MEET OUR COLLECTIVE

Founded in 2018 by writer Molly Rosen in the basement of her Brooklyn building, BWC has grown into a fierce, multi-generational community of online workshops and retreats devoted to the power of personal storytelling. Our classes are vibrant, boundaried spaces rooted in empathy, active listening, and integrity, where rules are bent, comfort zones are torched, and breakthroughs happen in real time. We welcome unconventional learners and neurodiverse thinkers ready to mine their hard pasts and turn them into propulsive, poetic narratives. Over the years, BWC students have written New York Times bestselling memoirs, taken the mic at The Moth, appeared in Vogue, The Cut, The Rumpus, i-D, and the New York Times, and landed book deals with Random House, Doubleday, and Metropolitan Books. Guest speakers have included Melissa Febos, Danyel Smith, Jessamine Chan, Carvell Wallace, and more. We believe stories are medicine — there is no wrong way to write.

KAYLA BURNEY

“I started What The Plot without an outline or any idea of how to make one… I loved this class because it helped writing a book go from an abstract process to something approachable.”

Writer and PhD student at Tulane

LIZ HAMMOND

“I came to BWC because I knew I wanted to write about my postpartum experience I didn’t have the framework or motivation to sit down and get it done. Molly’s classes and the BWC community were the dose of inspiration I needed. My recent story in Vogue started as a prompt in a summer workshop.”

Writer; Vogue, 2023.

MICHELLE SCHULZ

“This class made the ethereal idea of creating a book become suddenly practical. Molly’s intense creativity allows for freedom to flow.”

Writer

LEXIE ROBINSON

“Since starting BWC classes in 2020. I’ve published an essay in Playgirl, a story in i-D magazine, and I’ve interviewed both Carvel Wallace and Melissa Febos about their creative process. In BWC I’ve found my soulmates and my sisterhood.”

Storyteller

MILO LONGENECKER

Theatremaker, movement artist, educator; Autostraddle, 2024

ALEXANDRA D’AMOUR

“Molly gave me the tough love I needed when I was editing my New York Times Op-Ed — an essay about toxic beauty culture that grew out of one of her classes.”

NYT, 2024

PI-ISIS ANKHRA

Founder of P.S. 314, inc., speaker, writer, and advisor pictured here at BWC 2022 retreat

"The Brooklyn writers Collective is a community of women who are there to listen, to learn, to write, to simply be in community with each other."

MANOUSKA JEANTUS

Writer and Community Strategist

SOPHIE CAIRD

comedy writer

MISHA SUMAR

Low-residency master’s student at Bennington College and BWC teaching assistant.

“When I first joined BWC, I was so hesitant to call myself a writer. Three years late I’ve written several chapters of my book, been published in Thimble Lit Mag and am in the process of applying for my MFA.”

ANNA SULLIVAN

Writer; Vogue, 2023

JULIE CHANG

“Every time I take a BWC class I find new inspiration and the words to shape the random memories and yearnings that have been haunting me. I’ve already published two stories in The Rumpus that began as workshop prompts.”

Writer and Copywriter

KERRY DOCHERTY

“Molly holds a safe container for any novice or expert writer to explore and hone their voice. I will undoubtedly take this class again.”

Writer and cofounder of Faherty Brand.

PAT REGAN

Standup comedian, TV writer (Hacks), and podcast host (Seek Treatment.)

“In Brooklyn Writers Collective I generated several essays that became the basis for my first book, which I sold to Doubleday this past summer.”

MICHELLE WOODS

Writer, editor, musician, MFA Creative Writing candidate at The New SchooL

“BWC has encouraged me to write the memoir I’ve always wanted — a deep dive into what it means to be Black, trans, a woman, a musician, a writer, and a recovering addict in today’s divided world. Prompts I started in workshops have also become published pieces in Them, NYLON, Vogue, and the LGBTQ zine, Club Curran.”

KATIE NUGENT

“Brooklyn Writers Collective turned my quiet dream of becoming a writer into a reality when an assignment I started in class was published in The Cut. Molly’s one-on-one mentorship and steadfast belief in my work was the encouragement I needed to get my stories out into the world.”

Writer and Photographer; The Cut, 2023

RACHEL FLEIT

Writer and director of Introducing, Selma Blair and Bama Rush.

“Molly helped me accomplish my best writing to date”

LILAH FISHER WISE

Writer and health nerd

“We gather, we share, we read, we reflect, we challenge. Somewhere along the way, Molly guides us to be more authentic storytellers. I can’t wait to do more.”

MAMIE CLAIRE

Writer

SALMA HINDY

“The Woodstock retreat was a cathartic weekend that helped me output one of the most clarifying pieces of my life. Every prompt was an effective portal to fresh new personal stories. Plus, the other students are like-minded, high-quality writers.”

Comedian, actor and writer

JESSICA DEFINO

“BWC always encourages me to do deeper in my writing. One of the personal essays I wrote for a summer workshop about death, beauty, and my grandfather ended up being one of my top-performing Substack articles of all time.”

Writer and advice columnist

CAT COHEN

Comedian, actress, singer and poet

JANJAY SHERMAN

strategic storyteller and multi-hyphenate marketer

JUSTINE LUPE

Actress and Producer

MADELINE HOWARD

Writer and editor; Vogue, 2023

NATALIE YEPEZ

“I’m a musician / performer who has struggled with writers block for years. But after taking close to ten classes with #brooklynwriterscollective, I finally feel unlocked. I’m writing the best music I've ever written and putting the finishing touches on my book proposal about growing up in NYC as the daughter of the downtown ‘Gangster Peacher’ in the underbelly of the NYC music scene. BWC has not only been a game charger but a life changer.”

Musician and performer

ANDREA GRAY

Writer and former BWC summer teaching assistant.

TAURI JANEÉ

Creative writer and art educator

Scene from BWC collaboration with Tauri Janeé and Wonderland Dreams by Alex Meade.

“Participating in Molly’s workshop brought up stories I hadn’t realized I needed to share. It was a transformative experience that helped me settle into my identity as a writer…a gentle push towards much needed self-reflection.”

"I owe so much of my growth as a writer to the space Molly has created."

JESSICA ELEFANTE

“BWC is for everyone. Molly has helped me stretch and flex every creative muscle I have. Whenever I’ve felt pigeonholed in my writing (brand copywriter, nonfiction author, Substack how-to’er.) I take one of BWC’s classes to see what else I am capable of.”

Musician and performer

JULIA CHILDS HEYL

Writer, therapist, and graduate of Tin House Summer Workshop at Reed College

“I made huge progress on my memoir this past year in the “I Feel Scene” + “Oh Snap” workshops. Molly and the community of brilliant BWC writers has completely shifted my creative life.”

LYNDSEY CLAIRE FOX

“Molly’s daily writing meditations forced the most excruciating catharses — they have my writing a heartbeat, a spine and a soul.”

Brand developer and writer

ALI BIRD

SVP and managing director at The Wall Group.

“Molly is a gentle and fearless teacher."

NATALIE PONTE

"Since taking my first Brooklyn Writer's Collective class four years ago, I've developed pieces that have been published in The Rumpus and Pigeon Pages. I'm currently finishing my final semester of an MFA at NYU. My thesis project is a novel, which also grew from a piece I began in BWC."

Writer and editor; Byline, 2024.

MARY REDJAM

Dublin writer

KATY ALLEN

“The people who were strangers Thursday morning were friends be Thursday night. I left the retreat with a full first draft of an essay and have been returning to it daily ever since. I believe I’ll be reaping the benefits of what was sown at the retreat for a long time.”

Writer