Tagore House Writing Workshop
May 30–31, 2026 | Urbana
Limited Seats Available (12 per cohort)
Workshop Schedule
- Saturday, May 30th – 9:00 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Sunday, May 31st – 9:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Fees & Cohorts
Fees
$350 per participant
Includes workshops,meals and publication.
Flash Fiction
Short Fiction writing workshop.
Focus on storytelling and narrative.
12 seats available.
Poetry & Translation
Poetry and translation tracks.
Guided by expert mentors.
12 seats available.
Participant Dates and Submissions
- Submit material for MFA-style review during Workshop #1 within one week of enrollment
- 1 poem
- Up to 3,000 words in prose
- 1 translation (poem, maximum two pages; prose, maximum 1,000 words)
- Submit Questionnaire within 48 hours of enrollment
Workshop Overview
Each cohort will be run by dedicated mentors, who will run two MFA-style workshop sessions with participants, resulting in a new piece of fiction, poetry or translated poetry that will be published by the Tagore House Initiative.
Fiction
This workshop will specifically focus on the development of characterization and point of view. Understanding these two concepts is key to the development of fiction. The goal of fiction is to go for depth—psychological, philosophical, feelings and truths that are hard-won and hard to express. Not to say you can’t be funny if you like; humor can be deep, too.
A note on genre: while there is a great deal of excellent science fiction and fantasy out there, these stories often succeed most in longer forms. Writers spend a lot of time building their worlds, and in the short story form, there is not as much space afforded to those world-building projects. The Tagore Workshop encourages writers to avoid genre conventions in their submissions as much as possible.
If you are looking for examples of stories that have a mastery of point of view and characterization, please consider reading the stories provided. One story is written by Gale Walden, and the others are selections curated by the Tagore House.
Poetry
This workshop will specifically focus on poetry as a tool for creating a language that resonates above the din of language of our everyday lives. Through attention to detail, form, silence, and sound, poetry gives shape to insights we could not otherwise express.
The poetic tradition, both contemporarily and of the past, is vast and varied – our tradition proves time and time again there is no ‘one’ way to write a poem. However, shared across all forms of poetry is a dedication to detail and craft and a celebration of the act of communication. Both are essential to a successful poem and a successful workshop. Come prepared to think seriously about our craft as ‘poets’ and the responsibility of a poem in the world. Also come prepared to participate as a community of writers, with both grace and serious inquiry towards the work of our fellow poets.
Fee Includes
Participation in two workshops:
Workshop 1 (Saturday):
- This session focuses on review of participants’ pre-submitted creative writing pieces.
- Participants will provide line edits and feedback letters to other workshop participants (3 fellow writers’ work, or more!) and receive the same.
- Mentors from your cohort will also provide line edits and feedback letters to develop the piece further.
- Expect a dynamic, thorough, and craft-driven discussion of all participants’ work.
Workshop 2 (Sunday):
- Submit fresh material composed Saturday evening in the form of new translation, flash fiction, or poetry.
- Give and receive oral and informal written feedback on your work
- Collaborate with fellow participants and workshop mentors on new ideas and writing!
Publication of copy-edited final work in the Tagore House Initiative’s inaugural e-publication. Submit your revisions by June 29th!
- A total of 5 meals:
- Continued post-workshop editing support for work generated at the workshop.
- Tour of the historic Tagore Home in Urbana