Geneva Writers Group upcoming events

Fundamentals of Writing (17 Jun 2026)

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:30:00 GMT

Fundamentals of Writing:

A 6 Month Virtual Workshop with Zoë Wells

Based on university-level writing courses in the US and UK, this Fundamentals of Writing series offers a step-by-step introduction to writing theory. By breaking a story down into its essential components, we’ll demystify what makes “good” writing and learn how to craft cohesive, creative, and impactful work with consistency.

The course consists of twelve sessions—six theory-based and six practical—and you are welcome to attend as many as you wish.

Consider this your Writing 101.

THEORY Session 1: Plot Arcs and Structures – Beginnings, Changes, and Resolutions

14/01/26 — Wednesday, 19:30–21:30

Stories are defined by movement — but how does plot actually work?

In this session, we explore major plot frameworks, from the classic three-act structure to the seven basic plots, and examine how these patterns shape literary fiction, suspense, and everything in between. By understanding how stories move, you’ll learn what your own plots can teach you about your writing.

Texts discussed: Raymond Carver, Neighbours • Shirley Jackson, The Lottery • Chigozie Obioma, The Fishermen

PRACTICE Session 1: Practical Writing – Plots and Changemakers

28/01/26 — Wednesday, 19:30–21:30

This hands-on session focuses on change, the engine of every plot. Through guided exercises, you’ll experiment with how shifts, reversals, and choices alter the direction and emotional impact of a story — and how to avoid predictable plotlines while strengthening narrative momentum.

THEORY Session 2: Character and POV – Motivation, Voice, and Narrative Style

11/02/26 — Wednesday, 19:30–21:30

A story without a voice is a story untold. This session examines how point of view shapes narrative meaning, tone, and emotional impact. We’ll look at the purposes different narrators serve and how selecting (or crafting) a voice becomes one of the most powerful artistic decisions a writer makes.

Texts discussed: Carmen Maria Machado, The Husband Stitch • Helen Oyeyemi, Books and Roses • Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway

PRACTICE Session 2: Practical Writing – Playing with Point of View

25/02/26 — Wednesday, 19:30–21:30

What happens when you change the storyteller? In this session, we experiment with shifting narrators and angles of perspective. You’ll discover how POV alters tension, intimacy, and meaning while uncovering new possibilities within your own stories.

THEORY Session 3: Dialogue – Natural Tones and Unnatural Voices

11/03/26 — Wednesday, 19:30–21:30

Dialogue is deceptively difficult: seamless when done well, disruptive when done poorly. This session breaks down what makes dialogue effective, when to use it, and how it shapes character, pacing, and story dynamics. We’ll analyse examples that reveal how dialogue can quietly transform a narrative.

Texts discussed: Ernest Hemingway, A Clean, Well-Lighted Place • Lawrence Hill, So What Are You, Anyway? • Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

PRACTICE Session 3: Practical Writing – Talking Our Way Through Dialogue

25/03/26 — Wednesday, 19:30–21:30

Through targeted exercises, we’ll practice crafting dialogue that carries emotion, reveals character, and controls narrative rhythm. This session focuses on balancing believability with intention, sharpening your ear for voices that elevate your fiction.

THEORY Session 4: Setting – Believability, Detail, and Beauty

08/04/26 — Wednesday, 19:30–21:30

As Carmen Maria Machado notes, “Places are never just places.” In this session, we explore how setting functions as mood, metaphor, context, and even catalyst. By analysing vivid fictional worlds, we’ll consider how to make our own settings feel alive and indispensable.

Texts discussed: Julia Armfield, The Great Awake • Ross Raisin, Ghost Kitchen • Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

PRACTICE Session 4: Practical Writing – Setting

22/04/26 — Wednesday, 19:30–21:30

Using guided prompts, we’ll experiment with different approaches to creating effective settings — from atmospheric landscapes to dynamic urban scenes. Learn how world-building (even in realism) influences tone, character, and narrative energy.

THEORY Session 5: Detail – When to Show and When to Tell

06/05/26 — Wednesday, 19:30–21:30

“Show, don’t tell” is one of writing’s most repeated rules — but also one of its most misunderstood. This session examines when showing is essential, when telling is more efficient, and how detail functions in stylistic and structural terms. We’ll analyse sparse and lush prose to understand both ends of the spectrum.

