Gemini Ink

Tapping Into Your Senses: A Memoir Workshop with Denise Tolan
2026-02-03 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Breathe life into your memoir

Tue, Feb 3, 10, 17 & 24
6:30-8:30pm CT, Hybrid (in-person at Gemini Ink or online via Zoom)
Nonmember: $200; Member: $170; Student/Educ/Mil: $140
*EARN CPEs
Class Full
Are you in the throes of writing your memoir but unsure how to make readers truly feel your story? Learn to transform your personal experiences into an immersive, resonant journey by tapping into your senses!
This four-week hybrid course will help you unlock the power of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell to bring your memoir to life. Through engaging activities and guided exercises, you’ll explore the sensory details of key moments in your story and use them to develop your memoir more fully. We’ll build from these moments to create stronger characters, richer plotlines, and breakthroughs in your writing. Students are encouraged to bring a memoir-in-progress, if they have one. We will also generate work in class.
This workshop is open to writers of all skill levels 18+.
Workshop participants will leave with the following:

Strategies for using sensory elements to recall memories
Guidance on how to incorporate sensory elements into your work, including how to negotiate difficult moments in your memoir with confidence and control
A polished section of your memoir to build on

Denise Tolan‘s work has appeared in The Best Small Fictions, The Penn Review, Cherry Tree, and Lunch Ticket. Denise was a finalist for Best of the Net and the International Literary Awards: Penelope Niven Prize in Nonfiction. Her memoir, Italian Blood, was a finalist for the 2024 Eric Hoffer book award and the Reader’s Choice Awards. Denise has taught Creative Writing classes at the college level for over 20 years and given workshops at conferences in Texas, Arizona, Ohio, and Oklahoma.

In Conversation with Katie Gutierrez
2026-02-06 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | Maverick Carter House, 119 Taylor St, San Antonio, 78205
Join us for In conversation with Katie Gutierrez at the Maverick Carter House on Friday, February 6 at 7pm presented by UT San Antonio Creative Writing Program in partnership with Gemini Ink.
Katie Gutierrez is the bestselling author of the mystery novel More Than You’ll Ever Know, a Good Morning America Book Club pick and Edgar Award finalist. Her essays and features have appeared in TIME, Texas Highways, Harper’s Bazaar, and more. She has an MFA from Texas State University and lives in San Antonio, Texas. Gutierrez will read from her work and share her approach to writing in conversation with Dr. Kimberly Garza. An audience Q&A and book signing will follow. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.
Location: The Maverick Carter House, 119 Taylor St., San Antonio 78205

Creating an Immersive Setting and Atmosphere with Andrew Porter
2026-02-16 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Online via Zoom
Literary Masters Lecture Series
Write a World for Readers to Explore

Monday(s), February 16 & 23, 2026, 6:30-8pm CT, online via Zoom.
Nonmember: $90; Member: $75; Student/Educ/Mil: $63
*EARN CPEs; TWO SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Join us for the first Literary Masters Lecture of the year and learn to craft an immersive setting and atmosphere readers can truly sink into! Each session features an engaging craft talk, actionable writing strategies, and a live Q&A with the author.
In this two-part intensive lecture, award-winning fiction author Andrew Porter will share practical techniques for building immersive settings and atmospheres, explore their vital role in fiction and nonfiction, and offer craft tools participants can practice on their own after the lecture.
This lecture is open to writers of all genres and skill levels 18+.
Participants will leave this lecture series with:

An understanding of the important role setting and atmosphere play in a piece of writing
Techniques for creating an immersive setting and atmosphere in any genre
Additional activities to complete at home following the lecture

Andrew Porter is the author of four books, including the story collections The Disappeared (Knopf) and The Theory of Light and Matter (Vintage) and the novels In Between Days (Knopf) and The Imagined Life (Knopf, 2025). A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he has received a Pushcart Prize, a James Michener/Copernicus Fellowship, and the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. His work has appeared in Best American Short Stories, One Story, Ploughshares, American Short Fiction, The Southern Review, and on Public Radio’s Selected Shorts. Currently, he teaches fiction writing and directs the creative writing program at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Veterans' Writing Collective with Sarah Colby
2026-02-18 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Mexico_City) | Online via Zoom
The Veterans’ Writing Collective (VWC) encourages the art of writing in a workshop environment where participants are offered honest, positive, and constructive peer-to-peer and mentor feedback. The workshop is open to all active-duty military, veterans, retirees, and their immediate family members. Writers of all levels working in all genres are welcome.
The VWC meets monthly online via Zoom.
If you would like an invitation to this class, send an email to veteranscollective@geminiink.org

Sarah Colby was born in northern New Mexico and raised in the Rocky Mountains. She is married to a retired Army Chaplain and is mother to a son in the Navy. Sarah has an MFA in Creative Writing from Sierra Nevada College and an exuberant interest in making the ordinary luminous. Her war-time experiences have motivated her to be a voice for the mostly untold stories of families and loved ones during these years of protracted conflict. She is currently working on a manuscript of poems about her experiences as a military family member.

