A Happy Beginning: First-Ever Popular Fiction Retreat a Huge Success

One of the greatest draws to Emerson College’s Popular Fiction MFA program is that it’s asynchronous and online. But while students love being able to plug into sessions from anywhere in any time zone, there has been a growing desire to meet in person.

That led to the first-ever PopFic Retreat on July 10-13 in Boston, which included writing seminars, an author talk with thriller author Ana Reyes, a bookstore crawl, a chance for students to read their work in a public setting, and wonderful face-to-face interactions.

“The retreat was a wonderful example of writers coming together to learn from, explore concepts with, and support each other,” said Emily Chapel, MFA ’25. “Each of the seminars was inspiring, and from each one, I found something to come away with and use beyond the retreat.”

Chapel said the PopFic program has helped deepen her writing skills while building a community of writers. She said all four retreat seminars were extremely useful.

“I came away with new practices to try, ideas to consider, and new pages written,” said Chapel. “I will be starting my thesis semester in the fall, and what I learned during the retreat has already [been incorporated into] my summer writing, and will continue to serve me in moving towards my thesis semester goals and beyond.”

Chapel is the president of the Popular Fiction Writing and Publishing Graduate Student Organization (GSO), which provides online students with community-building opportunities. It meets monthly to plan events like a coffee writing hour, night owl writing session, craft night, virtual happy hours, work in progress therapy and more. The GSO is hosting a PopFic Alumni Panel on August 10 for students to get more insights about the thesis semester from program alumni.

Chapel said that meeting deepened the bond of the already robust community of passionate writers, and before leaving, students had organized workshopping opportunities, accountability conversations, and craft discussions.

“I wanted the opportunity to meet the writer community I have gotten to know over the last two years in person, as well as to attend the seminars that were being held,” said Chapel.

Chapel, who lives in Seattle, had never visited Emerson College before the retreat, and was one of the 30 or so students who participated. More students wanted to come, but there was limited space in the residence halls, said Writing, Literature & Publishing Associate Professor Katie Williams, director of the Pop Fiction program.

“To see them meet for the first time was a delight. They quickly created a sense of community,” said Williams. “They have a marvelous, lovely group dynamic, which makes sense because they have a foundation already from online classes.”

WLP Assistant Professor Kirsten Imani Kasai taught a new workshop, Writing Through the Fire, and took advantage of being in-person.

“I always include a focus on strategizing self-care to address the internal and external challenges of the writing life in my teaching, but the collaborative pair-and-share genre exercises were new,” said Kasai. “Students shared exciting moments of insight and self-discovery that fostered small perspective shifts, effectively reframing negativity and empowering them to do the work that most matters.”

Other seminars taught by WLP faculty included: Promoting Your Work with WLP affiliated faculty members Tanya Gold and Fin Leary; Pantsing to the Finish Line with affiliated faculty member Edwin Hill; and Flat to Ferocious Characters with Assistant Professor Margot Douaihy.

Williams said the program has flourished since its inception in 2016, going from 23 students to approximately 120 students currently.

Victoria Draper, MFA ’26 immensely enjoyed the retreat, specifically the camaraderie.

“For lunch and dinner, we wandered off in groups and enjoyed various restaurants and cafes. At night, we’d sit in the dorm lounge, and a lot of people would sit and write together,” said Draper.

Williams enjoyed the opportunity for students to get up and read their work to participants.

“Students who got up had different projects – fantasy, romance, horror, mysteries – and each reading was full of energy,” said Williams. “I had students do a testimonial of one beautiful thing from the retreat – my one beautiful thing was seeing them in person.”

And Williams learned one very big important lesson from the first-ever PopFic Retreat.

“That we need to do it again.”