students created an environment that encouraged and facilitated my growth as a writer.

I wouldn’t hesitate to take Jamey Genna’s class again nor would I hesitate to encourage another writer to do the same.

Best wishes, Stephen Riave

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I really enjoyed Jamey Genna’s Fiction Workshop! For some time, I’ve wanted to write fiction, but didn’t know how to begin — this class was a perfect introduction. As an instructor, Jamey was accessible, insightful, dedicated, and truly inspiring. The classes had a well-organized yet easy-going feel to them. Each evening consisted of instruction in writer’s craft, in-class writing exercises, followed by group discussion of class participants’ fiction. I was new to this workshop process, and while I was initially intimidated by the idea of group critique, I found the process incredibly helpful — and fun! Jamey’s direction of discussion ensured a challenging but gracious dynamic. Her feedback (both in workshop, and in written comments) was razor-sharp. I would definitely recommend this class to any writer, whatever their experience level.

— Shannon Robinson