The Writers Studio: Home Edition, hosted by the Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension features intimate workshops, over four days, February 24-27, 2022, that bring together the worldwide community of writers to work on their craft. Known as a professional development conference for writers, beginners to advanced, the Writers Studio: Home Edition (virtual), gives aspiring writers unparalleled access and first-hand experience in sessions taught by accomplished writers and industry professionals covering feature film, television, fiction, and creative nonfiction writing.

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Tembi Locke is the Writers Studio Keynote Speaker. She is an actor, screenwriter, producer, and

Tembi Locke is the Writers Studio Keynote Speaker. She is an actor, screenwriter, producer, and "New York Times" best-selling author - as well as UCLA Extension alumna. The 2022 Writers Studio at UCLA Extension is Feb. 24-27. Registration for workshops is open. (Photo: Business Wire)

This year’s virtual conference features a keynote address from Tembi Locke, actor, screenwriter, producer, New York Times bestselling author of the memoir, From Scratch, co-showrunner for the upcoming series Waiting to Exhale, and Writers’ Program alumna.

"As the largest provider of creative writing education in the world, the Writers’ Program offers a supportive community for writers as they develop concepts and evolve their craft,” said Charlie Jensen, Program Director, UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. “The Writers Studio is designed to explore creativity and invigorate writing skills under the guidance of successful professional writers. Every year, our attendees share how the Studio made a difference in completing their projects. And, we are inspired by these success stories.”

The Writers Studio: Home Edition virtual workshops and instructors are:

  • Character and Conflict, Colette Sartor, MFA
    Fiction writer, author of the linked story collection Once Removed (UGA Press), and winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, Sartor’s work has appeared in Kenyon Review Online, Carve Magazine, Slice, The Rumpus, Colorado Review, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere.
  • Writing Your Memoir, Liz Stephens, PhD
    Author of the memoir The Days Are Gods (University of Nebraska Press). Stephens’ essays appear in Brief Encounters: An Anthology of Short Nonfiction (W.W. Norton, 2015), and Dirt: An Anthology (New England University Press, 2015), she has served as managing editor and contributor to Brevity: A Journal of Concise Nonfiction and has written there extensively on current nonfiction craft and ethics issues. Stephens has been nominated for both the Annie Dillard Creative Nonfiction Award and the Duke University Documentary Essay prize.
  • Writing the Personal Essay, Amy Friedman, MA
    Author of four memoirs, several children’s books, and thousands of essays and stories. Friedman’s most recent memoirs are Desperado’s Wife (available on Amazon) and One Souffle at a Time: A Memoir of Food and France (with Anne Willan), Freidman is the founder of the nonprofit POPS the Club and is the editor and publisher of an annual collection of personal essays and poetry, the most recent (2019) is We Got Game. Friedman is a recipient of the UCLA Extension Outstanding Instructor Award in Creative Writing.
  • Writing Your First Novel, Noel Alumit
    Author of the novels Letters to Montgomery Clift and the Los Angeles Times bestseller Talking to the Moon (2007), Alumit’s work has been published in USA Today, The Advocate, the Huffington Post, and others and his awards include the Stonewall Book Award (American Library Association), the Violet Quill Award (InsightOut Books), and the James Duggins Mid-Career Prize. His work has made the finalist lists for the PEN Literary Award and the Lambda Literary Award.
  • Storytelling for Live Audiences, Rachel Kann, MFA
    Author of How to Bless the New Moon, a WORD: Bruce Geller Memorial Prize recipient, Kann has been a Writer-in-Residence for Brandeis Collegiate Institute, a New England Jewish Poetry Festival’s Featured Poet, and a Cosmic Sister “Women of The Psychedelic Renaissance” awardee at the Spirit Plant Medicine Conference. Her poetry film, The Quickening, was an official selection for Anaheim International Film Festival. She is a recipient of the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program Outstanding Instructor of the Year Award.
  • Structuring Your Story, Jeanne De Vita, MFA
    Award-winning author, and editor, De Vita’s dystopian series Bug is an Amazon Editor’s Pick on Kindle Vella. She has published extensively as a staff writer and ghostwriter. De Vita teaches writing and editing courses for UCLA Extension and edits several New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors.
  • Developmental Editing, Tobi Harper
    Deputy director at Red Hen Press, editor, and founder of Quill (a queer publishing series of Red Hen Press), Harper is publisher of The Los Angeles Review; and public speaker on queer literature, editing, and publishing.
  • Creating the Half-Hour Television Pilot, Eric Abrams
    Screenwriter/producer and WGA member, whose television credits include Liv & Maddie, Married with Children, Abby, Gary & Mike, among many others, Abrams co-wrote the feature film Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles and has sold pilots to Fox, NBC, CBS, and UPN.
  • Creating the One-Hour Television Pilot, Zac Hug, MFA
    Television writer, playwright, WGA member, whose credits include Drop Dead Diva, Shadowhunters, and Hallmark movies Road to Christmas and the Christmas in Evergreen series, Hug’s other credits include the web series These People, and the Outfest short film Lazy (Sunday).
  • Writing Your First Feature Film, Koji Sakai, MFA
    Award-winning screenwriter/producer/novelist and WGA member, whose feature credits include Commando, Dying to Kill, Monsters & Me, #1 Serial Killer, The People I’ve Slept With, and Haunted Highway, Sakai has also produced a comedy special for Netflix and the series Comedy InvAsian.
  • Writing Powerful Scenes for Movie and TV, Roberto Marinas, MFA
    Screenwriter/producer, whose credits include Lasso, Headgame, and Alien Vs. Zombies, Marinas award-winning screenplay Last Road Home was selected for the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and he is also a recipient of the Walt Disney Studios Screenwriting Fellowship.
  • Showrunners Bootcamp, Cynthia Hsiung
    Producer, writer, director, and executive who served as a producer and head of production for Young Hercules starring Ryan Gosling, Hsiung was part of the team which launched The Larry Sanders Show and Taxi Cab Confessions at HBO and was a creative executive for MTV's The Real World and Road Rules. Additional credits include her award-winning feature Shades of Love, as well as the TV series FanAddicts! and Catching Hell.

The Writers Studio: Home Edition is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, features twelve (12) intensive workshops, limited to 15 participants, independent writing time, daily guest speakers, prompts and exercises, and other exclusive activities. The fee for the program is $788 and attendees can register here or visit Writers Studio: Home Edition. To find out more, visit the Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension or contact writers@uclaextension.edu.

About the Writers’ Program

Now in its 55th year of serving the community of writers, the Writers’ Program at UCLA Extension is one of the most prestigious creative writing and screenwriting programs, local to global. With an open admissions policy, the Writers' Program ensures all students are inspired and guided to do their best work. The curriculum includes 400 annual writing courses, offered both onsite and online, taught by a diverse corps of 200 published and produced professionals. Read about the Writers’ Program success stories here.