2025 workshops (June to August) will be loaded soon. (These are 2024)

With Melissa Tuckey. Bertolt Brecht wrote, “In the dark times, / will there be singing? / Yes, there will be singing. / About the dark times.” In this 2 hour writing workshop, we will read contemporary, multi-cultural poems that successfully navigate the space between personal and political, with prompts for writing.

PLEASE REGISTER: Registration Form for Singing in the Dark

With Wren Tuatha. Does making a list into a poem sound like cheating? It’s possible that poems you remember most are based on lists, whether you detected them or not. Begin with Major Jackson’s “Why I Write Poetry”… Utilizing countless forms, voices, and shapes, a list can really make your topic pop off the page and perform. The list is a surprising way to illuminate what’s at stake in your subject. Sometimes lighthearted, sometimes profound, a list poem can hook your reader in a compelling, unforgettable, and imminently accessible way. Sharing examples from poets Ellen Bass, Tracy K. Smith, Kwame Dawes, Oliver de la Paz, Diane Seuss, Allison Joseph, Chen Chen, Molly Fisk, Walt Whitman, and more, Ithaca Poetry Center director and published poet Wren Tuatha will share their favorite list poems and support participants in starting their own dynamic poems using this flexible craft strategy. 

PLEASE REGISTER: Registration Form for Unleashing the Power of the List Poem

With Angela Somma. Are you ready to embark on a literary adventure where dreams come to life, galaxies collide, and magic pulses through every word? Look no further! Our workshop is a haven for writers who crave limitless creativity and seek to weave untold tales. Our special ingredient? This mantra: “Live your YA fantasy. Be who you needed.” Your voice matters, now more than ever. So, fellow writer, grab our quills and let magic flow. 

Here’s what awaits you: Sensory Detail Exercise: awaken a Sense of Wonder in your readers through a deep dive into the senses as experience. Let your senses guide your prose, and watch your stories come alive. Character Alchemy Free write: Step into your characters’ shoes. Feel the crunch of autumn leaves, taste the salt on ocean breezes, and hear the echoes of forgotten battles. Forge solid characters. Peel back layers and engage in an immersive guided meditative space. Remember, they’re not just ink on paper—they’re souls waiting to be heard.

With Rowen MacCarald and Sue Heavenrich. The picture book market today looks radically different from the market twenty years ago. Word count. Book length. Themes and story structure. Join two picture book authors for an exploration of the current picture book landscape and a look at some of the interesting and original books that have come out in the last five years. We’ll cover a few of the basics of modern picture book conventions as well as delve into topics of interest to publishers right now, innovative nonfiction approaches, and the principles of using mentor texts—published books we can study for inspiration and direction—in our own writing process. We’ll have time to play around with story concepts, and participants will walk away with ideas to jumpstart their own picture book projects. rowenmaccarald.com

Every day at the Durland Alternatives Library, we see poetry’s power to bridge divides and foster radical hope, and we want to share that with you! Prisoner Express – a project of the library – provides opportunities for incarcerated people of all genders to express themselves creatively and receive meaningful feedback. Over 400 incarcerated people participate in our poetry program – they send us their writing in hopes of being published in our semi-annual poetry anthology, and look forward to receiving a friendly response from someone outside of the prison system. In this workshop, library staff will read a few selected poems aloud, then support participants as they write a response to someone whose work resonates. We have seen time and again how much this program benefits not only the incarcerated writers, but the volunteers themselves. We hope you’ll join us!

Poet and science educator Lee Cotman will guide participants in creating their own “blackout” poem from a formal scientiDisfic abstract. In a blackout poem, the writer chooses an existing document and obscures all but a few selected words; the remaining words create the poem. This process puts the writer in direct conversation, not only with the words on the page, but with the historical context, power structures, and biases underlying their chosen text. This workshop will begin with a brief discussion of the form and what makes a blackout poem effective, with examples by celebrated Black and Indigenous writers. We will then transition into a three-step, generative writing exercise, and close with an opportunity to share your draft. Open to writers of all ages and experience levels!

Learn to make a zine with local artist Yen Ospina! You will have the opportunity to dive into artsy collage or drawing while learning how a simple zine is created. You do not have to have knowledge on how to create art to learn this simple expression of self! Paper, glue, scissors, magazines, markets and crayons will be available for you to explore different topics. All topics will be spoken about in the workshop, there will be samples of work that Yen will bring to share with everyone.

with Brenna Fitzgerald. Are you feeling stuck, uninspired, or unfulfilled? Is something within you longing to be expressed? In this workshop we will explore the feeling of being creatively stuck and how it affects (and is affected by) our inner and outer worlds. Through written reflection, group discussion, mind-body practices, and intuitive collage I will guide participants into a deeper understanding of their own creative blocks. We will examine how fluctuating states of writer’s block and creative flow are normal and learn strategies for finding balance through these changes. Together we will create a safe and supportive container for each person to begin the process of shifting from stuck to unstuck. My intention is to facilitate awareness of and curiosity around your needs and desires and to share tools and practices to help you sustain a fulfilling creative flow well beyond the workshop.