Creative Writing Classes

I teach generative classes that help writers tap into the liberating power of constraints, the complexities of aliveness, and creative practices that nurture and inspire the artistic self.

My upcoming classes and workshops (all live and online) include:

• Summer Generative Writing Circle | 3 sessions, Aug 21, Aug 28, and Sept 4 | Theme: Text2Text | 5 to 6:30 p.m. Pacific | Online, hosted by me - one spot left!
  Writing circles are intimate generative sessions designed to spark new writing, new ideas, and creative conviviality. This summer’s circle is a little different! At time when life feels rushed, asynchronous, and swipeable, this circle will allow us to savor readings, engage in informal critical conversation, and write. Our discussions will be inspired by texts that are in conversation with each other: Eileen Myles’s “Everyday Barf” and Dodie Bellamy’s manifesto response; Zadie Smith’s “Joy” and Ross Gay’s contemplation of joy as a human madness; and Ryan Ruby’s “Context Collapse” and Isabella Streffen’s hallucinogenic punk-ballerina homage. Each week’s readings will be paired with generative prompts. Contact me to be added to the invite-only list. $115 for the series.

• Oulipo: Generative Experiments in Constrained Writing | 6 sessions, Tuesdays, Sept 16 to Oct 21, Online via Literary Arts, 5 to 7 p.m. Pacific
  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 freedom to break form. This course is a guide to the spirit and ethos of Oulipo and their collaborative experimental writing approach, designed to free the mind through constraint.

  As a collective, we will drink mightily from Oulipo’s seriously playful postures and endless outcomes to create the strange, the uncanny, and the inspired. Together we will become, as Queneau described, “rats who construct the labyrinth from which they plan to escape.” Each session will offer generative prompts and experimental forms for writers to respond to. Attendees will leave this hands-on course with a portfolio of new starts that include lipograms, S+7, palindromes, snowballs, contrapuntals, and more. No prior knowledge or skills required other than a sense of curiosity and a desire to test, try, and experiment with writing.

• On Ghosts, Ghosting & Haunts | 6 sessions, Thursdays, Sept 18 to Oct 23, Online via Morbid Anatomy, 4 to 6 p.m. Pacific / 7 to 9 p.m. Eastern
  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.

• Finishing School: Individual Writing in Community | Online
  Sometimes, to get writing done, we need camaraderie—and an appointment on the calendar. Finishing School is a space to work on individual projects in community. Think of it as study buddies, a virtual cafe, an accountability date… There’s no preparation, no homework, and no pressure to produce anything. Just show up, say a warm hello, and get crackin’ on whatever you wish. Finishing School is my gratis offering to the community of writers who join my writing circles each year.