Attic Writers' Workshop | a haven for writers

Nurture Your Voice

The heart of the Attic is the workshop: small, supportive, & intensive. We provide generous attention to your writing. Whatever stage you are at, come up to the Attic & join a shared community of other writers who meet in a common pursuit: the enrichment of one's writing, talent, & craft. Join the discussion

Private Consultation for Your Writing

We offer private consultations with a comprehensive approach to assist you with editing your writing & writing projects. Ask about manuscript help, personal editing assistance, & script doctoring. Plus, we help you develop strategies for publishing your work. We can help you. The difference is your writing

Helping You Get Published

At the Attic we work with you to develop all components of your writing. No writer wants to be caught sending work to an editor that isn't clean of basic errors. Our micro-ediiting service allows you to send your work out with the confidence that the basics are covered & corrected. Learn more

Join our mailing list

Get updates on writing, workshops, events, & other literary to-dos.

Students speak about their experience...

"I found the Attic fiction workshop allowed me to see the value and potential in every piece of writing submitted to the group. The atmosphere of the workshop was warm and respectful, but that level of professional courtesy never interfered with honest, well-constructed feedback. After their first round of Attic scrutiny, one of my own stories, "Address Book," underwent drastic changes as a result of feedback from the group, and it was accepted for publication soon after. I couldn't ask for better results."

Deborah Cravey

The Attic named Best of Portland

"The Attic Writers' Workshop is a quiet, literary oasis..."

-- Willamette Week

Summer Classes begin in June

Check out the new listings for classes & register today.

Current Schedule

Take 2: The Attic Blog

Visit the Attic's blog. Essential ephemera for active writers with links to literary, political, art, culture, events, & opinion.

Get an RSS feed at Take 2

David Biespiel joins Politico

Executive Director David Biespiel has joined Politico's Arena, the cross-party, cross-discipline daily conversation about politics and policy among more than a hundred current and former members of Congress, governors, mayors, political strategists and scholars. Check out the daily debate.

Find an editor to work with you privately

"instructive...encouraging...in-depth assistance...recommendations and suggestions..."

Student Login

Current Classes


The Fiction Workshop: August
The Magazine Writing Workshop: Travel Writing, Part 2
The Memoir Workshop A.M.: The Language of Your Life
The Mini Workshop: Creative Nonfiction
The Mini Workshop: Show v. Tell
The Narrative Workshop: Inspiration, Imagination, & the Tools to Write Freely
The Poetry Workshop: For the Summer Love of Forms

Poetry Northwest

Founded in 1959, & one of the nation's most prestigious magazines devoted to poetry, Poetry Northwest has been published at the Attic since 2006.

"The newly revived Poetry Northwest is very impressive" -- Washington Post

"The new Poetry Northwest is gorgeous & fantastic." -- The Virtual World

Subscribe today

Interview w/ Founder, Director, & Writer-in-Residence

David Biespiel (seen here lecturing to students at Oregon State University) started the Attic Writers' Workshop in an empty attic space on Hawthorne Boulevard in 1999. The first class had six students. Today some 300 students take classes at the Attic every year. Read this interview about the origins & evolution of Portland's unique literary studio & how the vision & mission of the Attic remain focused on the ambitions of each writer who comes up the stairs. Read the interview.

Primary links