The Real Writing is in the Revision with Jasminne Mendez
2025-07-07 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Mexico_City) | Online via Zoom
Monday(s) July 7 & 14, 2025, 6:30-8:00 pm CDT via Zoom
Nonmember $90; Member $75; Student/Educ/Mil $63
*EARN CPEs

Have you ever sat down to revise a piece of writing but had no idea where to begin? Or have you started revising only to find yourself stuck halfway through? If you find revision to be an intimidating and messy process, then this class is for you!
In this two-part lecture, writers of any genre and at any stage in their craft will learn practical revision strategies to help refine and reimagine their drafts and works-in-progress. We will discuss how to assess what needs to be revised, including beginnings and endings, scenes and plots, syntax and diction, metaphors and more. Then, we will explore visual organization tools such as note cards, sticky notes, and highlighters. Students will leave with tools to continue these editing practices following the lecture.
This lecture is open to writers of all skill levels 18+.
By the end of the lecture students will have:

Practical, concrete revision strategies
Ideas for visual organization
A plan for setting revision goals before writing

Jasminne Mendez is a best-selling Dominican-American poet, translator, playwright, audio book narrator and award-winning author of several books for children and adults. Her middle grade novel-in-verse Aniana del Mar Jumps In (Dial) received the 2024 Pura Belpre Honor Award. Her other books have received prizes from the Texas Institute of Letters, the Writer’s League of Texas and the International Latino Book Awards. Her YA fiction debut The Story of My Anger (Dial) will be out September 2025. She is an MFA graduate of the creative writing program at the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University and a University of Houston alumni. She is the Program Director for the literary arts non-profit Tintero Projects and she lives and works in Houston, TX.
Instagram: @jasminnemendez
Learn about Cancellation & Refund Policies at https://geminiink.org/registration/

LitMinds Book Club
2025-07-09 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Mexico_City) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Join us for the LitMinds Book Club at Gemini Ink. We’re reading My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante.
Register

Now an HBO series, book one in the New York Times bestselling Neapolitan quartet about two friends growing up in post-war Italy is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted family epic by Italy’s most beloved and acclaimed writer, Elena Ferrante, “one of the great novelists of our time.” (Roxana Robinson, The New York Times)
Beginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Ferrante’s four-volume story spans almost sixty years, as its protagonists, the fiery and unforgettable Lila, and the bookish narrator, Elena, become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflictual friendship. Book one in the series follows Lila and Elena from their first fateful meeting as ten-year-olds through their school years and adolescence.
Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her protagonists.
“An intoxicatingly furious portrait of enmeshed friends,” writes Entertainment Weekly. “Spectacular,” says Maureen Corrigan on NPR’s Fresh Air. “A large, captivating, amiably peopled bildungsroman,” writes James Wood in The New Yorker
Ferrante is one of the world’s great storytellers. With My Brilliant Friend she has given her readers an abundant, generous, and masterfully plotted page-turner that is also a stylish work of literary fiction destined to delight readers for many generations to come.

About the Author

Elena Ferrante is the author of The Days of Abandonment (Europa, 2005), Troubling Love (Europa, 2006), The Lost Daughter (Europa, 2008) and the Neapolitan Quartet (Europa 2012-2015). She is also the author of a children’s picture book illustrated by Mara Cerri, The Beach at Night.

On the Edge of Your Seat: Writing Mystery & Suspense with Richard Santos
2025-07-10 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Mexico_City) | Online via Zoom
Thursday(s) July 10, 17, 24 & 31, 2025 6:30-8:30 pm CDT via Zoom
Nonmember $200; Member $170; Student/Educ/Mil $140
*EARN CPEs

