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DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210120T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210311T210000
DTSTAMP:20260512T153541
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
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210306T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210410T120000
DTSTAMP:20260512T153541
CREATED:20210301T014642Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210301T014714Z
UID:62423-1615024800-1618056000@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Using Invented and Foreign Languages as Tools for World Building: A Fiction Workshop with Rita Bullwinkel
DESCRIPTION:A dynamic Fiction Workshop facilitated by author\, Rita Bullwinkel. This workshop will be held every Saturday 10 AM – 12 PM from Mar 6 – Apr 10.\n\nCLA WRITERS WORKSHOPS are open to individuals of all backgrounds–including those who are exploring creative writing for the first time–as well as aspiring writers who want to prepare their work for publication. Workshops are modeled on graduate-level creative writing courses\, and may include short in-class writing assignments to jumpstart the writing process\, as well as work outside of class that will entail reading the work of select published writers\, critiquing the work of other workshop participants\, and writing a piece to be workshopped by the class. Each participant will receive written comments from the instructor. Workshops are led by accomplished local authors\, including students and alumni of the San Jose State University Creative Writing Program.\nTuition $250 // Eventbrite\n\nCOURSE DESCRIPTION:\nOne of the big things that makes us\, as readers of fiction\, read on into a book is mystery and\, very often\, that mystery comes in the form of a word or idea we don’t yet understand. As a writer\, one way to rope your readers in is to deliberately use words that you know your audience might not understand\, and then\, through context\, teach your readers the meaning of those words. This is a tool used frequently in fantasy as well as literary writing. In this workshop we will explore several examples of this invaluable literary tool and learn how we can best deploy this strategy in our own fiction.\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.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/using-invented-and-foreign-languages-as-tools-for-world-building-a-fiction-workshop-with-rita-bullwinkel/
LOCATION:online
CATEGORIES:Classes and Workshops,South Bay,Virtual
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210310T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210310T190000
DTSTAMP:20260512T153541
CREATED:20210117T022818Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210117T022818Z
UID:61637-1615399200-1615402800@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Jeff Hawkins with Anil Ananthaswamy
DESCRIPTION:This event is online. \nIn a book that biologist Richard Dawkins calls “exhilarating\,” author\, neuroscientist and engineer Jeff Hawkins unveils a new theory of intelligence with awe-inspiring implications. Get ready for a dynamic and exciting conversation about the brain with Kepler’s. \nIn a century rife with neuroscientific and biological advances\, researchers have made little progress one very big question: how do the simple cells of the brain create complex consciousness and intelligence? \nHawkins\, cofounder of the neuroscience research company Numenta\, dares to answer with A Thousand Brains. In a compulsively readable book accessible even to the casual science reader\, he lays forth a simple and yet mold-breaking theory: that intelligence arises from the interaction of maplike reference structures in the brain\, which build hundreds of thousands of interconnected models of everything a person knows. These maplike reference frames can tell you how to achieve goals\, how to get from one place to another\, who you are and how you’re connected to the world. \nFor the past fifteen years\, Hawkins and his Silicon Valley based research team have studied the neocortex\, the part of the brain we associate with everything responsible for intelligence. Now with his “thousand brains” theory of the structure that runs the show\, Hawkins proposes answers to some of neurosciences most stubborn questions—questions about the very nature of consciousness. \nOn March 10th\, join us for an online conversation between Jeff Hawkins and award-winning science journalist Anil Ananthaswamy as they share with us A Thousand Brains. Starting with basic information on how the brain works for anyone to understand\, they’ll discuss a Jeff’s new theory and explore what it could mean not only for advancements in science like machine intelligence\, but also its broader implications for all of us as people. This will be a smart\, fun night celebrating a key moment in our understanding of the human brain: don’t miss it! \n**Please consider joining with a book or donation to support the production of this event and make it possible for us to continue bringing you great conversations. \nRegistration will close one hour before the event; please reserve your spot early to guarantee access\, as registrations are limited.**
URL:https://litseen.com/event/jeff-hawkins-with-anil-ananthaswamy/
LOCATION:CA
CATEGORIES:Free,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/a-thousand-brains.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210310T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210310T190000
DTSTAMP:20260512T153541
CREATED:20210301T005914Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210301T005914Z
UID:62295-1615399200-1615402800@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Virtual Event: Sam Cohen and Andrea Lawlor
