Events, Classes, and Seminars
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Featured Events
April 2021
SPRING 2021 Writing Classes
The Writers’ Gymnasium: The Writing Workout
Sun, April 18 from 9:00 am - 11:00 am PDT
Six-week Class: This prompt-driven generative workshop will give writers an opportunity to flex their literary muscles. Classes will provide an intimate, structured, and supportive time to broaden basic and complex writing skills.
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For Bipoc Writers SPRING 2021 Writing Classes
April BIPOC writer workshop
Sun, April 18 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT
One-day Workshop: Open to writers of color at all levels writing in poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. A variety of prompts will be presented as avenues for generating and sharing new work in an informal setting. You can also bring your own prompts and questions about the writing process, and explore them with the group.
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Portland Arts & Lectures Ticketed Events
2020/21 Portland Arts & Lectures: Joy Harjo
Tue, April 20 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm PDT
A limited number of single tickets to this event have been made available (no need to purchase a full subscription). Scroll down to purchase a general admission ticket for this event. Joy Harjo is a renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and was named the 23rd Poet Laureate of the United States in 2019. Harjo is the author of nine books of poetry—most recently An American Sunrise—several plays and children’s books, and a memoir, Crazy Brave.…
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Free Events Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships
Creative Nonfiction Finalists Webinar
Fri, April 23 from 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm PDT
Join the five finalists for the Sarah Winnemucca Award in Creative Nonfiction for an hour-long discussion and reading of their work. SARAH WINNEMUCCA AWARD FOR CREATIVE NONFICTION FINALISTS: Judges: May-Lee Chai, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Heather Sellers Sierra Crane Murdoch of Hood River, Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and a Woman's Search for Justice in Indian Country (Random House) Ruby McConnell of Eugene, Ground Truth: A Geological Survey of a Life (Overcup Press) David Oates of Portland, The Mountains of Paris (Oregon…
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Free Events
BIPOC Reading Series- April
Fri, April 23 from 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm PDT
The theme for April is "Uses of Anger" inspired by Audre Lorde's groundbreaking essay. This bimonthly reading series is intended to prioritize the safety, creativity, and stories of Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color. Come listen to our featured readers, or sign up to share your work in our open mic. Readings will be followed by a short community discussion. Click here to register for this event. This event is open to everyone, but only people who self-identify…
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For Bipoc Writers Free Events
Oregon BIPOC Writers Publishing Event
Sat, April 24 from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm PDT
Literary Arts, Ooligan Press, and Portland State University's English Department partner to present the Oregon BIPOC Writers Publishing Event. This event is designed for writers who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color to connect to the publishers and authors seeking to hear their voices. Pitching a Book 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM (PST) Distilling the important elements of a book into a concise and gripping pitch is a true art. In this presentation, seasoned literary agent Fiona Kenshole…
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Free Events Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships
Children’s Literature Finalists at Green Bean Books
Sat, April 24 from 2:00 pm PDT
Join the five Oregon Book Award finalists for the Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award, presented by Green Bean Books on Independent Bookstore Day. ELOISE JARVIS MCGRAW AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE Judges: Nikki McClure, Eliot Schrefer, Wendy Wahman Deborah Hopkinson of West Linn, Butterflies Belong Here (Chronicle Books) Jody J. Little of Portland, Worse Than Weird (Harper Collins Children's Books) Susan Hill Long of Portland, Josie Bloom and the Emergency of Life (Paula Wiseman Books, Simon & Schuster) Jenn Reese of Portland,…
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Delve Readers Seminars Spring 2021
From Another Angle: Marilynne Robinson’s Home, Lila, and Jack
Tue, April 27 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm PDT
In this seminar we will read Robinson’s third, fourth, and fifth novels, Home, Lila, and Jack. These novels complete the quartet that begins with Gilead. Home takes up the story of one of that novel’s characters, Jack Boughton. Nemesis of Gilead’s narrator John Ames and son of Ames’s best friend, Rev. Robert Boughton, Jack has returned to his childhood home unexpectedly after a twenty-year absence. Now he, his aging father, and his recently-divorced younger sister Glory must navigate a difficult…
