Lesley Hyatt

Instructor Biography:

M.F.A. and Fulbright Scholar, has taught imaginative writing to students of all ages and backgrounds for over 20 years. She leads writing workshops and mindfulness groups at UCLA Extension Writers' Program, Skirball Cultural Center and privately throughout the L.A. area and on Zoom.

Instructor Statement:

Most of us yearn to be heard. We want our voices to be known—to ourselves and to others. Most of all, we want our voices to matter. I believe that every person’s voice does matter in this increasingly complex and hostile world and I believe that courageous, thoughtful writing is a gift to ourselves and to others. But then there’s the tricky part: How do we begin to trust ourselves to express our honest voices on the page? So often, our own insidious inner critics undermine our efforts and intentions as writers. We stop ourselves before we even get started! My goal as an instructor is to offer you a variety of tools and strategies that encourage playful, risk-taking forays into different modes of writing in order to reveal the language of your own voice and unique direction of your own imagination.