I’m not supposed to be a writer.
I nearly stopped talking to my dad the day before I left for graduate school. Really, we hadn’t been speaking much that entire summer. He thought I was making a mistake leaving a solid teaching job to study creative writing. As I stuffed yet another box into my car he said, “You know, fiction isn’t real. What you’re doing isn’t real.” I felt dizzy and sad all at once.
Chances are you’ve heard words like the ones my dad spoke to me that August day. Maybe it’s your best friend who wants you to go out rather than attend your writing group. Perhaps it’s your partner, who reads your piece and says he doesn’t get it.
There are many places to learn more about creative writing. Yet the Lafayette Writers’ Studio is different.
Our classes connect writers with expert instructors dedicated to their success. Students benefit from intimate Q&As with published authors such as Bonnie Jo Campbell, Lacy M. Johnson, Lawrence Coates, Bonnie Friedman, and more, and have access to opportunities that change their writing lives—all at an affordable price.
Writers need other writers. The Lafayette Writers’ Studio provides the support and rigor essential to building a “literary family.” Our goal is to help each and every student tell their story in the way that only they can.
Your life, your vision is meant to be shared. We can show you how.
Intensive Writing Workshop students during the final workshop of the semester. Two writers completed their book manuscripts!
“Lafayette Writers Studio is an excellent way to brush up on writing skills if they are rusty, learn more about organizing your thoughts into a novel or memoir, and inspire you to break out of the doldrums and finish your piece. Melissa Fraterrigo is an outstanding instructor.”
Melissa Fraterrigo talking with writers about voice at the Midwest Writers Conference in 2019.
“My daughter hasn’t been doing anything the past two months. To see the joy in her face last night before she went to bed was wonderful. She’s excited about writing again. Thank you!”
Each January writers meet for a free goal-setting class to jumpstart the new year.
Faculty at the Lafayette Writers’ Studio Inspired Writers’ Conference in 2017. From left, Kaveh Akbar, Melissa Fraterrigo, Sarah Layden, Barbara Shoup, and Lauren Mallett.
Melissa’s Official Bio
Melissa Fraterrigo is the author of the novel Glory Days (University of Nebraska Press, fall 2017) and the short story collection The Longest Pregnancy (Livingston Press). Her fiction and nonfiction has appeared in more than forty-five literary journals and anthologies from The Millions, Shenandoah and The Massachusetts Review to storySouth, and Notre Dame Review. She has been a finalist for awards from Glimmer Train on multiple occasions, twice nominated for Pushcart Awards, and was the winner of the Sam Adams/Zoetrope: All Story Short Fiction Contest. She teaches classes on the art and craft of writing. Learn more about her work at melissafraterrigo.com.
Melissa’s Books
Winner of the Tartt First Fiction Award
Best Fiction Books of 2017, Chicago Review of Books