With a mix of generative group sessions, instructor feedback, and one-on-one consults, the Play on the Page Productive Play Group gets your creative writing practice flowing. This class is limited to eight students. Over eight weeks, students engage in four 90-minute groups sessions and four one-on-one, 30-minute consults and receive feedback on a total of up to 25 pages (up to 6000 words; the first three consultations are on 5 pp. each. The final consultation is on 10 pp.). This course is designed to optimize your time (including zero required reading of other students' work), maximize your JOY, and make your creative practice practically irresistible.


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Course Duration: Eight full weeks, October 5-December 6 (no class Thanksgiving week)

Group Sessions: Tuesdays, 1-2:30 p.m. CT (10/5, 10/19, 11/2, 11/16)

Submissions & 30-minute Consults: Every other week

Pages Per Submission: Weeks of 10/11, 10/25, and 11/8 - 5 pp. each; Week of 11/29 - 10 pp.


Are you in? Let's play!

Example Curriculum


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Meet the Instructor


Gina DiPonio is an award-winning writer, runner of open mics, creative writing instructor, and champion of literary pursuits. As former program manager of the University of Chicago Writer's Studio, Gina was named one of Chicago’s Lit 50 by Newcity in 2017.​ She’s studied and crafted writing pedagogy for decades, including training in the Story Workshop Method© developed by John Schultz and University of Chicago's Little Red School House approach to the teaching of academic writing. Her writing appears in The Sun, Contrary, Two Hawks Quarterly, Bleed, Hair Trigger, Traverse: Northern Michigan's Magazine, and elsewhere. Read her latest work at ginadiponio.com.