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Free Events Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships
Oregon Book Awards Finalists in Drama: Panel Discussion
Wed, April 28 from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm PDT
Join the five Oregon Book Award finalists for the Angus Bowmer Award in Drama for a panel discussion, moderated by Chip Miller, Associate Artistic Director of Portland Center Stage at The Armory. Streamed live at Portland Center Stage on their You Tube and Facebook pages atYouTube, and Facebook ANGUS BOWMER AWARD FOR DRAMA Judges: Michelle Carter, Diana Grisanti, KJ Sanchez Sara Jean Accuardi of Portland, The Delays Conor Eifler of Portland, You Cannot Undo This Action E.M. Lewis of Monitor,…
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Ticketed Events Youth Events
#Virtualandia! 2021: YOUTH POETRY SLAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Thu, April 29 from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm PDT
Click to read the event program #Virtualandia! 2021 is an exciting opportunity for students from eligible Portland metro area high schools to take part in a dynamic virtual slam poetry competition, and to win prizes like the title of #Virtualandia Slam Champion and corresponding $1,000 Visa gift card. Up to 300 youth poets will submit original work via video by midnight on Wednesday, March 31 to be reviewed and judged by a diverse group of artists and fans with a pulse on…
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Free Events
Elissa Washuta, Kristin Arnett, Morgan Parker and Tommy Pico: White Magic
Thu, April 29 from 7:00 pm PDT
Join Elissa Washuta, Kristin Arnett, Morgan Parker and Tommy Pico for "a Sagittarius group chat" about Washuta's new book, White Magic. Register in advance for this webinar
Find out moreMay 2021
SPRING 2021 Writing Classes
Looking Back to Look Forward: A Daily Writing Practice
Sat, May 1 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT
This class will help you adopt crucial creative habits using your memory of the past to build a practice for the future. Using a series of daily in-class and at-home prompts that focus on ideas of home, trek childhood, and position memory as present, you will generate new work and use research-based ways to bring a sustainable practice into your life.
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Free Events Oregon Book Awards & Fellowships
Oregon Book Awards Show: The Archive Project
Sun, May 2 from 7:00 pm PDT
The 2021 Oregon Book Award winners will be announced on May 2, 2021, on a special episode of The Archive Project, airing on OPB Radio at 7:00 p.m. The hour-long show will be hosted by Omar El Akkad and Elena Passarello, and will feature readings from Oregon Book Awards winners, archival audio featuring Barry Lopez at previous Oregon Book Awards ceremonies, and an interview with CES Wood recipient Molly Gloss.
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Free Events
Wordplay Festival: West x Midwest Present Alison Bechdel in Conversation with Cheryl Strayed
Thu, May 6 from 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm PDT
Join The Loft's virtual Wordplay Festival for a conversation between Alison Bechdel and Cheryl Strayed about Bechdel's new graphic memoir.
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Free Events
Wordplay Festival: Intercontinental Series featuring Helen Oyeyemi
Fri, May 7 from 10:00 am - 11:00 am PDT
Helen Oyeyemi, bestselling author of What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours, crafts a mesmerizing portrayal of two lovers forever changed by an unusual train journey in her new novel Peaces. As Otto and Xavier Shin depart on what appears to be a train constructed by their wildest imaginations, we discover that the past is never truly behind us—and could possibly be sitting right next to us. The Loft's Virtual Wordplay is presented by St. Catherine University and Star Tribune. In partnership…
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Free Events
Mary Jo Bang, Joshua Beckman and Zachary Schomburg
Fri, May 7 from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm PDT
An evening of poetry, to celebrate the publication of Fjords Vol. 2 by Oregon Book Award author Zachary Schomburg. Register in advance for this webinar
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SPRING 2021 Writing Classes
Writing Breakage: The Collage Essay
Wed, May 12 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm PDT
in the broken thing, human agency is oddly implied: breakage, whatever its cause, is the dark complement to the act of making; the one implies the other. - Louise Gluck Do you have a nonfiction story or essay that struggles to mold to a traditional structure? Sometimes the most personal stories or essays do not want to follow a linear trajectory. Collage and braided forms of creative nonfiction rely instead on fragmentation, silence and resonance to build suspense and/or complex…
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Free Events
Incite: Queer Writers Read – May
Wed, May 12 from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm PDT
Incite: Queer Writers Read is a curated, bimonthly reading series for Queer writers. Incite’s hope is to create conversation, connection, and greater understanding both within the Queer community and with other communities. Hosted by Vinnie Kinsella and Jennifer Perrine. The theme for May is Wayfinding. Register for this event in advance.