Poets & Coffee
2026-02-21 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
A morning of poems and conversation
Saturday, February 21 · 10am–12pm · FREE * OPEN TO EVERYONE!
We’ll have the coffee ready—just bring a friend and settle in among fellow poetry lovers.
Explore what’s happening now in the world of contemporary verse. We’ll share a few favorite poems and spotlight contemporary poets who are making waves both on the page and on the stage. This is your chance to join the conversation! Share the poems that have moved you and tell us why poetry matters in your life.
What to Expect
• Fresh coffee and a relaxed, come-as-you-are atmosphere• A guided, informal conversation led by Gemini Ink Executive Director Alexandra van de Kamp• Readings of contemporary poems• Space to listen, reflect, and share (only if you want to)• New poems to take home and simple prompts to spark your own writing• A room full of people who love poetry—or are just getting curious
• No lectures. No pressure. Just good poems, good conversation, and good company.
You’ll leave with a sense of community. Whether you’re a seasoned poet or simply curious, everyone is welcome at our poetic gathering.
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​​Alexandra van de Kamp is the Executive Director for Gemini Ink, San Antonio’s Writing Arts Center. Her third book of poems, Ricochet Script, was published by Next Page Press in 2022. Her previous full-length collections include: Kiss/Hierarchy (Rain Mountain Press 2016) and The Park of Upside-Down Chairs (CW Books 2010). She has also published several chapbooks, including A Liquid Bird Inside the Night (Red Glass Books 2015) and Dear Jean Seberg (2011), which won the 2010 Burnside Review Chapbook Contest. Her poems have been published in journals nationwide, such as The Cincinnati Review, Connecticut Review, The Texas Observer, and Denver Quarterly.

Open Writers' Labs
2026-02-23 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Mexico_City) | Online via Zoom
These peer-driven workshops, held the last Monday of each month, are free and open to writers of all levels and focus on poetry, flash fiction, and short creative non-fiction.

Online Via Zoom
For the online workshop, sign up the day before the class to ensure you receive the Zoom link.
This workshop is facilitated by Kevin Ramos. Originally from the northeast, Kevin studied theater arts at Rutgers University and The University of Washington. He’s lived all over the country before making his home in San Antonio, Texas. Kevin has written several novels and short stories. Most recently, publishing a short memoir called Enough about addiction, mothers, and missing graves. And a novel, Hayley’s Sense of Fire (DLG Publishing Partners), a modern re-telling of the classic fairy tale, The Little Matchgirl.

In-Person at Gemini Ink

Join our in-person Open Writer’s Lab with Robert Allen at Gemini Ink’s office, 1111 Navarro St., San Antonio, TX 78205.
Robert Allen has worked as a librarian and an electrical contractor for most of his life. Many moons ago, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied poetry under David Wevill. Allen has been active in local writer’s groups and open mics, including the Sun Poets Society. He’s been published in The Ocotillo Review, the Texas Poetry Calendar, Voices de la Luna, di-verse-city, the San Antonio Express-News, and Poetry on the Move. In 2006, he started attending Gemini Ink’s free Monday night writing classes and has attended regularly ever since. With more than a decade of attending writers’ groups, classes, and open mics, he now co-facilitates Gemini Ink’s Open Writer’s Lab.
Parking at Gemini Ink
Gemini Ink offers free parking along the back wall of our downtown offices. Please access this parking lot from Augusta St and first park in any of the 12 spots along the back wall. Only when these 12 spots are full do we ask that you park elsewhere in our lot. We now rent our offices from UTSA and are collaborating with them to create a secure and accessible parking lot for our community of writers and readers.

Teen Writing Circle with Daniel Ramirez
2026-02-28 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Mexico_City) | Online via Zoom
Register
Last Saturday of Every Month 12-1:30pm cst via Zoom
For ages 13-19 years old
Are you a teen who enjoys writing in their free time? Or are you someone who’s never had the chance to write on their own? If so, this Online Teen Writing Circle is for you!
In this once-a-month writing circle, teens will enjoy writing in a judgment free zone. We’ll break the ice with one another and perform various writing exercises. You are encouraged to share your work with your peers and get constructive feedback, but it is not required. Our only goal is to keep you writing!
This course is open to teen writers of any skill level.
Participants will leave the writing circle with:

New, unique written work
Listening and sharing experience
Constructive feedback to help improve their writing

Want to learn more about our Teen Writing Circle? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions!

Daniel Ramirez has been an educator for more than 15 years. After studying History in graduate school, he spent several years working in conservation programs with teenagers. His time as a Montessori educator revealed the power of combining creativity with learning and inspired him to explore his own creative practice. In addition to his longtime love of storytelling, he has developed interests in calligraphy, puppetry, poetry, and block printing. A San Antonio native, he spends his free time exploring the crystalline waters of Central Texas.
