One of my favorite things is to teach people how to be writers. I’ve taught poetry, creative writing, critical writing, and English to middle school, high school, and college students. Here I am teaching a picture book workshop to Stanford University students. In this other photo, I am teaching critical writing to international students at Canada College.
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- Stanford University
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- Canada College
When leading workshops, I try to help students recognize the strengths and weaknesses in their own work. I share concrete craft skills that students can apply to their own writing and offer time for Q&A, generating work, and peer feedback.
My lectures focus on the creative process as well as various aspects of craft that can make a student’s writing stronger. I pull from mentor texts to demonstrate specific writerly skills and set aside time for practice and exploration.
I have presented at regional writers’ conferences and offered workshops in academic settings. I currently teach creative writing at Creator School in Palo Alto, California, and I am a frequent guest lecturer at Stanford University and other esteemed academic institutions.
If you are interested in having me visit your school or institution, please reach out. If you have a specific topic in mind, I would be happy to prepare a custom presentation for your students.
Past Events
- Stanford University Picture Book Workshop, Program in Writing and Rhetoric, bi-annual, 2019-2026
- Crystal Spring Uplands School Creative Writing Lecture, “Let’s Talk About the Writing Process- Ways of Writing for Every Writer,” Fall and Spring 2024 & 2025
- Crystal Spring Uplands School Creative Writing Workshop, Fall and Spring 2019-2023
- SCBWI SF/South, Scholar in Residence Lecture, “Let’s Talk About the Writing Process- Ways of Writing for Every Writer,” November 2024
- VCFA Graduate Lecture, “Confessions of a Serial Story Killer,” July 2014
“Danielle Sunshine does a stellar job introducing my creative writing students to the elements and structures of fiction. Her enthusiasm and expertise inspire them to pen short stories of their own. Her workshop is always the highlight of our semester.”
— Christina Lloyd, PhD, poet and instructor at Crystal Springs Uplands School
“Danielle’s visits to my Stanford writing classes have been invaluable. She offers countless editorial insights and detailed suggestions to help students develop their picture books. She explains her reasoning so clearly and suggests revisions so constructively and enthusiastically—while also generously praising students’ achievements—that students leave with a jolt of motivation to revise. Danielle clearly loves language and understands storytelling and the complex relationship between words and images. Here’s what some of my students have had to say about her visits:
- ‘She had such a seasoned and experienced eye and could share industry trends that we would otherwise be uninformed about.’
- ‘She gave great insight as to how the characters should be feeling and the logical arc of the story.’
- ‘She gave feedback about our book that I never would have even thought of. It was very helpful hearing from someone in the field.’
- ‘I liked her feedback and how she went through each page and noted even very minor changes so we can really optimize our final book.’
- ‘I think that getting outside feedback from an established writer in this space was super helpful. She provided a lot of targeted constructive criticisms, which was extremely valuable in the early stages of developing our book.’”
—Erik Ellis, PhD, Advanced Lecturer, Writing and Rhetoric Studies, Stanford University