All Teachers
Laura Cathcart Robbins
NYT Modern Love, Real Simple & Elle Best Book
Laura Cathcart Robbins is the host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room, and author of the Atria/Simon & Schuster memoir, STASH My Life In Hiding, published March 2023. She's published essays and articles in NY Times Modern Love, Good Housekeeping, Oprah, HuffPo, The Temper on the subjects of race, recovery, and divorce which have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She is a Moth StorySlam winner and a 2022 TEDx Speaker. Her podcast, The Only One In The Room, was chosen by Bustle Magazine twice as a top podcast alongside This American Life and Slow Burn as well as Reader’s Digest and Screen Rant. Laura was originally a Writing Pad student. She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice.
“She broke story building into a formula and took time to listen to each story and reflect back how to find the stakes, beginning, middle and end.”
“Laura did an amazing job listening to our stories and really finding ways to strengthen the narrative. She helped define voice and set up great structures for our writing process.”
“Laura was welcoming to all and very positive and constructive when reviewing our weekly 1,200 words. She really listened to each student and was very specific in her comments on everyone’s writing. The class was super informative and inspiring.”
“Laura is one of the most phenomenal teachers at Writing Pad! She is the most invested and engaged teacher I've ever had. She was so generous with giving us ALL the tools we need to start a podcast. She gave us a wealth of resources and shared her experiences. She obviously cares about her students and the class, and it showed through her teaching! She's smart, honest, vulnerable, and hard-working, and her beautiful energy framed our experience.”
“She was engaging and clear, the tips were great, her advice to those who shared was insightful and personalized but incredibly helpful to note for any storyteller.”
“Laura is great at making the classroom feel safe, making all students feel equal, and giving helpful workshopping feedback. Each student felt heard and understood, and advice was tailored to everyone's individual writing level.”
“She was supportive, honest, and real and provided a safe space for us all. She's a very clear communicator and a great listener. Laura infused every class with invaluable information about the process of writing, insightful critique, sharing her personal journey of writing, getting an agent, editors, and publishing her book in addition to resources and context to every aspect. I had so many takeaways it's hard to do justice to how great her class was.”
“Laura was excellent in explaining how to make memoir happen and how to navigate roadblocks, or writer's block. And she was generous in discussing how her personal process worked for her.”
“Laura has a wonderful personality. She is great at making the classroom feel safe, making all students feel equal, and giving helpful workshopping feedback. Each student felt heard and understood, and advice was tailored to everyone's individual writing level.”
“Laura shared her professional and personal insights on her writing journey, and shared lessons learned to help others. She had TONS of ideas, tips, and practical information. She was good at coaching and prodding to help prompt us to get to the work of writing and how to get the craft back into our lives. She was vulnerable with students and allowed us to be so too. ”
“Laura was able to communicate a lot of information in 5 short weeks. She was engaging and had great examples prepared for us. Her lessons were clear and helpful. Her feedback was constructive, honest and encouraging. This class made me excited to keep writing!”
“Laura was exceptional at giving feedback and making the class worthwhile for all writing levels. She is extremely talented and shares her vulnerability with students to show not only the success of publishing, but the real-truths of rejections. She uses her experience to better equip students for what is ahead and truly made me a better and more intentional writer. She’s fantastic!”
“Laura is an honest teacher and is good at giving critical feedback, I learned a lot, and highly recommend her class!”
“Laura was encouraging and really cared about everyone's success. She shared her knowledge and gave us a lot of her personal practices, tricks of the trade, etc. I felt like this is someone who is really credible and I should listen to her. I had some real light bulb turning on moments when we reviewed essay structure. Also, she gave great feedback on everyone's essay. She was lovely from start to finish. I highly recommend her class, especially to people who are nervous about writing. I'd love to take another class with her!”
“I really enjoyed this class and appreciated Laura’s teaching style. She was a great listener and knows exactly how to zero in on what needs to be improved.”
“Laura is awesome. Lectures were fantastic, packed with info, tips etc. She also gave really helpful and specific feedback to all students during workshopping.”
“Laura did a really great job laying out the structure of personal essays, as well as pitches. She was also really great with feedback and gave very specific and helpful notes on structure and voice for each essay.”