Texts discussed: Ernest Hemingway, Hills Like White Elephants • Anton Chekhov, The Student • Cormac McCarthy, The Road

PRACTICE Session 5: Practical Writing – Show Don’t Tell

20/05/26 — Wednesday, 19:30–21:30

Through writing exercises, we’ll test different levels of detail and explore how much information a story truly needs. This session helps you refine your stylistic preferences, sharpen your descriptive instincts, and cultivate a voice that feels confident and intentional.

THEORY Session 6: Narrative Reliability – The Known and the Unknown in Writing

03/06/26 — Wednesday, 19:30–21:30

The space between what a story tells and what a reader understands is where literature becomes most alive. This session explores reliable and unreliable narration as tools for complexity, tension, and depth. We’ll analyse how writers manipulate truth and ambiguity to shape interpretation.

Texts discussed: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper • Claire Vaye Watkins, Ghosts, Cowboys • Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

PRACTICE Session 6: Practical Writing – Reliable and Unreliable Narrators

17/06/26 — Wednesday, 19:30–21:30

How much does your narrator reveal — or conceal? In this session, we’ll experiment with varying degrees of narrative reliability to see how trust, withholding, and perspective reshape a story. Learn to use unreliability not as confusion, but as craft.

Fundamentals of Writing Pricing

Sliding-Scale Member Rates

GWG offers a trust-based sliding scale to ensure equitable access. Participants are encouraged to select the pricing tier that best aligns with their financial circumstances.

Accessible rates support those with limited means, standard rates cover core costs, and pay-it-forward rates help fund subsidized places for others in the community.

Member – Pay It Forward: CHF 450

Member – Standard: CHF 340

Member – Accessible: CHF 280

Non-Member: CHF 480

Two-Session Package: Members CHF 60 · Non-Members CHF 80

Zoë Wells is a short story writer and novelist. She has spent a decade working in literary magazines in the UK as a reader, editor, and contributor, for publications including Poetry Wales and Bandit Fiction. Her own short stories have been longlisted for prizes including the BBC National Short Story Award, the White Review Short Story Prize, and the Bridport. Her writing has been featured in the anthologies Night-Time Stories (Emma Press), IX: The 2021 Manchester Anthology (Centre for New Writing), and Reclaim: An Anthology of Women’s Lives (Bandit).

The Late Spring Virtual Writers Studio (18 Jun 2026)

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Late Spring Virtual Writers Studio: A Spring Generative Co-Writing Journey

And the mockingbirds find

ample reason and breath to fashion

new songs. They do. You can

count on it.

~ Late Spring by Mary Oliver

From mid-May through early July, join us for a steady, companionable writing practice designed to help you rekindle your stories, rebuild your creative rhythm, and stay close to the page.

The Late Spring Studio invites writers of all genres to experience the generative energy of a shared creative space: a place for experimentation, consistency, quiet accountability, and unfolding work as we write our way into summer together.

The Late Spring Studio opens on Monday, May 11, 2026.

Let’s begin again, together.

Hosted by the GWG × Andra Otilia Nicolescu*

✨ About the Late Spring Studio

Late spring carries a different kind of momentum: a season of emergence, movement, and gradual unfolding. This studio is designed to meet that rhythm—supporting writing that is in progress, in transition, or just beginning to take shape.

Across two guided sessions each week, we will gather to read, reflect, and write together—cultivating a steady, generative momentum in our work.

Each session offers a simple, supportive structure: shared reading, open discussion, and guided writing prompts (“portals”), followed by focused writing time and optional sharing in community.

This season also includes two special guest sessions with invited authors, following our beautiful conversation with acclaimed novelist Raaza Jamshed earlier this year.

Whether you are beginning a new project, returning to a long-paused manuscript, or simply seeking a rhythm to anchor your practice, the studio offers a welcoming and flexible creative home.

✏️ Overview of the Programme

Session Dates: May 11 – July 2, 2026
Schedule: Mondays & Thursdays, 8:30–10:30am (Geneva time)

Two hours of facilitated co-writing each session, with structure, spaciousness, and quiet accountability.

What to Expect in Our Sessions

Gentle goal-setting & intention framing to help you arrive on the page
Shared readings and prompts to open new creative pathways
Two or three focused writing portals to sustain momentum and spark new directions in companionable silence
Optional time for reflection, questions, or sharing
A shared digital workspace with resources, inspiration, and connection
A welcoming community of writers moving through the season together

Seasonal Extras

Throughout the programme, participants will be invited to occasional pop-up offerings, including surprise prompts, reflective check-ins, and our two special guest author sessions woven into the season.

