Great Smokies Writing Program at UNC Asheville
About Us
For 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 host numerous events at UNCA and other Asheville venues, open to the public, including readings, craft talks, and panels.
Explore What We Offer
Classes
Check out our current course offerings for Summer 2026, featuring classes in prose and poetry led by accomplished North Carolina writers.
Writers at Home Series
The Great Smokies Writing Program hosts free public events each month, including author readings, panels, and other literary events. Writers at Home events are held at Malaprop’s Bookstore and Story Parlor.
Share Your Work
Do you have good news to share? Maybe you’ve been published recently, or won a grant or award, or accepted into a residency program—we want to hear about it! Click the button below to share a short blurb that we can add to the website.
Young Writers Workshop
In 2026, the Great Smokies Young Writers Workshop will be offered as one of UNC Asheville’s Pre-College Programs. The Pre-College Programs give high school students the opportunity to experience university life through engaging in college-level classes, staying in residence halls on campus, and exploring the surrounding community. Please contact Liam Danzis for more questions.
How to Apply
How to Apply
If you have taken a recent class with GSWP, login to your application portal. If you have not taken a recent class with GSWP, or if you have never taken a class with GSWP, complete the portal creation form.
If you are a UNC Asheville degree-seeking student and would like to take a class with Great Smokies, please email ldanzis@unca.edu and note the following policies.
- Students must have successfully completed LANG 260 or an equivalent course.
- Students must have the approval of the Program Coordinator and/or at least one recommendation from an English faculty member.
- Students may not take more than one GSWP course per term.
- Credit hours earned will count towards your elective credits.
- Credit hours earned do not count towards English major/minor requirements.
- Your grade for the course will count towards your GPA.
- Students may register one week before the first class session of the course they want to attend.
- Students receiving financial aid must consult with the Office of Financial Aid before registering for GSWP classes.
Please note that all applicants will still be required to complete residency verification through NC Residency Determination Service (RDS). Completing this process verifies eligibility for the in-state tuition rate. Students who do not complete or update this verification will be billed the out-of-state tuition rate. If you have any questions about the residency process, please call RDS: 844-319-3640
The Great Smokies Review
The Great Smokies Review
The Great Smokies Review is the online publication of the Great Smokies Writing Program. Published twice per year in the spring and fall, it offers students and faculty, past and present, of the Great Smokies Writing Program an opportunity to share their work, their expertise, and their writing experience. It features poetry, fiction, nonfiction, interviews, faculty writings, and writerly news in the Asheville area. As Tommy Hays, Executive Director of the Great Smokies Writing Program, wrote in the inaugural issue (Fall 2009), “our hope is that with The Great Smokies Review we are growing another layer of that [writing] community as a forum for discussion and learning as well as a place for good work.”
Throughout the year, many of the writers featured in issues of The Great Smokies Review will take part in the Writers at Home reading series, including biannual celebrations of the publication in the Fall and Spring.
I cannot say enough about how critically important those classes have been to me. They enabled me to turn something that I had been trying for years to write into a memoir-based history of the years of my youth. I was finally able to put together a book that I’m proud of. GSWP is a tremendous asset to UNCA and to the entire community.
Program Staff
Liam Danzis
Administrative Assistant, Department of Education and Great Smokies Writing Program
Office: 115 Zageir Hall
Phone: (828) 251-6420
Email: ldanzis@unca.edu
Luke Hankins
Director, Great Smokies Writing Program
Office: 119 Delany Hall
Phone: 350-4588
Email: lhankins@unca.edu
Contact Us
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.