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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210119T090000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210309T110000
DTSTAMP:20260406T020043
CREATED:20210113T172842Z
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SUMMARY:Rise & Shine: Winter 2021 | Series of Odes
DESCRIPTION:Rise & Shine is a generative poetry workshop presented by Surprise the Line\, hosted by Nancy Lynée Woo. Started in April 2020\, Rise & Shine began as a daily writing group in response to the pandemic and NaPoWriMo. Now\, the morning meetings rotate throughout the year with different series. \nAbout This Group:\nThe purpose of this space is to generate new words on the page together. We welcome anyone who would like to start their day with an invigorating poetry writing prompt in a communal setting. Rise & Shine will stay free and donation-based to allow anyone access to this generative writing group. \nThe first hour is spent writing\, and whoever would like to stay and share is welcome to read their draft (not a critique space). Invite surprise onto the page! Discover what wants to be written on that particular day without judgment. Lean into the process. \nOdes:\nThe Winter 2021 series will meet Tuesday mornings at 9 am PST\, starting January 19 and ending March 9 (8 weeks). Our focus will be writing odes! \nAn ode is traditionally a lyric poem written in reverence to a particular object or thing. Modern odes allow a lot of room for exploration. For the purposes of this workshop\, writing an ode simply means “paying particular attention to.” We will practice writing close details of a specific object or thing\, with plenty of room to discover what else there is to see underneath. \n“Remember that all description is an opinion about the world. Find a place to stand.” Anne Enright \nEach week\, the prompt will include an example ode for inspiration and some starting points\, including a broad topic for focus\, if you choose to take it. Like all Surprise the Line workshops\, you do not need to write to the prompt. Follow your own inspiration wherever it leads. \nFor the comfort of participants\, these sessions will not be recorded.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/rise-shine-winter-2021-series-of-odes/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Classes and Workshops,Free,Virtual
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ORGANIZER;CN="Surprise the Line":MAILTO:nancywoowriter@gmail.com
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210120T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210311T210000
DTSTAMP:20260406T020043
CREATED:20210113T234204Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210113T234216Z
UID:61368-1611165600-1615496400@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Sharpen Your Pencil: Elements of a Poem in Revision
DESCRIPTION:Do you want your poems to sing more sweetly? Resonate more deeply? Read more beautifully? \nIn this 8-week craft workshop\, you will learn structured techniques for writing and revising poems in a small-group setting. Each week\, we will focus on one specific element in poetry\, and use that topic as a guiding principle for revising our poems. \nOften\, we’re given feedback on our work but might not know exactly what to do next. This class will combine theory with practice. The goal is to equip you with the tools to revise your own poems with grace and ease in order to take your work to the next level. \nWhat You’ll Get Out of This Workshop:\n\n8 lesson packets to help you revise poems\, each focused on a different poetic element\, with example poems and short essays\nMANY prompts for revising poems that you can use any time\nSmall-group witness of your revised poems to encourage positive learning\nA fun\, supportive environment with other awesome poets\nSensitivity and integrity toward your voice and process\nReal-time inspiration and feedback from the group\n\nWhat You’ll Need:\n\nA handful (4-8) of written drafts that you feel have some promise\, but aren’t quite “there” yet\, and you’re not sure what they’re missing or what to do next\nSome time each week to practice a revision technique outside of class (30 minutes minimum)\nAbility to detach from the work so you can revise (and create anew!) with pleasure\nDesire to make your poems the best they can be at this moment in time without judgment\nA beginner’s mindset (no matter how long you’ve been writing)\nA sense of adventure and openness to discovery\nNon-attachment to a specific outcome (this is the magic!)