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Free Events
Writers In Progress: Short Fiction
Fri, May 14 from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm PDT
An evening with writers who took part in Margaret Malone's Short Story Intensive class, from September 2020 to May 2021. Join us as they share pieces from the story collections they've been working on all year. Hosted by Margaret Malone Register here for this event
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SPRING 2021 Writing Classes
Craft Conversations: Place: Setting Down Roots
Sat, May 15 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm PDT
Everything that happens in our lives and in our stories happens somewhere. Setting is a building block of fiction and memoir. During this discussion and workshop we will take a thorough look at how to build a vibrant and invigorating setting. Be it the cereal aisle of a grocery store, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, a classroom, or in bed at night—settings are opportunities to reveal character, heighten theme, and create tone. Through writing examples, prompts and ample discussion, you…
Find out moreFor Bipoc Writers SPRING 2021 Writing Classes
May BIPOC writer workshop
Sun, May 16 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT
One-day Workshop: Open to writers of color at all levels writing in poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. A variety of prompts will be presented as avenues for generating and sharing new work in an informal setting. You can also bring your own prompts and questions about the writing process, and explore them with the group.
Find out more
Delve Readers Seminars Spring 2021
Moby-Dick
Mon, May 17 from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm PDT
There are Great American Novels and then there is Moby-Dick, Herman Melville’s 1851 masterpiece. Have you read it years ago and forgotten it already? Have you thought you should read it? Should you read it right now? All signs point to “yes.” Melville is great, he is strange, he is important, and Moby-Dick stands atop the mainmast of American letters. It’s a novel, a poem, an opera, a play, the subject of countless New Yorker cartoons…and maybe it’s a story…
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Portland Arts & Lectures Ticketed Events
2020/21 Portland Arts & Lectures: Yaa Gyasi
Tue, May 18 from 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm PDT
A limited number of single tickets to this event have been made available (no need to purchase a full subscription). Scroll down to purchase a general admission ticket for this event. Yaa Gyasi is the author of the forthcoming novel, Transcendent Kingdom (Knopf, August 2020). Her best-selling debut novel, Homegoing (2016), is an intergenerational saga following two split branches of a Ghanaian family through three hundred years of history. Homegoing won the PEN/Hemingway Award and the National Book Critics…
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Portland Arts & Lectures
Portland Arts & Lectures 2020/21 Season
Tue, May 18 from 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm PDT
One event on Tue, May 18, 2021 at 7:30 pm
One event on Thu, Jan 28, 2021 at 7:30 pm
One event on Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 7:30 pm
One event on Tue, Apr 20, 2021 at 7:30 pm
Literary Arts is pleased to announce the author line-up for the 2020/21 Season of Portland Arts & Lectures. Subscriptions start at just $90 for the series. Subscribe today! At this time, all lectures are scheduled to take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
Find out moreJune 2021
Free Events
One Page Wednesday: June
Wed, June 2 from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm PDT
Here is an opportunity to share or listen to one page of work in progress from talented writers from everywhere. Come with a single page of work and sign up to read – or come to listen and prepare to be inspired! Hosted by Natalie Serber. June's featured reader is Kelli Russell Agodon. Click here to register in advance. You don’t need to live in Portland to participate. If you have questions, please contact jessica@literary-arts.org
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Summer 2021 Writing Classes
Refuse the Given World: Generating Short Fiction Through Play
Sat, June 5 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT
In this generative short fiction writing course, we will tap into that playful mindset—by using silly rules, obstructions, oblique strategies, games, dreams, collage, odd perspectives, glimmers and more—to unlock problematic stories and/or generate new material. Stories from short fiction and flash writers including Jayne Anne Phillips, Jess Arndt, Gary Lutz, Amy Hempel, Sandra Cisneros, Ben Marcus, Isaac Babel, Carmen Maria Machado, and others will guide our discussions and exercises.