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Wednesday\, March 10th at 6pm PT when Sam Cohen discusses her story collection\, Sarahland\, with Andrea Lawlor on Zoom!\n\nZoom Login Info\nPlease click the link below to join the webinar:\nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/85188314830\n\nPraise for Sarahland\n“A bold collection that explores how we might break free from or reimagine ourselves and our places in the universe.”—Kirkus\, starred review\n\n“Reading SARAHLAND is pure pleasure – what a voice! What a constant flow of funny and vulnerable and distinct awarenesses! Sam Cohen’s writing is joyously itself and places its own keen\, insightful gaze on the ways we relate to ourselves and to others.”—Aimee Bender\, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake\n“I’m deeply struck by the emotional wisdom\, the cultural smarts\, the literary vulnerability and serious skills happening in SARAHLAND. Rarely do I feel so seen by a book. I gobbled this work up with feverish excitement and gratitude\, and weeks later feel like I am carrying these stories around in my head and in my heart.”—Michelle Tea\, author of Against Memoir\n\n“Cohen handles her sentences\, her Sarah’s\, both gently and confidently. The result: a debut of equal parts ugly and beauty\, a debut full of heartbreakingly real characters.” —Jean Kyoung Frazier\, author of Pizza Girl\nAbout Sarahland\n\n“Queer\, dirty\, insightful\, and so funny” (Andrea Lawlor)\, this coyly revolutionary debut story collection imagines new origins and futures for its cast of unforgettable protagonists—almost all of whom are named Sarah.\n\nNAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2021 BY THE MILLIONS * OPRAH MAGAZINE * ELECTRIC LITERATURE * REFINERY29\n\nIn Sarahland\, Sam Cohen brilliantly and often hilariously explores the ways in which traditional stories have failed us\, both demanding and thrillingly providing for its cast of Sarahs new origin stories\, new ways to love the planet and those inhabiting it\, and new possibilities for life itself. In one story\, a Jewish college Sarah passively consents to a form-life in pursuit of an MRS degree and is swept into a culture of normalized sexual violence. Another reveals a version of Sarah finding pleasure—and a new set of problems—by playing dead for a wealthy necrophiliac. A Buffy-loving Sarah uses fan fiction to work through romantic obsession. As the collection progresses\, Cohen explodes this search for self\, insisting that we have more to resist and repair than our own personal narratives. Readers witness as the ever-evolving “Sarah” gets recast: as a bible-era trans woman\, an aging lesbian literally growing roots\, a being who transcends the earth as we know it. While Cohen presents a world that will clearly someday end\, “Sarah” will continue.\n\nIn each Sarah’s refusal to adhere to a single narrative\, she potentially builds a better home for us all\, a place to live that demands no fixity of self\, no plague of consumerism\, no bodily compromise\, a place called Sarahland.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/virtual-event-sam-cohen-and-andrea-lawlor-2/
LOCATION:online
CATEGORIES:Free,San Francisco,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/SCohen-cover.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210310T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20210310T200000
DTSTAMP:20260512T153541
CREATED:20210203T043155Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210203T043155Z
UID:61952-1615399200-1615406400@litseen.com
SUMMARY:Book Passage Presents: Elizabeth Wetmore - Valentine
DESCRIPTION:Written with the haunting emotional power of Elizabeth Strout and Barbara Kingsolver\, an astonishing debut novel that explores the lingering effects of a brutal crime on the women of one small Texas oil town in the 1970s. \nMercy is hard in a place like this . . . \nIt’s February 1976\, and Odessa\, Texas\, stands on the cusp of the next great oil boom. While the town’s men embrace the coming prosperity\, its women intimately know and fear the violence that always seems to follow. \nIn the early hours of the morning after Valentine’s Day\, fourteen-year-old Gloria Ramírez appears on the front porch of Mary Rose Whitehead’s ranch house\, broken and barely alive. The teenager had been viciously attacked in a nearby oil field—an act of brutality that is tried in the churches and barrooms of Odessa before it can reach a court of law. When justice is evasive\, the stage is set for a showdown with potentially devastating consequences. \nValentine is a haunting exploration of the intersections of violence and race\, class and region in a story that plumbs the depths of darkness and fear\, yet offers a window into beauty and hope. Told through the alternating points of view of indelible characters who burrow deep in the reader’s heart\, this fierce\, unflinching\, and surprisingly tender novel illuminates women’s strength and vulnerability\, and reminds us that it is the stories we tell ourselves that keep us alive. \nElizabeth Wetmore is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her fiction has appeared in Epoch\, Kenyon Review\, Colorado Review\, Baltimore Review\, Crab Orchard Review\, Iowa Review\, and other literary journals. She is the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and two fellowships from the Illinois Arts Council\, as well as a grant from the Barbara Deming Foundation. She was also a Rona Jaffe Scholar in Fiction at Bread Loaf and a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony\, and one of six Writers in Residence at Hedgebrook. A native of West Texas\, she lives and works in Chicago.
URL:https://litseen.com/event/book-passage-presents-elizabeth-wetmore-valentine/
LOCATION:CA
CATEGORIES:Free,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litseen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/valentine.jpg
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