Ready to commit to your writing practice?
Conscious Writers Collective is an online writing community dedicated to helping you consciously meet your writing goals month after month, year after year.
It’s designed around the belief that rigorous writing instruction, a dedicated community of writers, and opportunities to learn from visiting experts should not be exclusive to an MFA.
It’s also a bridge for post-MFA life, guiding the next phase of your writing practice and supporting you as you identify and pursue your goals.
Does this sound like your writing journey?
You’ve considered applying for an MFA, but are eager to explore alternatives
You completed an MFA, but your life post-program left you without clear direction on actionable next steps towards establishing your career
You’ve had a consistent writing practice for years, but it’s been hard to find a community of writers similarly dedicated to improvement
You want to take classes and deepen your practice of writing while gaining a better understanding of how discrete poems and essays turn into collections and books
I see you. That’s why I started this community.
A writing platform where you can:
Deepen and expand your understanding of craft through a growing vault of courses (currently 20+ hours-worth)
Hear from some of the best writers, critics, and publishing professionals working today in monthly Zoom sessions
Regularly give and receive feedback from the community, ask questions in Office Hours, and receive continuous support from dedicated writers
Stay on top of upcoming writing deadlines, competitions, and opportunities
$99/month
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Embrace accountability.
What's included:
the course vault
The course vault contains all of the craft classes, generative workshops, and seminars I’ve taught over the last two years, including “How to Put Together a Chapbook,” “Re-imagining Approaches to Revision,” “An Introduction to Literary Criticism,” “Writing poems from the Bible,” “Writing the Long Poem,” (and many others). Hundreds of students have taken these courses; all are designed to help you generate and revise with ease.
live zooms with me
I meet with members 5x/month between live replays from the course vault (we watch previous recordings and do the exercises live, giving us a chance to share our work), Office Hours, and mini-workshops. I also guide us through our monthly sessions with visiting speakers. Other events are run by members and our community and our community coordinator.
feedback forum
The feedback forum is designed to allow you to share your writing with community members for feedback. You will always receive feedback and guidance, but remember: the more you give to others, the more you receive. It’s designed to help you connect with members and go even deeper. You’re encouraged to organize smaller workshop groups through the platform.
visiting speakers
I have the joy and privilege of working alongside some of the most brilliant, generous, and engaged writers and publishing professionals. My aim is to have them share their wisdom with you, with the hope that you will be open to taking greater risks on the page as a result. It’s also a great opportunity to learn about their writing trajectories and ask questions.
Student Testimonials
L.J. Sysko, Daughter of Man
"How to capture the dynamo that is Maya C. Popa? Her classes simply pull it off: that encouraging and coaxing inspiration yielding a magical draft. That lesson in revision gleaned gently yet decisively (nobody has better or quicker taste than Maya). That renewal of belief in poetry as a sport, collegiality as an art, and yourself as a capable writer. I keep going back.”
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“I was in search of poetry craft classes and was delighted to discover Maya’s Popa courses. I have learned so much from Putting Together a Poetry Chapbook, Re-imagining Revision, and Writing the Short Poem. These were recorded classes held on Zoom, but the audiovisual quality is excellent, and Maya is so encouraging and thoughtful in the way she approaches each class that you feel like you’re being taught by a very smart friend and mentor who truly cares about your development as a poet. I highly recommend these classes!” — Lisa Merschel, Ph.D. Director, Spanish Language, Duke University
Elizabeth Powell, Green Mountain Review
"Working with Maya C. Popa is inspirational and mind enhancing. She is this editor's editor—a dream reader who knows how to guide one to see their vision clearly. From micro line edits to macro structural concerns, Maya's critical brilliance, creative judgement, steely intellect and empathetic and analytical editorial style make her one of the best editors I've ever worked with."
MArti Leimbach, Age of Consent
"Maya is a first-class poet and a gifted teacher. She’s got a wonderful eye and misses nothing in a poem. She’s given me confidence in my own work, introduced me to poets I never knew, and deepened my love for poetry generally. It is a privilege to learn from such a talented poet and scholar."
How I work with you:
Office hours
Office Hours are held 2x a month. They are designed for you to check in with me—and the group—about your writing. Come ready to talk through challenges or questions, or simply listen. Or maybe you want guidance on where to submit or what to read next. Think equal parts bonding, accountability, and learning.
mini-workshops
We have a 2-hour workshop each month. 3-5 writers can sign up to receive feedback from me in the first hour.
The second hour is breakout rooms, allowing everyone to get feedback from the community on their writing within smaller, rotating groups.
replays & Challenges
During our monthly group replays, we do the writing exercises live, sharing our work with each other in the session.
We will have seasonal challenges and additional programming (for example, a forthcoming session on writing reviews) throughout the year.
This is for you if:
You have a genuine interest in deepening your relationship to writing and your life as a writer. This isn’t about gimmicks or shortcuts—it’s about learning how to show up to this vocation that often gets shortchanged by other obligations, and developing a sustainable practice in a supportive community.
You have an interest in mindset. That’s the conscious piece. If you’ve worked with me before, you know that I’m as likely to cite lessons from books and podcasts on consciousness and neuroplasticity as I am craft wisdom from Eliot, Vendler, Ricks, Lorde, and Smith. I am invested in making writing a more enjoyable and sustainable practice for writers. That often means adjusting our longheld beliefs about writing, the world, and ourselves as we go.
