UP NEXT: We're reading and discussing Rebekah Manley's Alexandra and the Awful, Awkward, No Fun, Truly BadDates: Picture Book Parody for Adults. This conversation will be moderated by Amy Gentry, author of the feminist thrillers Good as Gone, Last Woman Standing, and Bad Habits.
Join us for a celebration of jo reyes-boitel’s chapbook, mouth, winner of the Neon Hemlock Press 2021 Chapbook Prize and hot off the press! Reyes-boitel will read from her new book along with an uber-talented line-up of San Antonio poets: C. L. “Rooster” Martinez, Noël Bella Merriam, and Eric Cruz. A Q&A follows—on the creative life, the art of teaching, and the ways each of these poets have balanced both and sustained their artistic practice. A book giveaway of jo’s award-winning chapbook will be a part of the night!
If I teach nothing in my writing classes, I teach this: do not outline your memoir (or novel or novella or short story or essay). Do not think out the plot, the narrative arc, the protagonist’s journey, whatever you want to call it. Instead, try to find the story through an honest excavation of the characters’ total experience of the situation at hand. Do that, and I promise the story will begin to write itself, with little help from the godly, intelligent, well-read, and ambitious author. But how, precisely, does one go about this “excavation”? And how, technically speaking, can we ignite a story into “writing itself”? Come to this workshop, and I will seek to demystify those writerly tools and skills that time and time again, if they are sharp enough, and if the writer can summon enough daily faith and nerve, can penetrate the mystery of story itself.
This class is built for the new poet, or for someone returning to poetry after some distance. Participants will have an opportunity to create new work from writing prompts and discuss different avenues into writing poetry. An overview of poetic tools, styles, and strategies will give way to the center of poetry: emotion, story, and breath. Participants will also gain an understanding of the workshop model and its alternatives, find ways to build their community of fellow creatives, and discuss how to stay self-motivated to keep writing.
Join 2018-2020 San Antonio Poet Laureate Octavio Quintanilla for a one-day poetry workshop designed to have you see poetry-making with a fresh set of eyes. Discover new inroads into the poetry process through three distinct approaches led by Dr. Quintanilla: lyric, visual, and form. In this workshop, there will be an emphasis on process and generating new work. Keywords: blank page // first word // first image // first line // first doodle // first draft. Take away from this class innovative ideas on how to kickstart your future poems.
This peer-driven workshop, held the last Monday of each month, is open to writers of all levels. Facilitated by Gemini Ink volunteers Dario Beniquez and Robert Allen.
Comedy has been described as “tragedy plus time,” and what a year it’s been. Jokes are often written to make light of situations ranging from matters of the heart to politics. They’re what breaks the tension in horror films, giving the audience a chance to both catch and lose their breath. In this course, we will analyze elements of joke writing, and performance. Utilizing key elements of the Socratic method, prewriting, and revision, this course is designed to help you write, rehearse, and deliver your first five minutes of comedy in a voice all your own.
In this class, you’ll explore a family anecdote of your own with a fiction writer’s imagination. You’ll learn how to pursue essential details; add character, setting, sequence and thematic elements; and amplify color, action, and motive as the characters move through the world you build. Come to class with 1-2 anecdotes you want to reinvent as your next fiction project.
We're reading and discussing Cliff Hudder's novel from Texas Review Press, Pretty Enough for You. This program will be moderated by Tony Diaz.
This workshop is designed to empower writers with revision techniques to apply to memoir, essays, flash, short stories, or novels. Whether trying to revise a stand-alone chapter or considering the broader arc of your full manuscript, these techniques are graspable, effective, and empowering.
A Free Monthly Online Reading Series from Writing Workshops Dallas & Gemini Ink.
UP NEXT: We're reading and discussing Nan Cuba's novel, Body and Bread. This program will be moderated by Helen Fremont.
Whether you're headed to the beach with its sand and sun or want to learn about new poetic voices from the shores of your couch, join Gemini Ink’s Executive Director Alexandra van de Kamp on an exploration of new or newly-discovered titles and her recommendations on recent “Best Reads!” lists. We'll discuss sample poems from a wide range of poetry collections including Natalie Diaz, Morgan Parker, Urayoán Noel, Barbara Ras, Donika Kelly, Reginald Gibbons, and more. Poets of all levels welcome!
