Writers Workshop: Fiction Writing

Enjoy free summer writing workshops held in our outdoor Reading Room. Fiction is a conjuring act. The writer builds a bridge of words for the reader’s imagination to cross—a tricky collaboration, to be sure. Join us for a free workshop with Gotham Fiction instructor Susan Breen to get some grounded craft advice and work on your stories. Nothing beats playing make-believe on the page in the heart of summertime New York City. About the instructor Susan Breen is the author of the novels Merry (Alcove Press), The Fiction Class (Plume/Headline Review UK), and the Maggie Dove mystery series (originally published by Penguin Random House/Alibi and rereleased by Under the Oak Press). Her short stories have appeared in American Literary Review , the Chattahoochee Review , Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine , and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine , as well as the anthologies Best American Nonrequired Reading and Murder Most Diabolical , and she has won the Margery Allingham Short Mystery Competition. She holds a BA from the University of Rochester and an MA in Economics from Columbia University. Produced in partnership with Gotham Writers July 9, 2026 – August 13, 2026 Thursdays, 6:30pm-8pm July 9: Poetry Writing with Mary Donnelly July 16: Creative Writing 101 with Arlaina Tibensky July 23: Screenwriting with C.C. Webster July 30: Fiction Writing with Susan Breen August 6: Humor Writing with Alexander Steele August 13: Essay & Opinion Writing with Kelly Caldwell