\nRespect\, integrity and playfulness with your peers (we are all learning\, writing and practicing together!)\n\n8-Week Schedule\nWorkshop A will be offered on Wednesday evenings from 6-9pm PST starting January 20 and ending March 10. Workshop B will be offered Thursday mornings from 10am-1pm PST starting January 21 and ending March 11. Please see the calendar for full dates. \n\nWeek 1: From First Draft to Finished – How to approach revision\, editing\, and the creative flow.\nWeek 2: Lines Lines Lines (& Stanzas) – Line breaks\, line lengths\, units of meaning on the page.\nWeek 3: Exploding the Image – Sinking deeper into metaphor & meaning.\nWeek 4: Word Choice & Diction – Words are pretty important to poems.\nWeek 5: Repetition & Patterns – Let’s investigate how refrains can change the game.\nWeek 6: Sound & Rhythm – Poems are music! Can you make them siiiing?\nWeek 7: Titles & Endings – Let’s not overlook these important bookends!\nWeek 8: Final Workshop – Recap and Review\n\nWorkshop Structure:\nWe’ll spend some time in the first meeting talking about what revision is\, how to do it\, and what our blocks/goals are. You’ll be invited to bring a working poem in to share with the group to introduce your work and receive productive feedback. Then\, at the end of the first class\, you’ll receive the prompt for the week to try out some revision techniques for that poem. When you return next week\, bring both the earlier draft and the revised version to share! \nBecause the focus is on revising our work\, each week you will be given the opportunity to revise a piece\, and then share both versions. The purpose of this is to get feedback from the group about how the poem has evolved to reinforce what you are learning. If the poem feels “done\,” great! If not\, we celebrate a step in its development. \nBONUS: For anyone writing toward a manuscript right now\, this class provides a great opportunity to revise your 8 poems toward a specific theme\, topic\, narrative or question\, if you choose to\, with a bonus prompt for guidance. \nCritique Style as Witness:\nIn this style of workshop\, we practice “witness” as our mode of giving comments on each other’s work rather than “criticism.” This means that we speak from our personal viewpoint (own your “I”)\, make observations rather than criticisms (what we notice rather than what’s “wrong”)\, ask productive questions\, and give all feedback with the intent of helping the writer learn more about their own process of writing that poem. \nWriting poetry is an act of discovery\, and it is a privilege to be able to take part in each other’s discovery process. In this way\, we cultivate an atmosphere of trust\, respect and integrity. We never tell another writer the “correct answer” to their poem; rather\, we act as believing mirrors for each other’s work and help each other recognize nuggets of beauty to be explored. \nMotivating Philosophy:\nStructure allows room for experimentation. Add elements of craft to your unique aesthetic\, stir\, and see what happens. Taking our work seriously doesn’t mean taking ourselves too seriously! Invite surprise onto the page. Have fun! Poetry is discovery. What else is there to do but create? \nLimit 6 per group
URL:https://litseen.com/event/sharpen-your-pencil-elements-of-a-poem-in-revision/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Classes and Workshops,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/elements-of-a-poem-revision-header.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Surprise the Line":MAILTO:nancywoowriter@gmail.com
END:VEVENT
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210303T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210303T174500
DTSTAMP:20260406T020043
CREATED:20210127T192552Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210127T192552Z
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SUMMARY:Online Literary Seminar: Home Movie by Jerry Burger
