Rochelle J. Shapiro

Instructor Biography:

Writer whose novel, Miriam the Medium, was nominated for the Harold U. Ribelow Award and its sequel Kaylee’s Ghost was an Indie Award Finalist. Ms. Shapiro’s essays have been published in The New York Times and Newsweek. Her short story collection What I Wish You’d Told Me was published by Shebooks and her poetry was published in The Iowa Review, Sedge and Moment. She won the Branden Memorial Literary Award.

Instructor Statement:

Writing is daring to put your thoughts on the page. Yes, daring, without "tsk-tsking," back peddling or worrying that someone else can do it better. No one can write what's in your mind better than you can. My goal is to help you say what you've always wanted to say in a way that makes readers feel as if they're listening to their closest friends. I encourage you to use your most colorful language, whether from your ethnic background, hip hop, urban or rural slang, even words invented in your family. (My mother used to call dust balls "kivvies.") And through asking questions, I guide you to use all your senses so that readers can picture and taste and smell and hear exactly what you want them to. You have all the material you need for writing--your life!

Our Students Say it Best! “Rochelle Shapiro is an excellent, empathetic, very intelligent, well organized and responsive teacher.  I know that my writing improved significantly during the course.” -- Writers' Program student