Stories that Heal
Classes
&
Workshops
UPCOMING ZOOM CLASSES
When Memoir Becomes Autofiction
Introductory 6 wk. workshop.
Next class - March 2027
Intermediate Autofiction
A 12 wk. workshop
Next class starts
Sept 8, 2026
Registration open
Scroll down for details.
Stories that
Heal
Victoria Costello
Author Teacher
​​A major thread in my life is a search for healing through storytelling.
I've pursued this end as an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, a science journalist, a mental health advocate, and as a published author of a memoir and a novel.
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To my ongoing work as a novelist, I've added teaching, with an approach that differs from traditional writing programs. The workshops I offer combine emotional support for integrating shadow parts of ourselves with literary craft to help writers find and tell deeply personal stories, often centering childhood trauma. Writers who've taken my workshops have gone on to publish their stories as memoirs, novels, stage plays, and self-help narratives.
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This is storytelling as a path to healing, both for you as an author, and, ultimately, for your readers.
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Upcoming Class in 2026
Nail your protagonist
to find your plot
A twelve-week workshop for
intermediate & advanced writers of
memoir and autofiction
​
​Starts Sept. 8, 2026​
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Hannah, PA.
"I have an MFA, and I've workshopped with many writers over the years, some quite famous. I feel that Victoria's workshop helped me the most because of her gift of balancing a writer's personal trauma with the craft of writing. And I love how she managed to meet everyone within a diverse group at their own individual pace and level of readiness."
Emily Sparkman, NY
"This class was exactly what I was looking for: auto-fiction-specific, part lecture, part peer-review.​ I was grateful for and pleasantly surprised by how open everyone was about their work, stories, and feedback. The handouts and lecture series were very informative and helpful."
Reena Abraham, Dubai
"Your advice and insights have given me a great deal of clarity and confidence as I continue working on the memoir. This workshop has been illuminating, perceptive, and deeply encouraging. The generosity with which you have guided us, and the thoughtful feedback from everyone in the group, have made it an immensely rewarding journey."
My latest essay...
Triggered, Anyone?
By Victoria Costello
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Like anyone with a screen, I’ve been enraged and debilitated by the daily onslaught of Epstein-related horrors filling our newsfeeds. Add to it, my shame at realizing I’ve lived six decades unaware of the cabal of rich and powerful men, the same billionaires who run every major institution on which we depend, operating an international human trafficking syndicate to facilitate their crimes.
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Writing your trauma in this bizarre cultural moment​
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As the Epstein horrors have metastasized into a near constant sound bath, I’ve watched several of my students — who range in age from their low thirties to high seventies and represent both aspiring and veteran authors — be massively triggered by what they’re hearing. How could they not be?
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Read the complete essay at Esoterica Magazine
My Latest Book
My debut novel, ORCHID CHILD, has been called "a beguiling literary thriller" and an "ode to people with different minds."
Blending science, mystery, history, mysticism, and pieces of my own family history, ORCHID CHILD pulls you into an investigation that feels like a case cracking open into a haunting legend.
It's a mind-bending journey that will move you, inspire you, and leave you questioning everything.
All Current Services
“Victoria’s critique of my memoir was fabulously helpful, thanks to her wide experience, her ability to see big picture patterns and manuscript shape, and her attention to fine detail and shadings. Victoria’s insightful questions steered me away from rabbit holes and toward profound connections and allowed my book to find a wonderful agent and publisher.”
- Jacqueline Haskins, WA.
