Great Smokies Writing Program Offers Summer 2026 Classes for Writers in the Community

The Great Smokies Writing Program at UNC Asheville is now accepting registrations for Summer 2026 classes led by professional writers in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual narrative.

Whether you’re picking up a new genre or strengthening your writing skills, we have something for everyone this summer. Take a walk downtown to write poetry about the city, or step into your backyard to write nature-based nonfiction. Get moving to energize your poems, or slow down and recenter to write embodied fiction. And if you’re really looking to flex your creative muscles, add a visual element to your writing through collage, comics, and photos.

Classes carry academic credit awarded through UNC Asheville. All summer classes are 5 weeks in length and will begin in early June, with two offered virtually and three in-person.

Several Cori Gross Scholarships are available to those with financial need. Full information is available on the Great Smokies Writing Program website.

Summer Classes:

• • “Writing the City: A Poetry Workshop” with Eric Nelson (in-person)
  • “Poetic Kinesis: Movement and Energy in Poetry” with Whitney Waters (in-person)
  • “The Work of Attention: An Embodied Short Fiction Workshop” with Halle Hill (virtual)

• “Visual Storytelling: Text + Image” with Grey Wolfe LaJoie (virtual)
• “Getting Back to Our Roots: Intro to Nature Writing” with Liam Danzis (in-person)

The program is also offering two non-credit workshops this summer:

•  “Confessionalism in the Work of Bishop, Plath, & Clifton” with Jennie Malboeuf (virtual 3-session workshop)
• “The Soul of Poetry is Sound” with Todd Boss (1-session in-person workshop)

Enrollment is limited. Registration is open now. Visit unca.edu/greatsmokies to learn more and apply!

About UNC Asheville

Founded in 1927, UNC Asheville is a proud member of the University of North Carolina System. With award-winning faculty, small class sizes, and 90+ academic programs in the natural sciences, human sciences, humanities, arts, and social sciences, the University is recognized for its robust paid internship programs to prepare students to immediately enter the workforce. In the US News & World Report 2025 edition of Best Colleges, UNC Asheville is ranked No. #9 in Top Public Schools, and No. #7 in Princeton Review’s 2025 Top 50 Guide to Green Colleges. Known as the Bulldogs, UNC Asheville student-athletes compete in 16 NCAA Division I Teams in the Big South Conference. For more information, please visit: www.unca.edu.

About the Great Smokies Writing Program

For over 25 years, The Great Smokies Writing Program has offered university-level community classes for writers of all experience levels in Western North Carolina and beyond. In-state tuition is highly affordable, and each course carries academic credit awarded through UNC Asheville, but students need not be enrolled in a degree-granting program.

Our program allows writers to join a supportive learning community and to enjoy the mentorship of professional writers. We also host numerous events at UNC Asheville and other venues in the Asheville area, which are open to the public, including readings, craft talks, and panels with writers, editors, and publishing professionals.