In this excerpt from “Birthday Party,” and in many other poems in her most recent collection Bedrock, it is clear that poet and professor Bonnie Lyons does not shy away from deeply personal emotions or memories. Rather, she uses them as creative inspiration, taking experience to write something unique and individual. This talent is the reason Bedrock has been called “a splendid collection of intensely personal poems,” and it is what she will bring to a Gemini Ink writing class on Saturday, February 4.

Lyons’ class, aptly named “Breathe in Experience, Breathe Out Poetry,” will concentrate on the essential connection between remembering experiences and writing poetry. She asserts that this experience does not have to be about something as concrete or exciting as exotic travel, but is simply about what we have deeply thought or felt. As such, everyone can breathe experience into their writing. Join Lyons to better explore this idea, as she teaches how to look toward daily life, events, and dreams for inspiration. After understanding the root of poetry as personal experience, she will then explore ways to help nurture these roots toward “the flowering of poems.” The three-hour class includes some lecture, discussion, and writing exercises. Simply bring paper, pencil, and any personal poem you want to discuss.

Click here to register.

The day before, Lyons will join Amparo Garcia-Crow in a free, public First Friday reading at Gemini Ink. Join us at 6:30pm on February 3 to hear passages from these two exciting, diverse writers.

-Mary-Kate Hull

Gemini Ink Intern

Student, Trinity University

As multifaceted as they come, Garcia-Crow is a playwright, scriptwriter, singer, actor, and director. She is currently an artist in residence with New York’s Mabou Mines developing Strip, a burlesque musical. Her film Death Rattle, set in a small southern Texas town, recently premiered at Cine Las Americas. She has also received the Larry King Playwriting Award and the national Mae West Festival’s Best Protagonist award. The list goes on.

Currently a playwriting professor at Austin Community College, Garcia-Crow will bring her talent and experience to Gemini Ink. On Saturday, February 4, she will lead a workshop entitled From Paper to Production, which will explore the ten minute play and monologue. Come learn to rework your big stories and ideas into small, tight packages and begin to develop something that can attract “the voices, creative imaginations, and bodies of actors” who want to produce them. The class will create a playful, safe environment in which participants can invite their muses and listen to their impulses. As Garcia-Crow says, “I want to be able to answer the muse even if the call comes at two in the morning. I am a dreamer and once a story wants to come through, I need bring my attention to it and publish the dream.” And when thinking of playwriting in terms of something small, doesn’t the whole process seem much less daunting?

Click here to register.

Garcia-Crow will also participate in a First Friday reading on February 3 at Gemini Ink. Join us to hear work from both her and poet Bonnie Lyons, two exciting and distinct writers.

-Mary-Kate Hull

Gemini Ink Intern

Student, Trinity University

On Saturday, January 21, Gemini Ink offers a two-hour class taught by Blake which will explore the art and technique of this historical fiction. He will discuss the intersection of imagination and fact in writing historical novels for adults. Though history shapes much of his writing, the accomplished author also deeply understands the importance of character and identity. “Almost every book I write,” he says, “is about a guy finding out who he is. I think that’s the crux of everybody’s life.” Interweaving these imagined journeys and characters with fact, the class will address striking a balance in this unique literary form. Blake will talk about the ways and means of writing historical fiction, using Country of the Bad Wolfes, a novel steeped in American and Mexican history, as an example. Participants are also encouraged to bring questions about their own writing.

Following the class, Blake will participate in a reading at 3:30pm, which is free and open to the public. Join us at Gemini Ink to hear passages from this prolific writer, who continues to produce incredibly original work and garner high praise from national critics.

-Mary Kate Hull, Gemini Intern.