Deepen Your Writing with Research

Research can add depth, texture, and context to writing, but knowing when and how to use it isn’t always clear. This workshop offers practical guidance for writers in all genres who want to integrate research more purposefully into their creative process. We’ll explore a range of methods and tools that support both investigation and imagination. Readings from authors such as Teju Cole, Jill Lepore, and Zadie Smith will offer varied examples of how research can shape narrative voice, structure, and tone. Participants will identify areas in their own work that could be enriched by research and will have opportunities to apply new strategies in short in-class exercises and at home. You’ll leave the workshop with a compendium of methods and tools, a stronger sense of how to match research to your project’s needs, and greater confidence in your process.

Open to prose writers of all genres with a work in progress. This is a 2-week workshop, with a 2-hour session each week. Participants should be prepared to bring 1-2 pages of a work in progress (a very rough draft is fine) to the first meeting, and expect approximately 2-3 hours of work between sessions.

This 2-week workshop meets on Wednesdays from 6-8pm at LitArts RI on the following dates:

Wed, Sept 17

Wed, Sept 24

About Your Teaching Artist

ALIZAH HOLSTEIN (she/her) is the author of the memoir My Roman History (Viking Press, 2024). She holds an MFA in creative writing & literary translation from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a PhD in history from Cornell University. Her essays have appeared in Literary Hub, Hamilton Arts & Letters, World Literature Today, and elsewhere. She has been interviewed on the Frommer’s Travel Show podcast and NPR’s Here & Now.

Health Safety Guidelines

If you have tested positive for Covid-19 within a few days of attending an event at LitArts RI, please contact Staff so we can let others know of possible exposure. We ask that you wait 14 days or until testing negative to return to the Center.

Accessibility

LitArts RI is wheelchair accessible. The organization is actively committed to cultivating a community that values and reflects diversity, equity and inclusivity and to providing programming that is accessible to all attendees. Please let us know about any accommodations we can make to allow you to participate fully in this event.

This activity is made possible in part by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by a Project Fund grant from Providence Art, Culture and Tourism.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

LitArts RI, 400 Harris Avenue, Providence, United States