DESCRIPTION:THIS SESSION IS ONLINE\nLiterary Seminar; Home Movie by Jerry Burger\nJoin Kimberly (and Jerry!) for a BONUS LITERARY SEMINAR \nNot only is ”Home Movie” a mystery story well worth digging into—it was just chosen for The Best American Mystery Stories!—but it was written by our very own long-time seminar-goer Jerry Burger! \nThe 45-minute webinar will be fascinating\, what with Kimberly doing her close reading of the story’s unique frame\, its excellent character development\, and its plot elements—only to have Jerry reveal whether or not her interpretations are “correct.” So fun! \nThe seminar could not be better timed\, coming on the heels of the Agatha Christie lecture\, which will allow us the chance to examine interesting elements of the genre in a very different context. \nPlease join us for what will be an excellent addition to the usual seminar series. \nTicket Information: $20.00   \nThe book is included with your ticket and can be shipped to you or picked up at Kepler’s (and read) prior to the seminar. Thanks to a generous anonymous donor\, the shipping cost will be waived if you elect to have the book shipped to you in the ticketing options.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/online-literary-seminar-home-movie-by-jerry-burger/
LOCATION:CA
CATEGORIES:Virtual
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210303T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210303T200000
DTSTAMP:20260406T020043
CREATED:20210203T025943Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210203T025943Z
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SUMMARY:Book Passage Presents: Carol Edgarian with Tobias Wolff - Vera
DESCRIPTION:New York Times bestselling author Carol Edgarian delivers an astonishing feat of imagination\, a grand adventure set in 1906 San Francisco—a city leveled by quake and fire—featuring an indomitable heroine coming of age in the aftermath of catastrophe and her quest for love and reinvention. \nMeet Vera Johnson\, the uncommonly resourceful fifteen-year-old illegitimate daughter of Rose\, notorious proprietor of San Francisco’s most legendary bordello and ally to the city’s corrupt politicians. Vera has grown up straddling two worlds—the madam’s alluring sphere\, replete with tickets to the opera\, surly henchmen\, and scant morality\, and the violent\, debt ridden domestic life of the family paid to raise her. \nOn the morning of the great quake\, Vera’s worlds collide. As the shattered city burns and looters vie with the injured\, orphaned\, and starving\, Vera and her guileless sister\, Pie\, are cast adrift. Vera disregards societal norms and prejudices and begins to imagine a new kind of life. She collaborates with Tan\, her former rival\, and forges an unlikely family of survivors. Together they navigate their way beyond disaster. \nIn Vera\, Carol Edgarian creates a cinematic\, deeply entertaining world\, in which honor and fates are tested; notions of sex\, class\, and justice are turned upside down; and love is hard-won. A ravishing\, heartbreaking\, and profound affirmation of youth and tenacity\, Vera’s story brings to life legendary characters—tenor Enrico Caruso\, indicted mayor Eugene Schmitz and boss Abe Ruef\, tabloid celebrity Alma Spreckels—as well as an unforgettable cast that includes Vera’s young lover\, Bobby\, protector of the city’s tribe of orphans\, and three generations of a Chinese family competing and conspiring with Vera. \nThis richly imagined\, timely tale of improbable outcomes and alliances takes hold from the first page\, gifting readers with remarkable scenes of devastation\, renewal\, and joy. Told with unflinching candor and wit\, Vera celebrates the audacious fortitude of its young heroine and marks a stunning achievement by an inventive and generous writer. \nCarol Edgarian is the author of the New York Times bestseller Three Stages of Amazement and the international bestseller Rise the Euphrates\, winner of the ANC Freedom Prize. Her articles and essays have appeared in The Wall Street Journal\, NPR\, and W\, among many others. She is cofounder and editor of Narrative\, a digital publisher of fiction\, poetry\, and art\, and Narrative in the Schools\, which provides free libraries and writing resources to teachers and students around the world. Edgarian lives with her family in San Francisco. \nTobias Wolff is the author of the novels The Barracks Thief and Old School\, the memoirs This Boy’s Life and In Pharaoh’s Army\, and the short story collections In the Garden of the North American Martyrs\, Back in the World\, and The Night in Question. His most recent collection of short stories\, Our Story Begins\, won The Story Prize for 2008. Other honors include the PEN/Malamud Award and the Rea Award—both for excellence in the short story—the Los Angeles Times Book Prize\, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. He has also been the editor of Best American Short Stories\, The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories\, and A Doctor’s Visit: The Short Stories of Anton Chekhov. His work appears regularly in The New Yorker\, The Atlantic\, Harper’s\, and other magazines and literary journals.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/book-passage-presents-carol-edgarian-with-tobias-wolff-vera/