You love giving and receiving feedback—the feedback forum is for you. You love learning—the Course Vault is for you. You love hearing from outside speakers—the visiting speakers are for you. You love asking questions—Office Hours are for you. You’re ready to experiment and expand your sense of what’s possible for you as a writer—I’m the right mentor for you.
This isn’t for you if:
You enjoy getting into heated arguments with strangers on Twitter and find yourself disparaging and judging other writers. Do you, but not in here. We’re committed to earnest growth, not your hot take put-downs.
You don’t have an interest in poetry. Most of the programming is organized around poetry and creative non-fiction. We have critics, reviewers, and non-fiction writers lined up to visit, as well as poets who are also successful fiction writers. But: if you’re looking for feedback on your novel, a community focused on prose will be a better fit.
You’re looking for a quick-fix approach to publishing and are exclusively interested in promoting your own work, not in uplifting other. Again: not the right fit.
Select your plan:
Pay In Full
ONE-TIME PAYMENT
$999
You will receive:
Full access to over 20+ hours of past classes
An invitation to monthly Zoom sessions with visiting speakers (+ replay access!)
Access to the feedback forum, discussion boards, and CWC event calendar
Save $200/yearly commitment
Payment Plan
recurring MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF
$99
You will receive:
Full access to over 20+ hours of past classes
An invitation to monthly Zoom sessions with visiting speakers (+ replay access!)
Access to the feedback forum, discussion boards, and CWC event calendar
Flexible: Cancel any time
Ask me questions
$99/month
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” — C.G. Jung
Samples from the Course Vault:
FAQ:
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CWC is a community of writers who want to discover what they are capable of when they focus on the process, welcome the freedom of experimentation and the rigor of learning, and are guided towards the resources and teachings that will best serve them. They cheer for each other’s victories, connect and collaborate, and focus on consciously facing up to their limiting beliefs. It’s a space away from the negative discourse around this vocation centered, instead, on reflection, possibility, and growth.
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The majority of members are poets, but we welcome all writers with an interest in the community and materials offered. I’m eager to offer sessions that allow poets to work on lyric essays and creative non-fiction.
If you’re looking for feedback on a novel, I would suggest seeking out a manuscript consultation with a freelance editor. This community is not designed around workshopping book-length works in their totality—though, of course, you could aways connect with a member of the community and exchange your full manuscripts outside of our designated workshop sessions.
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I’ll be scheduling events at a range of times/days to suit a range of time zones. You can always watch the replays, too—all sessions will be recorded and made available to members.
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CWC is a writing platform designed for you to be in contact with other writers and with me, to share your writing, take classes within a dedicated community, and learn from phenomenal outside speakers. It goes far beyond a workshop, and it’s ongoing. Within CWC, there are mini-workshop once a month (see above).
I will continue to offer stand-alone four-week workshops separately from time to time (CWC members get a substantial discount).
Other questions?
contact me!
More reviews
past workshop and class Participants
Nicholas, New Jersey
“As Faulkner said, words are no good—that is, language itself is inadequate to express my gratitude to Maya C. Popa as a teacher and mentor. I take every session I can when Maya offers one because it is a shared delight to listen to her wisdom and guidance. The two years I’ve been working with Maya, I’ve seen a number of returning students. We all agree she is just that goddamn good.”
Jean-Christophe, Australia
“Writing needs total freedom of thought and feeling, and Maya seems to naturally and intuitively be able to lead us towards it, like a friend leading us by the hand in a new place. She makes writing such a natural process, starting with the way she reads from others, elicits comments and questions, taking in everyone’s contribution before elaborating and showing its value. She fosters a great sense of acceptance and team building. Where the magic comes in is in Maya’s ability to open and hold for us the contrasting opposites and ambivalences inherent in this art form.”
About Me
maya c. popa
I’m a poet, editor, and teacher based in NYC and the author of Wound is the Origin of Wonder (W. W. Norton), American Faith (Sarabande), and three chapbooks. My books have been featured widely, including in The Guardian, The TLS, and The Washington Post, and my poems, essays, and criticism appear in The Paris Review, The Atlantic, Poetry, Granta, and elsewhere. My newsletter, Poetry Today, is one of Substack’s best-selling publications. I’m deeply invested in helping poets—and general readers—stretch their understanding of how poets and poems serve the world.
I hold a PhD on the role of wonder in poetry from Goldsmiths, University of London, with a focus on how wonder can re-energize our efforts to preserve the Anthropocene. I hold an MSt from Oxford University, where I was a 2011-2013 Clarendon Scholar, and an MFA from NYU, where I currently teach. I integrate the most useful and enriching lessons from my own transatlantic education in my classrooms. If it served me, then I hope to share it with you.
Since 2018, I have been the Poetry Editor of Publishers Weekly, where I champion poets year-round. I am a tireless advocate for writers, and more importantly, for the inner lives that allow them to undertake this vital work. I believe in slowing down to take inventory and figure out lasting ways to make our writing practice more sustaining and rewarding in community.