Norman Kolpas

Instructor Biography:

Author and editor whose several hundred nonfiction pieces have appeared in many publications, including Bon Appetit, HOME, Elle, Sunset, Southwest Art and The Times of London. Mr. Kolpas also is the author of more than 40 nonfiction books and consults with and ghost-writes for many top personalities and brands.

Instructor Statement:

My approach to teaching writing is, above all, to encourage student participation. Only through discussing their own ideas and by having them challenged by me and the other students will participants develop the insight and perspective necessary to gain an advantage in the competitive writing field. As much as possible, I conduct my classes as workshops. Students receive regular, short writing assignments and I try mightily to give everyone a chance to read aloud and have the writing discussed in depth in every session. Just as importantly, I strive to make all workshop sessions positive, constructive, supportive experiences. We focus on what’s good or what works best about a particular piece of writing and then talk about how it could be edited or rewritten to make it work even better. Handouts for each assignment offer useful writing tips along with examples of my own work as illustrations. The result of this process: Many of my students have had articles or books published, and virtually all come away from the class feeling they’ve improved as writers.

Our Students Say it Best!

“Loved Norman—he has a way of bolstering students without being false, and is always kind yet professional in his critiques and suggestions.” —Writers’ Program student