About Us
Left Margin LIT is a creative writing center and workspace in Berkeley dedicated to serving the East Bay’s writers and readers—whether curious, aspiring, or established. We also offer classes and programs online for writers who don't live nearby.
We begin with the belief that rigorous learning isn’t limited to the university classroom. The founders and core faculty all have extensive college teaching experience, but we know that the best classrooms are those where excited, engaged students gather, no matter their background. The literary arts legacy is one of our great treasures in the Bay Area, and Left Margin LIT seeks to continue that story. We're dedicated to nurturing the region’s literary culture, advancing writers’ artistic development, and inspiring a love of literature.
Our goal is to guide you toward your own writing destination, whether that means beginning the long labor of a novel, compiling a portfolio of work to submit for an MFA application, editing a manuscript, getting a family story down on the page, or trying out poetry for the first time. Whatever your stage or interest, if you’re serious about trying it, we want to work with you.
Who We Are
Left Margin LIT was founded by David Roderick and Rachel Richardson in 2016. Read more about our advisory committee, instructors, and staff here.
We are building a collective of working writers dedicated to advancing the literary arts in our community. We aim to serve writers and students of the craft looking for alternative models to the academic experience, but with just as much rigor and commitment. We are a school, but we are also a community. We exist because not everyone can leave their job, their responsibilities, and their family to do a 2-year MFA program. We exist because not everyone wants to.
A great city deserves great arts, and artists need community. Left Margin LIT welcomes you to join us for coffee, writing classes, and events. Get inspired with us. Hold yourself accountable. Find your people. Write.
Where We Are
Our office and writing space is in North Berkeley, at the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Cedar Street. Wander over to dozens of restaurants, bars, bakeries, or Books, Inc. just down the block for inspiration and sustenance!
Our address is 1543 Shattuck Avenue, Suite B, Berkeley, CA 94709