LOCATION:CA
CATEGORIES:Free,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/vera.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210303T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210303T200000
DTSTAMP:20260406T020043
CREATED:20210105T191425Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210105T191425Z
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SUMMARY:Courtney Zoftness with Rita Bullwinkel and Mat Johnson
DESCRIPTION:celebrating the publication of Courtney Zoftness’ new memoir \nSpilt Milk \npublished by McSweeney’s \n———- \nThis is a virtual event that will be hosted by City Lights on the Zoom platform. You will need access to a computer or other device that is capable of accessing the internet. If you have not used Zoom before\, you may consider referencing Getting Started with Zoom. \n———- \nEvent is free\, but registration is required. \n(Click Here) to register. (link to be posted soon) \n———– \n(Click Here) to purchase book. (link to be posted soon) \n———– \nWhat role does a mother play in raising thoughtful\, generous children? In her literary debut\, internationally award-winning writer Courtney Zoffness considers what we inherit from generations past—biologically\, culturally\, spiritually—and what we pass on to our children. Spilt Milk is an intimate\, bracing\, and beautiful exploration of vulnerability and culpability. Zoffness relives her childhood anxiety disorder as she witnesses it manifest in her firstborn; endures brazen sexual advances by a student in her class; grapples with the implications of her young son’s cop obsession; and challenges her Jewish faith. Where is the line between privacy and secrecy? How do the stories we tell inform who we become? These powerful\, dynamic essays herald a vital new voice. \n\n\n\nCourtney Zoffness won the 2018 Sunday Times Short Story Award\, the most valuable international prize for short fiction\, amid entries from 38 countries. She joins a winners list that includes Junot Díaz\, Anthony Doerr\, and Yiyun Li. (Read more about this here and here.) Other honors include an Emerging Writers Fellowship from the Center for Fiction\, the Arts & Letters Creative Nonfiction Prize\, a Bread Loaf Writers Conference scholarship\, and two residency fellowships from MacDowell. Her writing has appeared in various journals and anthologies\, including the Paris Review Daily\, Longreads\, The Southern Review\, The Rumpus\, and No Tokens\, she had Notable essays in Best American Essays 2018 & 2019. She lives with her family in Brooklyn\, New York. \nRita Bullwinkel is the author of the story collection Belly Up\, which won the 2018 Believer Book Award. Bullwinkel’s writing has been published in Tin House\, The White Review\, Conjunctions\, BOMB\, Vice\, NOON\, and Guernica. She is a recipient of grants and fellowships from The MacDowell Colony\, Brown University\, Vanderbilt University\, Hawthornden Castle\, and The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. Both her fiction and translation have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes. She is an Editor at Large for McSweeney’s and a Contributing Editor for NOON. She lives in San Francisco and teaches at the California College of the Arts. \n\n\nMat Johnson is the author of the novels Loving Day\, Pym\, Drop\, and Hunting in Harlem\, the nonfiction novella The Great Negro Plot\, and the comic books Incognegro and Dark Rain. He is a recipient of the American Book Award\, the United States Artist James Baldwin Fellowship\, The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award\, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection\, and the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature. He is a Professor at the University of Oregon. \n\n\n\n\n\nPraise for Spilt Milk: \n“I don’t know what I love the most about Courtney Zoffness’s Spilt Milk. The taut originality of the prose? The acuity of its insights? The daring vulnerability? There is so much I want to say about Spilt Milk\, but honestly they’re all variations of This is fucking brilliant. Whatever you think this book is\, it’s more. A debut writer this talented and skilled is an event in itself.”\n—Mat Johnson\, author of Pym \n“Gentle\, playful and laced with subtle wit\, these essays are a welcome balm in an insane and un-gentle time.”