Terms and privacy

About The Art of Reading

The Art of Reading is an independent program of literature classes taught by Carolyn Sinsky. It is not a program of any university.

Membership

What it includes. Membership includes the live classes, Monday to Thursday at 12 p.m. Pacific, the weekly Reading Group, a live discussion of the week’s reading, and the library of lecture recordings. Weekend seminars are free for members. A monthly one-hour tutorial is included only in the membership with a tutorial.

Payment. Your card is charged monthly through Stripe, starting the day you join, and the membership renews each month until you cancel. Stripe emails your receipt after every payment. To update your card or download a receipt, use your membership portal. The founding rate is kept for as long as you stay a member without a break. If you cancel and later rejoin, the regular rate applies.

Annual membership. If you join for the year, your card is charged once a year through Stripe, $2,700 at the founding rate and $3,150 after November 9, and the membership renews each year on the day you joined until you cancel. Stripe emails you a reminder before it renews, and a receipt after every payment. The founding rate is kept for as long as you stay a member without a break. You can cancel at any time in your membership portal, or by writing to carolynsinsky@gmail.com, and cancelling stops the next renewal. If you cancel partway through the year, you keep access through the end of the month you are in, and I refund the full months that remain, counted at one twelfth of the annual price each. For example, if you pay $2,700 and cancel after three months, I refund nine months at $225, which is $2,025.

Cancelling. You can cancel at any time in your membership portal, or by writing to carolynsinsky@gmail.com. Cancelling stops the next payment, and you keep your access through the end of the month you have paid for.

Refunds. If a month was not right for you, write to me and I will refund your most recent payment. I am always learning how to teach this better. Send me your feedback. If a payment was made in error, write to me and I will correct it.

Scholarships. Full and half scholarships are available, for membership and for tutorials. Write to me and ask.

Schedule. I may change a class time or cancel a class, and I will tell you ahead of time. If a live class is cancelled, I will release the lecture as a recording.

Recordings and materials. The recordings, reading guides, and other materials are for your own use as a member. Please do not share, post, or republish them. The live question time is not recorded. Please do not record it yourself.

Respect. The classes and the Reading Group work because people listen to each other. I may remove anyone from a session who is disruptive or unkind, and I will refund the month in progress if I do.

Weekend seminars

A weekend seminar costs $150, and it is free for members. It is live on Zoom. The lecture is recorded, and everyone who registers receives the recording by email, so you can watch it if you cannot attend. The recording is for your own use. The live question time is not recorded. You can cancel for a full refund up to 48 hours before the seminar begins. After that, write to me and I will do what is fair.

Gifts

You can give a weekend seminar, a month, three months, or a year of membership. You choose the day the gift arrives and may add a note. On that day I write to the recipient with everything they need to begin. A season or a year begins the day the gift arrives. A weekend gift can be used for any weekend seminar in the year after it arrives. When a season or a year ends, no one is charged automatically; I write once to ask whether the recipient would like to continue. If a gift has not yet arrived, write to me and I will refund it in full. Once it has arrived, write to me if something is not right and I will do what is fair.

Fellowships, sponsorships, and gifts that support the work

Fellowships are funded places for readers who could not otherwise come. A sponsorship, or a gift to The Art of Reading as a Friend or a member of the Society of Readers, pays for scholarships, tutorials, and the work of keeping the classes open. The Art of Reading is not a nonprofit organization, so gifts and sponsorships are not tax-deductible. I choose Fellows myself, and a Fellow’s name is shared only with their permission. A sponsor may name a particular reader, or a kind of reader, when we agree it in writing. Names of Friends and sponsors appear on the website only with their permission. If you gave in error, write to me and I will correct it.

Free sessions

Thursday Night Live and the free introductory classes are open to everyone. Thursday Night Live is not recorded. Registering gives me your name and email so I can send you the link.

Privacy

What I collect. When you join, subscribe to my newsletter, register for a session, or write to me, I collect your name and email address. When you pay, Stripe collects your payment details. When you apply for a fellowship or ask about a scholarship, I keep what you tell me private and use it only to reply and to decide. I never see or store your full card number.

How I use it. I use your information to run the classes, send you Zoom links and reading, send receipts, and write to you about The Art of Reading. If you joined my newsletter, I send you news about classes, and you can unsubscribe at any time from the link in any email.

Who else sees it. I do not sell your information or give it to anyone else. A few services help me run the classes and handle your information for me: Stripe for payments, Squarespace for this website and my mailing list, and Zoom for the live sessions.

Website visits. My website host collects basic visit statistics, such as which pages are viewed.

Your choices. You can ask me to show you, correct, or delete the information I hold about you by writing to carolynsinsky@gmail.com.

Questions

Write to me at carolynsinsky@gmail.com.

Last updated October 2026.