Have you dreamed of writing a mystery that readers could not put down till the mind bending-end? Learn the elements of a thrilling mystery that leaves readers on the edge of their seats.
Over the course of four weeks, participants will discuss the common characteristics of effective mystery/suspense fiction and will set goals for their work in class. We’ll cover inciting incidents and protagonists, review plot points and antagonists, and explore how to create suspense and mystery in writing.
Each session will feature writing exercises and time to receive feedback from the instructor and peers. By the end of the workshop, writers will have a tool box, which will include character notes, an inciting incident, rough plot points, and several pages of writing, for their in-progress mystery or suspense project. This will provide a great starting point for participants to expand on after the workshop.
This class is open to writers of all skill levels 18+. Both short story writers and novelists are welcome!
By the end of the class, students will:

Learn basic elements of mystery and suspense
Lay the groundwork for their own suspenseful story
Walk away with one complete scene

Read Richard Z. Santos’s Writer’s Desk Q&A!

Richard Z. Santos‘ debut novel, Trust Me, was a finalist for the Writer’s League of Texas Book Awards and was named one of the best debuts of the year by Crime Reads. He’s the editor of the anthology A Night of Screams: Latino Horror Stories. His fiction has been nominated for The Pushcart, Best of the Net, the International Thriller Writers Awards, and has appeared as a Distinguished Story in Best American Mystery and Suspense. His nonfiction and essays have appeared in Texas Monthly, The Rumpus, Los Angeles Review of Books, Like the Wind, and more. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Austin Noir (Akashic Books), Lone Stars Rising (Harper Wave), Sandra Cisneros: Portraits of a Writer (Texas A&M Press), Untitled Latino Folklore Anthology (Flametree Press), and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. In a previous career, he taught in high schools and before that he worked for political campaigns, consulting firms, and labor unions.
Social Media:

Instagram
Bluesky

Learn about Cancellation & Refund Policies at https://geminiink.org/registration/

Gemini Ink Volunteer Summer Social
2025-07-10 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Mexico_City) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Are you interested in getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the writing life? Interested in helping our community craft their stories?

Thursday, July 10, 2025, 6:30-8pm ct, in-person at Gemini Ink
Free and Open to Existing and Prospective Volunteers
Are you interested in getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the writing life? Interested in helping our community craft their stories?
Join us for a fun and informal Volunteer Summer Social. We’ll share light summer refreshments, fun literary games, and learn about volunteer opportunities, including general office duties, event support, and assisting teaching artists in the classroom.
Help us teach the craft of writing to people of all skill levels so they can bring their stories to life!
Complete this short volunteer survey for full details.

Veterans Writing Collective with Sarah Colby
2025-07-16 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-08-20 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-09-17 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Mexico_City) | Online via Zoom
The Veteran’s 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
2025-07-19 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Mexico_City) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Join Us for Coffee & Conversation
Join Gemini Ink’s Executive Artistic Director, Alexandra van de Kamp, for a relaxed and insightful discussion about the current landscape of poetry. Explore what’s happening now in the world of contemporary verse.
We’ll have the coffee ready—just bring a friend and settle in among fellow poetry lovers. Alexandra will share a few of her current 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. You’ll leave with a sense of community, a fresh collection of poems to explore, and creative prompts to spark your own writing journey. 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.

Rosemary Catacalos: On the Life and Work of an American Master
2025-07-20 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Urban-15, 2500 S. Presa, San Antonio, Texas, 78212
Gemini Ink, URBAN-15, and the University of Houston / Unsung Masters are proud to present a book launch event in celebration of Rosemary Catacalos: On the Life and Work of an American Master, the 17th volume of the Unsung Masters Series.
Join us to honor Rosemary’s life and legacy with an afternoon of readings by contributors to the book, including Naomi Shiab Nye, ire’ne lara silva, and Jim LaVilla-Havelin. Books will be available for purchase, and refreshments will be served.
Join us:
Sunday July 20th, 2-4pm CST
URBAN-15 Studios 2500 S. Presa
Learn more at urban15.org

