Notes From Class
How Ambiguous Endings Lure Us In
Ambiguity in fiction, when done well, is not an escape hatch for the noncommittal writer. It’s an articulation of something otherwise impossible to articulate.
What, Exactly, Is Queer Literature?
Once I gave queer authors the keys and stopped worrying about what, exactly, queer literature meant, my students’ work taught me something about what queer literature actually is: a lens on the world.
Najya Williams Believes Language Is a Place of Struggle and Resistance
In this interview, Catapult’s head instructor, Gabrielle Bellot, talks with instructor Najya Williams about Black resistance, her literary inspirations, and exploring nontraditional forms.
Javier Sinay Believes We Have to Make Our Stories More Complex
In this interview, Catapult’s head instructor, Gabrielle Bellot, talks with instructor Javier Sinay about a Latin American literary genre called “crónica.”
How Do You Become a Writer?
For our Application Week series, Jared Klegar tells us about pursuing a writing path while in college—and how to be an aspiring writer is to be caught up in a maelstrom of contradictory advice.
A Fully Funded MFA Doesn’t Mean Financial Security
As part of our Application Week series, Katerina Ivanov Prado writes about financial insecurity while pursuing her MFA, community, and resilience.
What Does Writing Mean to the Next Generation?
Seven high-school students reflect on the power of words in our cultural and political moment.
Whose Voices Get Heard in a Writing Workshop?
In my MFA, the people who spoke the most were praised for their intelligence. But the pressure to participate isn’t helpful for every student.
Chelsea T. Hicks Wants More Indigenous Poets to Write from Their Own Languages
In this interview, Catapult’s head instructor, Gabrielle Bellot, talks with instructor Chelsea T. Hicks about Indigenous poetry, colonialism, languages, the process of “rematriation,” and more.
What Does It Mean to Be a Queer Writing Mentor?
For our Education Week series, Atom Evie Atkinson interrogates her teaching experiences and how she learned to write past queer melancholy in the classroom.