Creative Writing Classes
I teach generative classes that help writers tap into the power of constraints, the complexities of aliveness, and practices that nurture creativity. These courses are offered live and online. Join from anywhere!
This summer, I’m offering several generative classes and workshops (all live and online):
On Ghosts, Ghosting & Haunts | 6 weeks, May 23 to June 27 | 4 to 6 p.m. PT | Online via Morbid Anatomy - Seats open!
What is a ghost if not spirit energy yearning for form and expression? In our time together, we’ll create new writing in response to a mix of prompts and constraints that help us peer beyond the veil. Each week, we’ll explore a range of structures capable of hosting ghosts, from epistolary to erasure, concrete shapes, the haunted dialogues of contrapuntals, and the glorious twisting and (re)turning form of obsession: the sestina. What’s following us? What can we not bear to let go of? What can we finally put to rest? Let’s find out.Summer Generative Writing Circle hosted by me | 10 to 12 writers, 3 sessions, 3 prompts per session, one round of sharing. No prep, no homework. These are intimate creative gatherings designed to spark new work and conviviality. $100 per series. June 2024: Pilgrimage, Road Trip, Spree. Wednesdays (June 5, 12, 19) from 5 to 6:30 p.m. PT. Contact me to be added to the invite-only list.
Choose Your Own Adventure: Road Narratives | 6 sessions, July 16 to Aug 20 | 5 to 7 p.m. PT | Online via Hugo House (registration opens in June)
In addressing the dearth of female road narratives, Vanessa Veselka writes, “When a man steps onto the road, his journey begins. When a woman steps onto that same road, hers ends.” The specter of danger and the trappings of home can stop us from walking out the door. That's why physical journeys are so damned exhilarating. When we become the flaneuse, the female wanderer, we “challenge the city, decipher it, flourish within its parameters,” as Lauren Elkin writes. In this generative nonfiction class, we’ll write into the possibilities of journey, movement, and adventure using a range of narrative and lyric forms, from flash, hybrid, and braided essays to hermit crabs and zuihitsu.Strange Meetings: Oulipian Experiments in Generative Writing | 6 sessions, July 18 to Aug 22 | 4 to 6 p.m. PT | Online via Morbid Anatomy - Back by popular demand!
Formed in France in 1960 by poet Raymond Queneau and mathematician François Le Lionnais, the members of Oulipo (Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle ~ Workshop for Potential Literature) found inspiration at the intersection of creative constraints and the total freedom to break form. In this generative course, we’ll explore a range of constrained forms with a spirit of experimentation. Attendees will leave with a portfolio of new starts that include hybrid texts, lipograms, ekphrastic writing, “found” texts, concrete poems, and other constraint-based writing. Together we will become, as Queneau described, “rats who construct the labyrinth from which they plan to escape.”Summer Flings in Creative Nonfiction | 6 sessions, July 24 to Aug 28 | 5 to 7 p.m. PT | Online via Literary Arts
Summer is the season for sizzling flings with short forms. This generative class will offer prompts linked to weekly themes—road trips, mix tapes, romances, adventures in nature—mashed up with a range of forms, from flash essays, hermit crabs, and acrostics to “found” pieces, such as centos and erasures. Writers will leave with a portfolio of new starts that can be developed further. Focused on nonfiction; all genres welcome.Winter Solstice Writing Ritual | 1 session, December 21 | 4 p.m. PT | Online via Morbid Anatomy
The Winter Solstice is a turning of tides—a cosmic solar return—a time for ritual and reflection. An opportunity to move slowly and to contemplate what has passed, what we can release, and what we wish to invoke in the year to come. As a creative community, we'll take part in the ancient tradition of honoring the year’s darkest day and welcoming the rising light. Part generative writing, part guided ritual, this workshop offers prompts designed to stir introspection and honor the natural cycle of life and death. We’ll write individually, celebrate communally, and close the hour with firelight in a welcoming and inclusive space.