Who Should Join Us?

All writers and curious creative minds are warmly welcome.

Whether you plan to attend every session or drop in when you can, the studio is designed to support a range of rhythms and commitments. We look forward to writing with you.

Late Spring Studio Pricing

We offer flexible options so you can join the Studio in the way that best supports your writing practice—whether you’d like to attend occasionally or commit to the full season.

Full Studio (16 sessions): CHF 100
12-Session Package: CHF 90
10-Session Package: CHF 80
8-Session Package: CHF 65
Single Session: CHF 10

We are committed to making this programme accessible to all. If cost is a barrier, please email genevawriters@gmail.com to discuss options.

Meet Andra, Your Commnity Co-Navigator!

Andra Otilia Nicolescu is a Romanian-American writer, editor, and human rights lawyer who works at the crossroads between fiction and history, memory and archive, and legal and critical theory. Her Pushcart Prize–nominated literary fiction and creative non-fiction has appeared in literary journals including Glimmer Train, Catapult Magazine, Blunderbuss, and Matca Literara, where she currently is a collaborating editor.

Since 2020, she has found creative reaffirmation in literary mentorships, practice collectives, and fellowship communities, experiences that rekindled her motivation, creativity and practice,

This year, she’s grateful to have been welcomed by the Geneva Writers’ Group’s diasporic homeshores, and is more than ever drawn to co-creating and facilitating shared, generative spaces for like-minded explorers.

She’d love for you to drop a word — to say hello, share your story, or tell her about the visions and inspirations that keep you returning to the page with us this November.

**While Andra's website undergoes some reluctant renovations, you can find traces of her unrequited auto-fictions, postmemorial hauntings, and other dialectical blunderbussinsg, scattered across common timespaces.

Write to us with questions at genevawriters@gmail.com!

The Late Spring Virtual Writers Studio (22 Jun 2026)

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Late Spring Virtual Writers Studio: A Spring Generative Co-Writing Journey

And the mockingbirds find

ample reason and breath to fashion

new songs. They do. You can

count on it.

~ Late Spring by Mary Oliver

From mid-May through early July, join us for a steady, companionable writing practice designed to help you rekindle your stories, rebuild your creative rhythm, and stay close to the page.

The Late Spring Studio opens on Monday, May 11, 2026.

Let’s begin again, together.

Hosted by the GWG × Andra Otilia Nicolescu*

✨ About the Late Spring Studio

Across two guided sessions each week, we will gather to read, reflect, and write together—cultivating a steady, generative momentum in our work.

Each session offers a simple, supportive structure: shared reading, open discussion, and guided writing prompts (“portals”), followed by focused writing time and optional sharing in community.

This season also includes two special guest sessions with invited authors, following our beautiful conversation with acclaimed novelist Raaza Jamshed earlier this year.

Whether you are beginning a new project, returning to a long-paused manuscript, or simply seeking a rhythm to anchor your practice, the studio offers a welcoming and flexible creative home.

✏️ Overview of the Programme

Session Dates: May 11 – July 2, 2026
Schedule: Mondays & Thursdays, 8:30–10:30am (Geneva time)

Two hours of facilitated co-writing each session, with structure, spaciousness, and quiet accountability.

What to Expect in Our Sessions

Gentle goal-setting & intention framing to help you arrive on the page
Shared readings and prompts to open new creative pathways
Two or three focused writing portals to sustain momentum and spark new directions in companionable silence
Optional time for reflection, questions, or sharing
A shared digital workspace with resources, inspiration, and connection
A welcoming community of writers moving through the season together

Seasonal Extras

Who Should Join Us?

All writers and curious creative minds are warmly welcome.

Whether you plan to attend every session or drop in when you can, the studio is designed to support a range of rhythms and commitments. We look forward to writing with you.

Late Spring Studio Pricing

We offer flexible options so you can join the Studio in the way that best supports your writing practice—whether you’d like to attend occasionally or commit to the full season.

Full Studio (16 sessions): CHF 100
12-Session Package: CHF 90
10-Session Package: CHF 80
8-Session Package: CHF 65
Single Session: CHF 10

We are committed to making this programme accessible to all. If cost is a barrier, please email genevawriters@gmail.com to discuss options.

Meet Andra, Your Commnity Co-Navigator!