\n—Mary Gaitskill\, author of This is Pleasure and Bad Behavior \n“Spilt Milk contains the wisdom of a mother\, the maturity of an older sister\, and the wide-eyed wonder of a small child. It’s a magical gift of a collection.”\n—Lisa Taddeo\, author of Three Women \n“In these ten musical\, open-hearted essays\, Courtney Zoffness establishes herself as one of our most soulful\, clear-eyed narrators. A lucid dream of a book I wished would never end.”\n—Elisa Albert\, author of After Birth \n“Wry and masterful—Spilt Milk examines the multiplicities of self and culture\, asking the tough questions with remarkable concision. Courtney Zoffness is a writer of supernatural acuity and wit.”\n—T Kira Madden\, author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls \n“Courtney Zoffness beautifully captures the self-aware irony and absolute panic of being an anxious parent\, illustrating how childhood terrors manifest later in life in ways that are both still childish\, and still terrifying. This book is urgent and essential.”\n—Jesse Eisenberg\, actor and author of Bream Gives me Hiccups and Other Stories \n“Courtney Zoffness’s collection is written with a fierce and sometimes funny honesty. Zoffness explores motherhood and daughterhood\, and how these early attachments make us and unmake us\, how they connect us to others—until they are us.”\n—Tiphanie Yanique\, author of Land of Love and Drowning \n“These bright\, knowing essays spill over with intelligence and wit. Courtney Zoffness traces the dizzying conflict faced by parents—the daily ricochet between burden and joy—and\, with a sharply lyric voice\, discovers hidden connections between this domestic struggle and the larger cultural and political winds shifting around us.”\n—Ben Marcus\, author of Notes from the Fog \n“On one level\, Spilt Milk is an extraordinary exploration of the connections\, small and large; real and imagined\, between childhood and parenthood. On another level\, it’s irrefutable proof that Courtney Zoffness is a wondrous calculus of a prose writer: keen\, inventive\, candid\, open-hearted\, not to mention one helluva stylist.”\n—Mitchell S. Jackson\, author of Survival Math
URL:https://litseen.com/event/courtney-zoftness-with-rita-bullwinkel-and-mat-johnson/
LOCATION:CA
CATEGORIES:Free,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/spilt-milk.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210303T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210303T203000
DTSTAMP:20260406T020043
CREATED:20210212T043641Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210212T043641Z
UID:62177-1614796200-1614803400@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Contemporary Classics - Interior Chinatown
DESCRIPTION:Patricia Holt\, former book editor at the San Francisco Chronicle\, continues her popular book group\, “Contemporary Classics.” \nA book should stand the test of time before becoming a classic\, but very often\, critics and literary judges leap to praise books as “instant classics” soon after publication. These are the titles Pat’s group will hold up to scrutiny—in fact\, the chewier\, more literary\, more dense\, and “hard to read” the better. One needn’t have read widely\, studied literature\, or learned about literary criticism to join. Just drop in or join us for the whole series\, and let the developing wisdom of the group be your only guide. \nEmail Pat to register and to receive a Zoom link for the meeting. You can write to her at p.holt12@comcast.net. \nSpring dates: \nMarch 3: Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu \nApril 7: This Mournable Body by Tsitsi  Dangarembga \nMay 5: Maud’s Line by Margaret Verble \nJune 2: Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart \nJuly 7: Real Life by Brandon Taylor \n\nAbout Patricia Holt\nPat was book editor and critic at The San Francisco Chronicle for 17 years and has been writing reviews and book industry commentary at Holt Uncensored since 1998. She has facilitated book groups for the past 15 years and also joins the Marin West Review’s editors\,  Myn Adess and Doris Ober\, on Radio Bookmobile\, a lively discussion on West Marin Community Radio KWMR\, usually the first Thursday of every month at 10-11 a.m.\, about the most beautiful passages and stirring controversies they can find on the current book scene.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/contemporary-classics-interior-chinatown/
LOCATION:CA
CATEGORIES:Free,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/interior-chinatown.jpg
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