Find out moreSummer 2021 Writing Classes
Craft Conversations: Character
Sat, June 5 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm PDT
If you are interested in taking a dive into how to make full, complicated, compelling characters in your work, if you want your reader to be thinking about your people (even if that character is you) long after they finish your novel, story, or memoir, if you want to deeply engage your reader, you must develop characters that drive the story, that matter to the reader, that we can root for, that rise up off the page. For this conversation…
Find out moreSummer 2021 Writing Classes
Refuse the Given World: Generating Short Fiction Through Play: Afternoon session
Sat, June 5 from 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm PDT
In this generative short fiction writing course, we will tap into that playful mindset—by using silly rules, obstructions, oblique strategies, games, dreams, collage, odd perspectives, glimmers and more—to unlock problematic stories and/or generate new material. Stories from short fiction and flash writers including Jayne Anne Phillips, Jess Arndt, Gary Lutz, Amy Hempel, Sandra Cisneros, Ben Marcus, Isaac Babel, Carmen Maria Machado, and others will guide our discussions and exercises.
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Summer 2021 Summer of Love Writing Classes
Strange Love: A Short Fiction Workshop
Tue, June 8 from 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm PDT
“Life is a flower,” wrote Victor Hugo, “whose honey is love.” Yet too much honey can make fiction syrupy, saccharine, cloying. In this month-long workshop, we’ll use model stories, generative exercises, workshop critiques, and focused revision to defamiliarize love stories through point of view, voice, plot, situation, sensory details, and genre. By the end of the class, writers will have completed several writing exercises, drafted a short story, and learned strategies to make love stories “strange”—fresh, unexpected, and original. Access…
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Ticketed Events
HOOD FEMINISM with Mikki Kendall
Wed, June 9 from 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm PDT
Literary Arts, Meyer Memorial Trust, and The Women's Foundation present Mikki Kendall, author of Hood Feminism.
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Free Events
Ars Poetica at Eastern Oregon University: Featuring Oregon Book Award winners
Tue, June 15 from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm PDT
Join the EOU English/Writing/MFA program for a reading and Q&A with three of the 2021 Oregon Book Award winners: Vanessa Veselka, Sierra Crane Murdoch, and Nicholas Buccola. Register in advance for this webinar
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Free Events Youth Events
Writers in the Schools End of Year Celebration
Thu, June 17 from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm PDT
Thursday, June 17: Writers in the Schools End of Year Celebration 5:00–7:00 p.m. | Free | Register in advance Join Writers in the Schools classroom teachers and writers-in-residence in celebrating the culmination of an incredibly challenging and fruitful 2020-21 school year filled with moments of creativity and community-building. Writers and teachers will take to the mic to share their own words and stories including WITS writers Alex Behr, Ed Edmo, Matt Smith, and Jennifer Perrine, Director of Youth Programs, Emilly Prado,…
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Free Events
“George Venn: The Literary Lion of La Grande” Film and Q&A
Wed, June 23 from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm PDT
‘George Venn : The Literary Lion of La Grande’ explores George Venn’s upbringing, his environmental work, writing process and legacy all while showcasing La Grande, Oregon as the beautiful backdrop for several poetry readings. Following the viewing of the short film will be a Q&A with filmmaker Erik Schultz from Paper Flames and George Venn. Click here to register for this event in advance.
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For Bipoc Writers Free Events
BIPOC Reading Series June
Fri, June 25 from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm PDT
This bimonthly reading series is intended to prioritize the safety, creativity, and stories of Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color. The theme for June is "the sun." Come listen to our featured readers, or sign up to share your work in our open mic. Readings will be followed by a short community discussion. Our featured readers this month are Alyssa Ogi and Dawn Angelicca Barcelona. Click here to register for this event. This event is open to everyone,…
Find out moreSummer 2021 Summer of Love Writing Classes
Writing Towards Radical Self Love
Sat, June 26 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm PDT
“Liberation is the opportunity for every human, no matter their body, to have unobstructed access to their highest self; for every human to live in radical self love.” - Sonya Renee Taylor Radical self love is a liberation movement led by Sonya Renee Taylor, author of The Body is Not an Apology. It is through radical self love that we deconstruct and unlearn forces that keep us from our highest selves. In the process we relearn our innate belonging and…
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Summer 2021 Summer of Love Writing Classes
Wild Love: An Introduction to Nature Writing
Wed, June 30 from 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm PDT