Since 2020, she has found creative reaffirmation in literary mentorships, practice collectives, and fellowship communities, experiences that rekindled her motivation, creativity and practice,

She’d love for you to drop a word — to say hello, share your story, or tell her about the visions and inspirations that keep you returning to the page with us this November.

Write to us with questions at genevawriters@gmail.com!

The Late Spring Virtual Writers Studio (25 Jun 2026)

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Late Spring Virtual Writers Studio: A Spring Generative Co-Writing Journey

And the mockingbirds find

ample reason and breath to fashion

new songs. They do. You can

count on it.

~ Late Spring by Mary Oliver

From mid-May through early July, join us for a steady, companionable writing practice designed to help you rekindle your stories, rebuild your creative rhythm, and stay close to the page.

The Late Spring Studio opens on Monday, May 11, 2026.

Let’s begin again, together.

Hosted by the GWG × Andra Otilia Nicolescu*

✨ About the Late Spring Studio

Across two guided sessions each week, we will gather to read, reflect, and write together—cultivating a steady, generative momentum in our work.

Each session offers a simple, supportive structure: shared reading, open discussion, and guided writing prompts (“portals”), followed by focused writing time and optional sharing in community.

This season also includes two special guest sessions with invited authors, following our beautiful conversation with acclaimed novelist Raaza Jamshed earlier this year.

Whether you are beginning a new project, returning to a long-paused manuscript, or simply seeking a rhythm to anchor your practice, the studio offers a welcoming and flexible creative home.

✏️ Overview of the Programme

Session Dates: May 11 – July 2, 2026
Schedule: Mondays & Thursdays, 8:30–10:30am (Geneva time)

Two hours of facilitated co-writing each session, with structure, spaciousness, and quiet accountability.

What to Expect in Our Sessions

Gentle goal-setting & intention framing to help you arrive on the page
Shared readings and prompts to open new creative pathways
Two or three focused writing portals to sustain momentum and spark new directions in companionable silence
Optional time for reflection, questions, or sharing
A shared digital workspace with resources, inspiration, and connection
A welcoming community of writers moving through the season together

Seasonal Extras

Who Should Join Us?

All writers and curious creative minds are warmly welcome.

Whether you plan to attend every session or drop in when you can, the studio is designed to support a range of rhythms and commitments. We look forward to writing with you.

Late Spring Studio Pricing

We offer flexible options so you can join the Studio in the way that best supports your writing practice—whether you’d like to attend occasionally or commit to the full season.

Full Studio (16 sessions): CHF 100
12-Session Package: CHF 90
10-Session Package: CHF 80
8-Session Package: CHF 65
Single Session: CHF 10

We are committed to making this programme accessible to all. If cost is a barrier, please email genevawriters@gmail.com to discuss options.

Meet Andra, Your Commnity Co-Navigator!

Since 2020, she has found creative reaffirmation in literary mentorships, practice collectives, and fellowship communities, experiences that rekindled her motivation, creativity and practice,

She’d love for you to drop a word — to say hello, share your story, or tell her about the visions and inspirations that keep you returning to the page with us this November.

Write to us with questions at genevawriters@gmail.com!

The Late Spring Virtual Writers Studio (29 Jun 2026)

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Late Spring Virtual Writers Studio: A Spring Generative Co-Writing Journey

And the mockingbirds find

ample reason and breath to fashion

new songs. They do. You can

count on it.

~ Late Spring by Mary Oliver

From mid-May through early July, join us for a steady, companionable writing practice designed to help you rekindle your stories, rebuild your creative rhythm, and stay close to the page.

The Late Spring Studio opens on Monday, May 11, 2026.

Let’s begin again, together.

Hosted by the GWG × Andra Otilia Nicolescu*

✨ About the Late Spring Studio

Across two guided sessions each week, we will gather to read, reflect, and write together—cultivating a steady, generative momentum in our work.

Each session offers a simple, supportive structure: shared reading, open discussion, and guided writing prompts (“portals”), followed by focused writing time and optional sharing in community.

This season also includes two special guest sessions with invited authors, following our beautiful conversation with acclaimed novelist Raaza Jamshed earlier this year.

Whether you are beginning a new project, returning to a long-paused manuscript, or simply seeking a rhythm to anchor your practice, the studio offers a welcoming and flexible creative home.

