Polish Your Writing with a Professional
One-on-One Services
Editing
For writers who have a work-in-progress—whether a short story, a group of poems, a novel, a personal essay, or a memoir—and would like feedback on higher order concerns such as theme, style, structure, and voice. Line-editing may also be included.
Mentoring & Coaching
For writers who are stuck or overwhelmed, who would like to find joy and inspiration in their writing practice, or who want thorough guidance and feedback on their writing with the opportunity to establish an ongoing working relationship with a professional writer.
MFA Guidance
For writers who would like coaching and consultation during the MFA selection and application process. Instructors will offer feedback on the application packet as well as on any personal statements or accompanying critical essays.
Writing Salon@Your Work
This branch of The Writing Salon will come to you wherever you are in the Bay Area. Experienced creative writing teachers offer classes and training sessions to private groups, small businesses, and large companies. Chances are if you have a group of people looking to spark creativity on the page, we can meet your needs.
Review Our Consultants & Services
Editing
Amy G. LathamAmy G. Latham
Amy G. Latham holds an MFA in Fiction from San Francisco State University, where she has taught in the College of Liberal Arts and the College of Business. She is Associate Editor at Chariot Press, and her literary work has appeared in Gulf Coast, Epiphany, Greensboro Review, Camera Obscura, Fourteen Hills, and other journals. She has been recognized with The Dillydoun Review short story prize and the Wilner Award for short fiction, and her story “Combustion” was adapted for a short film by Quiet Lightning. She is currently at work on a collaborative audiodrama with sponsorship from Independent Arts & Media and a debut novel.
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Cate LycurgusCate Lycurgus
Cate Lycurgus’s writing has appeared in Best American Poetry, ZYZZYVA, The American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. She has also received scholarships from Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers’ Conferences and 2nd place in Narrative’s Poetry Contest; her chapbook Seacliff is forthcoming from Bull City Press in 2025. Cate lives in San Jose, California, where she interviews for 32 Poems and teaches writing.
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No Current Classes
K-Ming ChangK-Ming Chang
K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award winner, a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, and an O. Henry Prize Winner. She is the author of the novel BESTIARY (One World/Random House, 2020), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the Otherwise Award. In 2021, her chapbook BONE HOUSE was published by Bull City Press. Her story collection GODS OF WANT (One World/Random House) won a Lambda Literary Award. Her latest novel is ORGAN MEATS (One World, 2023), and her next book is a novella titled CECILIA (Coffee House Press, 2024).
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No Current Classes
Ann GuyAnn Guy
Ann Guy is a writer and recovering engineer who was born in the Philippines, grew up among the cornfields and cow patties of Western Michigan, and now lives in Oakland, California with her husband and two kids. She writes fiction and creative nonfiction, and her work has been featured in CRAFT Literary, River Teeth (Beautiful Things), Sweet Lit, Entropy, MUTHA, Ekphrastic Review, Literary Mama, and Motherwell. A graduate of MIT, UC Berkeley, and San Francisco State University, her favorite spaces are learning environments. She has taught creative writing classes at San Francisco State University and private workshops in the East Bay.
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Kuang LeeKuang Lee
Kuang Lee is a writer and filmmaker. Kuang’s narrative feature, BUDDY SOLITAIRE, starring Golden Globe Award Winner Sally Kirkland, was distributed by Gravitas Ventures and licensed by Hulu. His second feature, BEST MOM, won Best Family Feature at the Hollywood Film Festival. Kuang’s shorts have screened worldwide in film festivals such as NBC Shortcuts, Cinequest, and Dances with Films. He is the founder of Satellite Films, an Addy Award winning production company specializing in commercial films and documentaries.
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No Current Classes
Kimberly LeeKimberly Lee
Kimberly Lee left the practice of law some years ago to focus on motherhood, community work, and creative pursuits. A graduate of Stanford University and UC Davis School of Law, she is an Amherst Writers & Artists facilitator and affiliate and serves on its board of directors. She is trained and certified by The Center for Journal Therapy, The Center for Intentional Creativity, and SoulCollage®. A former editor and regular contributor at Literary Mama, Kimberly has also served on the staffs of Carve and F(r)iction magazines. Her stories and essays have appeared in publications and anthologies including Minerva Rising, LA Parent, Toyon, The Ekphrastic Review, Read650, and elsewhere. She lives in Southern California with her husband and three children.
