Find your voice.
Finish your work.
Small, supportive workshops for serious writers, led by award-winning author Teresa Burns Gunther in a community that's been making writers braver since 2004.
Welcome to the Lakeshore Writers Workshop.
Upcoming Workshops
For more information (including pricing) and to register, send an email to Teresa Burns Gunther at teresa [at] teresaburnsgunther [dot] com.
Generative Writing Workshop
Get words on the page, discuss craft, strengthen your voice, and build your writing practice in a circle of other dedicated creatives.
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Wednesday mornings
Session 1: July 22 to September 9, 2026
Session 2: September 30 to November 18, 2026
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Pacific, live on Zoom
Enrollment includes a private consultation or developmental editing session with Teresa.
Craft and Revision Workshop
Receive constructive feedback on works in progress, including fiction, memoir, and essay, from a supportive cohort of fellow writers.
We’ll explore the craft questions that arise from your work and discuss possible approaches to revision.
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Tuesday evenings
July 28 to September 1, 2026
5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Pacific, live on Zoom
Enrollment includes a private consultation with Teresa.
20+
years teaching
AWA
affiliate method
3
ways to work together
1:1
personal attention
A Note from Teresa
I discovered Amherst Writers and Artists through Joan Marie Wood’s Temescal Writers. I, like many women, did not consider myself a writer, though I’d kept diaries and journals all my life. I love the unique style of these workshops that provide not only space and time to write, but permission to write wild and true, to take risks, to trust one’s own original voice. This method allowed me to develop a strong writing practice and a belief in myself and my voice. In 2003, while earning an MFA in Creative Writing, I trained to become an AWA Affiliate. I started Lakeshore Writers in Oakland in 2024.
This work, facilitating others on their creative journey, has been a gift to me as a writer. It has inspired me and reminded me of the importance of writing, reminding me that everyone has something unique to say.
I keep my workshops small and love the intimacy of the Lakeshore community, the support writers offer each other, and the commitment to developing as artists. My generative workshops are based on the AWA Method, and I’ve developed other workshops to include Revision Workshops, Craft Classes, and one-on-one coaching and developmental editing.
I started Lakeshore Writers in Oakland in 2024. I lost my writing studio on Lake Merritt during the pandemic when I moved to Zoom. Since then, my workshops have drawn writers from all corners of the world.
— Teresa Burns Gunther, Founder of Lakeshore Writers Workshop
“Some students benefit from one-on-one or small-group instruction…Gunther’s workshops provide writers a chance to work in-depth on manuscripts in progress — fiction and memoir, novel, and story — within a small group of fellow writers.”
— "Write Like a Pro" in Oakland Magazine, 2019
★★★★★ Rated 5 stars
Writers don't need to be fixed. They need to be heard.
Most writers don't quit because they lack talent. They quit because they lose faith — in the work, in their voice, in the reason they started. Lakeshore exists to keep that from happening.
Since 2004, Teresa Burns Gunther has helped hundreds of writers find their voice, strengthen their craft, and finish what they started — poets and novelists, memoirists and first-timers, people returning to the page after decades away. Her workshops are small by design, generous by principle, and serious about craft. Writers leave each session with new pages, new ideas, and the energy to keep going.
01.
Generative Writing Workshop
Write to prompts and make new work in a warm, ongoing community. We write together, read aloud, and respond to what's strong and alive on the page. The heart of Lakeshore.
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8-week sessions · small groups · on Zoom · one private session included
02.
Craft & Revision Workshop
Bring a work in progress — a story, an essay, a novel chapter — and get thoughtful, craft-focused feedback in a supportive group of serious writers ready to help it become its best.
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6-week sessions · small groups · on Zoom · one private session included
03.
Private Coaching & Editing
Developmental editing and personal coaching to find where your writing is most alive and take it deeper. For writers who want dedicated, tailored attention on a specific project.
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By arrangement · all works welcome
Getting Started is Simple
No auditions, no pressure. Just a conversation and a place to write.
1. Book a consult
A free 15-minute call to talk about your writing and your goals, and find the right fit.
2. Choose your format
Generative, craft and revision, or one-on-one — whichever meets you where you are.
3. Reserve your spot
Groups are kept small, so seats are limited and held on a first-come basis.
4. Start writing
Show up, write, and be heard — from the very first session.
A Method Built on Encouragement, Not Criticism
As an AWA affiliate, Teresa draws on the teachings of Pat Schneider and the Amherst Writers & Artists method — an approach proven to help writers flourish.
✦ Precise, positive feedback
Every response is directed to the strength and the singular quality of your own voice — never a rewrite in someone else's.
✦ A safe distance
All work is treated as fiction, so there's room between the writer and the page. You can be honest without being exposed.
✦ Small groups, real attention
Rooms are kept intentionally small so every writer is truly seen and heard, every session.
✦ Craft above all
We stay strict about keeping our focus on the writing itself — what makes it work, and how to make it stronger.
Lakeshore Is For You If…
✓ You want honest feedback that builds you up.
✓ You're a first-timer ready to take yourself seriously.
✓ You've lost momentum and want it back.
✓ You want honest feedback that builds you up.
✓ You're a first-timer ready to take yourself seriously.
✓ You've lost momentum and want it back.
What Lakeshore Writers Say
“Teresa’s workshop at Hedgebrook helped me explore new ideas and generate meaningful work on the page. We read, wrote, talked, and laughed together. I came out of Teresa’s workshop feeling a little braver about my writing and more focused.”
—Charmaine Wilkerson, author of Black Cake
“I’ve taken Teresa’s writing workshop almost continuously for about five years. Now I am a published author, and I can honestly say that my early writing practice with Teresa’s group contributed immensely to my understanding of the craft of fiction, language, and process. Teresa’s critique of a writer’s work is generous in its praise and extremely astute in its constructive feedback. Lakeshore Writers is the place for writers to strengthen their voices and find their community.”
—Anoop Judge, author of No Ordinary Thursday
You'll Be In Good Hands
Teresa Burns Gunther is an award-winning author whose fiction and nonfiction appear widely in U.S. and international journals. Her collection Hold Off the Night was a finalist for the Orison and Hudson Book Prizes, and her new collection, The Adjacent Possible, is forthcoming from University of Wisconsin Press. She has won the New Millennium Writings Award and the Gemini Magazine Prize — and she brings that same working writer's eye to every session.
As a working writer herself, she knows what it takes to finish. That’s why her feedback works.
Questions, Answered
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Not at all. Lakeshore welcomes writers at every stage, from first-timers to published authors. What matters is that you're serious about your work.
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Workshops meet on Zoom, so you can join from anywhere, with occasional in-person events for those nearby.
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Fiction and memoir, short stories and novels, personal essay and creative nonfiction. If you're writing it, there's likely a place for it.
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Intentionally small, so every writer gets real attention and time to be heard. Because of that, spots are limited.
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Completely. The whole method is built to make sharing safe — feedback is always about what's working, and all writing is treated as fiction so you're never on the spot.
Have more questions? Contact Teresa at teresa@teresaburnsgunther.com
Your Next Chapter Starts with a Conversation
Book a free 15-minute consult with Teresa. You'll talk through your writing, your goals, and whether Lakeshore is the right home for your work. No pressure — just a place to begin.