✏️ Overview of the Programme

Session Dates: May 11 – July 2, 2026
Schedule: Mondays & Thursdays, 8:30–10:30am (Geneva time)

Two hours of facilitated co-writing each session, with structure, spaciousness, and quiet accountability.

What to Expect in Our Sessions

Gentle goal-setting & intention framing to help you arrive on the page
Shared readings and prompts to open new creative pathways
Two or three focused writing portals to sustain momentum and spark new directions in companionable silence
Optional time for reflection, questions, or sharing
A shared digital workspace with resources, inspiration, and connection
A welcoming community of writers moving through the season together

Seasonal Extras

Who Should Join Us?

All writers and curious creative minds are warmly welcome.

Whether you plan to attend every session or drop in when you can, the studio is designed to support a range of rhythms and commitments. We look forward to writing with you.

Late Spring Studio Pricing

We offer flexible options so you can join the Studio in the way that best supports your writing practice—whether you’d like to attend occasionally or commit to the full season.

Full Studio (16 sessions): CHF 100
12-Session Package: CHF 90
10-Session Package: CHF 80
8-Session Package: CHF 65
Single Session: CHF 10

We are committed to making this programme accessible to all. If cost is a barrier, please email genevawriters@gmail.com to discuss options.

Meet Andra, Your Commnity Co-Navigator!

Since 2020, she has found creative reaffirmation in literary mentorships, practice collectives, and fellowship communities, experiences that rekindled her motivation, creativity and practice,

She’d love for you to drop a word — to say hello, share your story, or tell her about the visions and inspirations that keep you returning to the page with us this November.

Write to us with questions at genevawriters@gmail.com!

The Late Spring Virtual Writers Studio (02 Jul 2026)

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Late Spring Virtual Writers Studio: A Spring Generative Co-Writing Journey

And the mockingbirds find

ample reason and breath to fashion

new songs. They do. You can

count on it.

~ Late Spring by Mary Oliver

From mid-May through early July, join us for a steady, companionable writing practice designed to help you rekindle your stories, rebuild your creative rhythm, and stay close to the page.

The Late Spring Studio opens on Monday, May 11, 2026.

Let’s begin again, together.

Hosted by the GWG × Andra Otilia Nicolescu*

✨ About the Late Spring Studio

Across two guided sessions each week, we will gather to read, reflect, and write together—cultivating a steady, generative momentum in our work.

Each session offers a simple, supportive structure: shared reading, open discussion, and guided writing prompts (“portals”), followed by focused writing time and optional sharing in community.

This season also includes two special guest sessions with invited authors, following our beautiful conversation with acclaimed novelist Raaza Jamshed earlier this year.

Whether you are beginning a new project, returning to a long-paused manuscript, or simply seeking a rhythm to anchor your practice, the studio offers a welcoming and flexible creative home.

✏️ Overview of the Programme

Session Dates: May 11 – July 2, 2026
Schedule: Mondays & Thursdays, 8:30–10:30am (Geneva time)

Two hours of facilitated co-writing each session, with structure, spaciousness, and quiet accountability.

What to Expect in Our Sessions

Gentle goal-setting & intention framing to help you arrive on the page
Shared readings and prompts to open new creative pathways
Two or three focused writing portals to sustain momentum and spark new directions in companionable silence
Optional time for reflection, questions, or sharing
A shared digital workspace with resources, inspiration, and connection
A welcoming community of writers moving through the season together

Seasonal Extras

Who Should Join Us?

All writers and curious creative minds are warmly welcome.

Whether you plan to attend every session or drop in when you can, the studio is designed to support a range of rhythms and commitments. We look forward to writing with you.

Late Spring Studio Pricing

We offer flexible options so you can join the Studio in the way that best supports your writing practice—whether you’d like to attend occasionally or commit to the full season.

Full Studio (16 sessions): CHF 100
12-Session Package: CHF 90
10-Session Package: CHF 80
8-Session Package: CHF 65
Single Session: CHF 10

We are committed to making this programme accessible to all. If cost is a barrier, please email genevawriters@gmail.com to discuss options.

Meet Andra, Your Commnity Co-Navigator!

Since 2020, she has found creative reaffirmation in literary mentorships, practice collectives, and fellowship communities, experiences that rekindled her motivation, creativity and practice,

She’d love for you to drop a word — to say hello, share your story, or tell her about the visions and inspirations that keep you returning to the page with us this November.

Write to us with questions at genevawriters@gmail.com!