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Andrea A. Firth

Writer, Editor, Educator

Co-Founder, Diablo Writers' Workshop

Editor at the Brevity Blog
Contact: andrea@andreaafirth.com

Join me for the
Wednesday Co-Write
9:00-10:15 am PST
FREE on Zoom
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New Classes
See what I've got planned for this Fall 
Next
Submit It Now--Nov 30
3:00-4:30 pm PST
FREE on Zoom
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Bio

Andrea A. Firth is a writer, editor, and educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is cofounder of Diablo Writers’ Workshop where she teaches creative writing, provides editorial consulting, and supports a vibrant writing community. She is also an Editor for the Brevity Blog. Andrea received her MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Saint Mary’s College of California where she also teaches. Her writing focus is personal essay, and in 2021 she was a finalist for the Missouri Review's Perkoff Prize. She was a longtime contributor to Oakland Magazine and has published hundreds of articles in news outlets and magazines. Inspired by a handful of old family photos, Andrea is working on a collection of essays, Examples of her recently published work are listed with links below.

Classes--Enrolling Now

Coming of Age: Writing the Formative Years

A Workshop for Memoir and CNF 

Both sections FULL

November 13-December 18

6 Mondays 2:00-4:00 pm PST or

6Tuesdays 9:30-11:30 am PST

on Zoom/$360

The journey from childhood to adulthood, birth to about 30, is filled with the life events (achievements, disappointments, challenges, transitions, awakenings) that serve as the foundation for who we are and what will follow. We’ll focus on this significant slice of life as we write our own stories. Each week we’ll read excerpts from contemporary, coming-of-age memoirs by Maya Angelou, Michelle Zauner, Beth Nguyen, Ocean Vuong, Yazmin Azar and Davon Loeb.. We’ll analyze the writing craft they use and how and work to do the same with prompts and freewrites. We’ll workshop on weeks 5 and 6 and each writer will receive a written critique from me.

Ideal for writers working on personal essays or memoir with workshop experience.

The classes listed below are scheduled and enrolling with the great folks at Write Or Die/Chill Subs.

Click through to get a complete description and to enroll. 

Questions? Reach out to me here.

 

In A Flash: A Workshop or Crafting Flash Fiction and CNF

 Thursdays, October 26- November 16

4:00PM- 6:00PM PST, 4 weeks

 

 

The World of Lit Mags and How to Get Published

 Thursday, December 7, 4:00 PM- 6:00 PM PST

Free Meet Ups on Zoom

Wednesday Co-Writing
Inspiration. Motivation. Community

9:00 am - 10:15 am PST

FREE. On Zoom

 Every Wednesday starting September 6th

Spend an hour writing in community. I alternate co-hosting with my colleague Janine Noel. After a brief check in, you'll get down to writing (audio muted, camera on or off). Generate new work or revise a work-in- progress. We will provide a prompt each week for those looking for a start, but this time and space is for you to write what you choose. No need to register in advance. 

Submit It Now!
Time and support to help you get your work out to lit mags

Next session: Thursday, Nov 30th
3:00 - 4:30 pm PST
FREE. On Zoom

Gather with other writers and dedicate an hour to submitting your writing to lit mags. After a brief check-in, I will introduce you to a great tool or resource to make the submission process easier and more fun. From there you will get to work and I will be available for questions. At the close we’ll see how the hour went and celebrate hitting SUBMIT. No advance registration needed. 

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Selected Essays and Journalism

Broken Glass

Dorothy Parker's Ashes, January 2023

 

Unpacking Mom

Allium, A Journal of Poetry & Prose, Fall 2022

Fear of Infinity

Please See Me, April 22, 2022

Capturing the Final Moments of Pregnancy in a Picture 
Motherwell, August, 2021

 

A Coyote in the Midst

The Coachella Review, Winter 2020

Old John
eMerge Magazine, Summer 2020

The Pandemic's Quiet Victim: Our Planet
The Bold Italic, July 2020

Is Video Gaming A New Addiction?
Oakland Magazine, October 2018

Journalism, Craft and the Writing Life

The Future of CNF Writing, Editing and Publishing

in a World with AI, Interview w/Sil Hamilton

Brevity Blog, Part 1, August 21, 2023

Brevity Blog, Part 2, August 24, 2023

Crónica: The Platypus of Prose

An Interview w/Javier Sinay

Brevity Blog, September 11, 2023

The Hard as F--- List and Breakfast Sandwich

The Sub Club Newsletter, June 24, 2023

Watch Out for the Unexpected

Brevity Blog, October 14, 2022

Exploring the Possibilities of Artificial

Intelligence in Creative Nonfiction Writing

Brevity Blog, February 1, 2023


 

Winning at Battleship and Lit Mags--It's a Process

Write or Die Magazine, March 23, 2023

Flash: The Art and Craft of Writing Short

A Q&A with Grant Faulkner

Brevity Blog, February 15, 2023

How the Literary Journal Landscape Is

and Isn't Changing

Jane Friedman's Blog, April 26, 2022

You Always Remember Your First

Brevity Blog, April, 2022

 

Seven Drafts, an Interview with Allison K Williams

Catapult, December 1, 2021

What Do I Call This? How to Title a Personal Essay
Brevity Blog, September, 2021


Tomato Ready: Publishing, Patience and Pleasant Surprises
Brevity Blog, June, 2021

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