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No Current Classes
Nina SchuylerNina Schuyler
Nina Schuyler’s novel, Afterword, was published in May 2023 by Clash Books and was named a top book by Alta Journal and Bay City News and a June pick by Towne Center Books. Her short story collection, In This Ravishing World, won The Prism Prize for Climate Literature and the W.S. Porter Prize and will be published in July 2024. Her novel, The Translator, won the Next Generation Indie Book Award for General Fiction and was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Writing Prize. Her nonfiction book, How to Write Stunning Sentences, is a Small Press Distribution bestseller.
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No Current Classes
Lisa Moore RaméeLisa Moore Ramée
Lisa Moore Ramée still calls Los Angeles home even though she now lives in the Bay Area. She counts coffee as one of her best friends and is a devout believer in dreams coming true. Her debut novel, A Good Kind of Trouble, is a Walter Dean Meyers Honor book and an Indie bestseller. She is also the author of Something to Say and MapMaker. Her books have received multiple starred reviews. Visit her website at lisamooreramee.com.
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Shelby HinteShelby Hinte
Shelby Hinte has led and supported writing workshops at San Francisco State University and in the community, including teaching creative writing to incarcerated adults and youth on juvenile probation. She is the Associate Editor of Write or Die Magazine where she edits essays and interviews. She has served as a reader and intern at various independent presses including ZYZZYVA, Split/Lip Press, and No Contact. Her work has been featured in BOMB, ZYZZYVA, SmokeLong Quarterly, Hobart, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Her first novel, HOWLING WOMEN, is forthcoming from LEFTOVER Books (2025).
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Alan ChazaroAlan Chazaro
Alan Chazaro is the author of This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album (Black Lawrence Press, 2019), Piñata Theory (Black Lawrence Press, 2020), and Notes from the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge (Ghost City Press, 2021). He is a graduate of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People program at UC Berkeley and a former Lawrence Ferlinghetti Fellow at the University of San Francisco. He is currently a food writer and reporter for KQED and the co-founding editor at HeadFake. Find him on Twitter and Instagram at @alan_chazaro.
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No Current Classes
Catalina Baker, Incoming Student at the University of Montana’s MFA Program
Received MFA guidance from Cary Groner
When I started working with Cary, I had never before taken a creative writing class or shared my stories with other people. At first, I felt like a rookie. But Cary treated me like a writer. He both supported me and challenged me to push further, and his engaging classes opened me up to new techniques, ideas, and sources of inspiration.
With Cary’s help and support, I applied to MFA programs and was accepted. His classes, workshops, and incisive feedback have made me a more confident and more effective storyteller. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from him.
Felicia Gustin
Received Coaching from Alison Luterman
Working with Alison has been invaluable – she has provided me with profound lessons on how to hone my craft. Our one-on-one coaching sessions have made me a better poet and essayist – she helps me maintain my voice but amplifies it so it will be heard.
She is incredibly supportive yet is honest and forthcoming. She draws on her incredible knowledge of different forms and genres as well as her experience as a teacher. Every session with Alison pushes me to dig deeper and work harder. She’s like my own personal writing “cheerleader.” And it’s paying off! I am starting to getting my poems accepted for publication!
Robin Silverman, Author of Lemon Reef
Received Mentoring from Karen Bjorneby
Karen [Bjorneby] sees writing as a craft that develops with courage, effort, and constructive feedback. Under her tutelage, I’ve grown and improved as a writer in ways I’d never imagined possible. In 2011, I sold my first novel, which received the Best Debut Novel award from the Golden Crown Literary Society and a Lavender Certificate for Excellent First Work from the Alice B Awards. In addition, my book was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Society Award, Best Mystery, and an excerpt received a Pushcart Prize nomination.