“I love you, love you, love you / sad as you are, O world.” — Adelia Prado This class will offer an introduction to nature writing that is celebratory, joyful, loving, even sexy. While there is much to lament or critique in our current ecological moment, there is also much to honor and embrace. When we fall in love with a place, we can be receptive to its vital complexity through that lens of love. You will receive weekly prompts,…
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Other than Human Love: Cats, Colors, Gardens and More
Wed, June 30 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm PDT
We fall joyfully in love with the other-than-human elements of our world all the time: pets, places, flowers, ideas... Doing so opens us, makes our hearts more receptive by presenting different versions of reciprocity and humility. This class will focus on writers who have embraced other-than-human love, allowing themselves to fall in love with a color, a cat, a river, a garden, and the world. Works we’ll look at will include (but not be limited to) Maggie Nelson’s Bluets, Takashi…
Find out moreJuly 2021
Fiction Summer 2021 Summer of Love Writing Classes
Six Love Stories in Six Weeks
Thu, July 8 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm PDT
Using Jeffrey Eugenides, My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead, Great Love Stories from Chekov to Munro, we will fall in love, once again, with our writing. Did the pandemic take a toll on your creative spirits? I invite you to join me, speed date your way back to the page with a new story each week. We will read great love stories, then use them as (lovers’) leaps into new work. Come prepared to swipe right on many generative prompts, to…
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Delve Readers Seminars Summer 2021
Tove Jansson: The Summer Book
Mon, July 12 from 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm PDT
If you already know Tove Jansson as the author and illustrator of the Moominfamily stories and comic strips, you will meet her in this Delve seminar as the author of her superb The Summer Book. This is a novel that is so deep and yet so apparently casual that it will repay the close reading we will give it in this four-week seminar. We will also observe her imagination for fiction in her short stories, letters, and other works. But…
Find out moreFree Events
Incite: Queer Writers Read – July
Wed, July 14 from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm PDT
Incite: Queer Writers Read is a curated, bimonthly reading series for Queer writers. Incite’s hope is to create conversation, connection, and greater understanding both within the Queer community and with other communities. Hosted by Vinnie Kinsella and Jennifer Perrine. The theme for July is Both/And. Register for this event in advance.
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Free Events
Slamlandia
Thu, July 15 from 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm PDT
An event every month that begins at 7:00 pm on day Third of the month, repeating until Thu, Aug 19, 2021
Slamlandia is a poetry open mic and slam that meets every month. This mic provides a creative, fun, and welcoming space for all literary communities in Portland. We encourage poets new and old to come share their work. We strive towards a safer space for poets to read their own poetry, witness others, and participate in community. Hosted by Julia Gaskill. Register in advance for this event If you have any questions, please contact slamlandia@gmail.com or jessica@literary-arts.org.
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Free Events
Emilly Prado: Funeral for Flaca
Fri, July 16 from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm PDT
Join us for an evening of conversation with Emilly Prado and Celeste Noche, and a discussion of Funeral for Flaca, Emilly Prado's new book from Future Tense Books. You can read more about Emilly and the book in this feature story on Portland Monthly. Register in advance for this meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0oduqqrj4sEtAXV3Fj0pmKR8yQEme1Q_7U
Find out moreSummer 2021 Writing Classes
Craft Conversations: Dialogue
Sat, July 17 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm PDT
Dialogue, as much as anything else, reveals the character to the writer and, ultimately to the reader. I don’t have a very clear idea of who the characters are until they start talking. ~ Joan Didion Sometimes, when I’m lucky, a line of dialogue, either something I’ve dreamed up or overheard, will spark a story. Because dialogue is so revealing it can be an entrance point, a moment when a character speaking, reveals themself on the page. Because dialogue is…
Find out moreFor Bipoc Writers Summer 2021 Writing Classes
July BIPOC writer workshop
Sun, July 18 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT
One-day Workshop: Open to writers of color at all levels writing in poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. A variety of prompts will be presented as avenues for generating and sharing new work in an informal setting. You can also bring your own prompts and questions about the writing process, and explore them with the group.
Find out moreSummer 2021 Summer of Love Writing Classes
Love Notes: Flash Prose
Sat, July 24 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm PDT
In this prompt-driven 2-day intensive participants will create a series of connected flash love stories. With the aid of experimental exercises exploring prose and poetry (epistolary, lists, photo captions, etc.) we will celebrate and write about love in all its forms, including the flip side of love and more! Special attention will be paid to voice and technique. Fiction, non-fiction, all genres welcome. Access Program We want our writing classes to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background.…
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