In this six-week course taught by New York Times, The Cut, and Vice journalist Rachel Simon, learn how to pitch and write articles inspired by your personal experiences and life skills. (Think: an essay about your biggest break-up, an op-ed on education based on your background as a teacher, a travel feature using your own frequent flyer tips and tricks. etc.). Through discussions, in-class exercises, and excerpts, you'll discover how to find the stories in your own life (big or small!) and turn them into compelling, marketable content. The class will cover personal essays, reported features, op-eds, reviews, how-tos, and several other types of journalism, and you'll gain valuable insights from both your teacher and your peers.

Instructor: Rachel Simon

Dates: Starts Thursday, January 16, 2025 and meets every Thursday for six weeks total

Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Level: Beginner and above

8 seats max

Location: 719 N. Person Street, Raleigh, NC

$615: true price

$349: base price

$374, $399, $449: donate an extra $25, $50, or $100 to our scholarship fund

(Returning students receive 10 percent off).

A note on pricing:  the “true price” reflects the true cost of the class, which includes paying a fair wage to our staff and instructors, rental fees for the Redbud headquarters and for the community spaces where we host our classes, website and administrative/commerce fees, outreach and advertising to spread the word about our offerings, and the coordination and administration for our community classes, which serve people who could not otherwise access creative writing. We’re not a university or a large corporation and that means we don’t have an operating budget we can rely on; we’re proud to be a small, local, women- and minority-run business that is passionate about bringing the transformative power of the arts to our community. Your tuition helps Redbud with the critical work of keeping the arts accessible to the public. 

We also offer students a chance to donate to our scholarship fund. At check-out, you will be given the option of choosing a donor price. If you choose one of these prices, the extra $25, $50, or $100 will go towards scholarships for students who would not be able to afford our classes otherwise.  Thank you in advance for considering making a contribution to inclusivity and access!

Read the fine print, including our refund policy, here.