Meets: Tuesdays, May 12—June 2, 2026
Instructor: Susanna Daniel
Location: live on Zoom
Cost: $295
Enrollment: 4 openings

Workshop Overview

Writing from life often sends writers into tailspins that exist purely in our imaginations. What if X reads Y and thinks Z? How can I convey A without putting myself in B’s crosshairs?

But when we free ourselves to blur fact with fiction while mitigating gratuitous damage, not only do we find our strongest voice, we also honor and elevate our personal stories.

In this four-week generative workshop led by award-winning novelist Susanna Daniel, we’ll discuss:

• The 4 crucial elements of autofiction

• When to stick to real life and when to veer

• How to write from life responsibly and capably

• Practical ways to mitigate gratuitous damage

Each writer will workshop two (2) original pieces and receive close feedback on the structure, character, and language.

What’s Included?

• Comprehensive feedback on two (2) original pieces

• Nuts-and-bolts craft advice

• A paperback, signed copy of Girlfriending by Susanna Daniel

Who’s the class for?

Experience level: The craft skills we’ll cover in this workshop apply to writers of all experience levels, whether you’ve been writing for a month or decades.

Effort level: Moderate-High. Each writer will be responsible for submitting two (2) total pieces for feedback, and for reading and offering feedback on four (4) pieces per class session.

Participants: Limited to 8, to encourage investment in each writer’s work and process. Writers of fiction and memoir are equally welcome.

About the Instructor

Susanna Daniel is the author of three novels. Girlfriending is a spinoff of her award-winning short story, "The Goddess of Illicit Choices," Stiltsville, was awarded the PEN/Bingham prize, and Sea Creatures, was a Target Book Club pick.

Susanna is the co-founder of the Madison Writers’ Studio with author Michelle Wildgen. She’s a graduate of Columbia University and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and was a Teaching-Writing Fellow at the Writers’ Workshop and a Carl Djerassi Fiction Fellow at the UW Institute for Creative Writing. She’s been awarded residencies at the MacDowell Colony and UCross, and has been published in the Sewanee Review, Newsweek, Slate, One Story, Wisconsin People & Ideas, Significant Objects, Epoch, and elsewhere. Before co-founding MWS, she taught creative writing at universities for ten years.

You can learn more about Susanna at her website, and you can contact her via email.