Does making great art require great suffering?
Sure – suffering can nudge us toward making art, begging us to transform it into something else. This is a fantastic impulse. But the impulse to make the process of writing feel like suffering? That’s only going to prevent you from creating the art you dream of making.
Enter: curiosity, experimentation, and play.
At Close Reading Studio, my focus is in helping you develop a writing practice that feels playful, fun, and sustainable. You’ll develop close reading skills, learn how to discuss literature in technical and theoretical terms, and most importantly, you’ll cultivate a spirit of experimentation, playfulness, and curiosity towards your own writing process. You’re going to read new work, write new work, and have really fun conversations with the kind of people you want to meet.
An important note. I believe all people should have access to creative community. All offerings at Close Reading Studio are NOTAFLOF (no one turned away for lack of funds).
See for yourself! Take a class, change your life.
Enrollment is Open for Winter Workshops!
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Enrollment is Open for Winter Workshops! 〰️
January’s Workshop: Absurdity and Other Forms of Truth
How do you represent reality when the world has just stopped making sense? Artists, writers, and philosophers have wrestled with this question for centuries, and in this class, we’re going to continue that struggle.
Together we’re going to consider different types of absurdity: humor, horror, camp, and surrealism as what Albert Camus described as humanity's reaction to experiencing alienation. We’ll think through where these types of humor intersect, how we can write in these styles, and how absurdity can ultimately illuminate the center of your story.
We’ll read contemporary writers like Jen George and Elfriede Jelinek, and we’ll also consider the productive possibilities of dreams, memes, bathroom graffiti, and more.
In this class you’ll get four readings, four craft techniques, eight writing prompts, and a creative community. This class will be offered in Brooklyn and online. $195 NOTAFLOF. Enroll by filling out a one-minute form at the button below.
In this generative writing workshop, we’re going think about the crush as a subject (longing, desire, obsession, fixation, intrusive thought, coping mechanism) and also as an mode of writing to help us produce new work.
You’ll keep a journal of to help you discover your emotional, intellectual, and spiritual crushes; and, we’ll read writers who approach the crush in a myriad of ways.
In this class you’ll get four readings, four craft techniques, eight writing prompts, and a creative community. This class will be offered in Brooklyn and online. $195 NOTAFLOF. Enroll by filling out a one-minute form at the button below.
February’s Workshop:
I HAVE A CRUSH
Oh but wait there’s more…
Studio Hours
Imperfection Creates Space for the Divine. One hour studio session for writers to do their work. We’ll write camera and audio off for 50 minutes, then share, yap, and/or commiserate for the final 10 minutes. Writing prompt provided. $8.88/session.
Membership
Like a gym membership, but for your writing, and you don’t get all sweaty. If you love Close Reading’s workshops, sign up for a membership, and receive a discount on all workshops plus four writing coaching sessions a year. $155/month
Writing Coaching
Hello from your Writing Dominatrix! Weekly one-on-one writing coaching to help you bring your dream project to life. I set the deadlines, design a custom syllabus, and craft custom writing prompts. You – get to work. $550/month.
I also throw writing parties, follow Ash on Instagram xx
What our Students Have to Say about Close Reading Studio
“Ash pulls you into the literary world by slicing and dicing themes so gracefully. The reading lists are always so well thought out. They connect magically during our workshops in our discussions. The prompts inspire and gently push your creative boundaries to show you, you all have it in you, all along. She holds space for that creative spark turn into a fire.”
“I’m currently in an MFA program and took this course for something fun and challenging over the summer, and it was more rewarding and generative than a few of my MFA courses. I highly recommend taking Ash's course not only for her skills as a teacher, but her care in gathering texts, prompts, questions, and people.”
“Ash teaches by stealth. Coaxes you along the riverbank with easy-seeming prompts then drops in one last lure and you're out of your depth and scrambling - like any serious writer should be.”
✺ Frequently asked questions ✺
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No one is turned away for lack of funds. We believe that the study and practice of writing should be divorced from means.
If you don't have the means to pay for class, no worries. We're open to reduced rates, payment plans, and trades.
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Generative writing workshops are centered around generating new writing. We'll read deeply and allow the work to inspire our writing.
In each workshop, you'll receive questions to guide your reading experience and two take home writing prompts.
You will also be encouraged to approach your writing with levity, curiosity, and joy.
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Primarily Ash, along with guest artists, and some visiting faculty (yay!)
Want to teach with CRS? We'd love to hear from you. Email Ash 💌
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Both! Generally every workshop has a session that meets online to complement those that meet in NYC.
We've had students from Amsterdam, Rome, Los Angeles, and more 🌍
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I also provide one-on-one writing coaching for those working on longer projects. It’s a lot of fun.
Need support in another way? Ask for what you need <3
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Email me!
Ash Pattison-Scott is a writer from California, now based in Brooklyn. She holds a BA in English and Creative Writing from the University of California, Berkeley and an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College where she was a Randall Jarrell Fellow.
She’s taught writing at at UC Berkeley, San Quentin State Prison, and SUNY Purchase. Her writing has appeared in The Plentitudes, Cleavland Review of Books, and Roxanne Gay’s Emerging Writer’s series The Audacity.
She loves: Being awake at 2am and also being asleep at 2am, Von Dutch the song, integrity, honesty, and authenticity, bringing people together, yapping.
She does not love: hierarchies of any kind, performing “academic” or “intellectual”, that oats costs $8, microplastics.
Meet your Teacher