Reconnect with Wonder & Illuminate Your Writing Process with Laura Munson
2025-07-23 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Mexico_City) | Online via Zoom
Wednesday(s) July 23, 30 & August 6, 13, 2025 6:30-8:30pm CDT via Zoom
Nonmember $240; Member $205; Student/Educ/Mil $168
*EARN CPEs

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Wonder is the combination of curiosity and awe that makes us feel alive and inspires writers to explore and reimagine the world around them. In this worry-filled world, we need our wonder, and our writing, more than ever.
In this 4-week workshop, best-selling author and founder of the acclaimed Haven Writing Retreats in Montana, Laura Munson will lead students through writing exercises to uncover wonder and inject it into their own writing.
Using Laura’s newly released teaching memoir The Wild Why: Stories and Teachings to Uncover Your Wonder as a guide, we will explore teaching-spirited stories and writing prompts, all centered on illuminating our true self-expression and the wonder it sparks.
This class is open to writers of all genres and skill levels 18+.
In The Wild Why workshop, Laura will be leading writers through:

Reconnecting with themselves & their wonder
Using wonder to rekindle voice and expand creativity
Exploring their unique narrative
Drafting several new written works

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LAURA MUNSON is a New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author. Her acclaimed works include the novel Willa’s Grove and the memoir This Is Not The Story You Think It Is. Laura is the founder of the renowned Haven Writing Retreats and her writing has appeared in publications such as Vanity Fair, Elle, Redbook, Time, Newsweek, the New York Times “Modern Love” column, The New York Times Magazine, O, The Oprah Magazine, and many more. She has been featured on Good Morning America, The Early Show, WGN, NPR, London’s This Morning, Australia’s Sunrise, and other international media outlets. Laura lives and writes in Whitefish, Montana.
Learn about Cancellation & Refund Policies at https://geminiink.org/registration/

How to Eat a Memory with Michelle Otero
2025-07-24 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Mexico_City) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Thursday, July 24, 2025 from 10am-12pm CDT in-person
This class is free and open to writers of all genres, skill levels, and backgrounds, 18+, on a first-come basis, and is limited to 15 participants.
This class is currently full.
To join the waitlist in case a spot opens up, please email mllara@geminiink.org.

Writing a memoir is more than a linear reporting of the events of our lives. Along the way, we stop to reflect, to make meaning. We should also stop to eat. Childhood foods—both the unnatural prepackaged snacks we were drawn to and the “eat-this-it’s-good-for-you” fare pushed on us by grown-ups—are a rich source of sensory description.
The foods of childhood may hold the key to accepting and understanding an event that makes sense only in hindsight or they may signify that moment when things changed. Or they may simply help create a more complete picture of a life. Maybe those canned beets you scooped into a napkin on your lap tell a larger story about silence or things hidden or trusting your knowing. Maybe a clean plate tells a story of loss or absence or lack.
In this generative workshop, we will explore the foods that helped shape our personal stories and use them as tools of discovery and meaning that reconnect us to the kid we were at the dinner table who knew what was right all along.
Though this workshop is geared toward those writing creative nonfiction, fiction writers and poets are also welcome to attend. This class is open to writers of all skill levels 18+.
By the end of the class students will have:

An understanding of the role of food in telling personal stories
A draft of new written work

Michelle Otero is the author of Vessels: A Memoir of Borders, Bosque: Poems, and the essay collection Malinche’s Daughter. She served as Albuquerque Poet Laureate from 2018-2020 and co-edited the New Mexico Poetry Anthology 2023 and 22 Poems & a Prayer for El Paso, a tribute to victims of the 2019 El Paso shooting and winner of a New Mexico-Arizona Book Award. A coach, community-based artist, and racial healing practitioner, she is the founder of ArteSana Creative Consulting, dedicated to creative expression and storytelling as the basis for organizational development and positive social change. Originally from Deming, New Mexico, Otero holds a BA in History from Harvard College and an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College. She is a member of the Macondo Writers Workshop.

Teen Writing Circle with Daniel Ramirez
2025-07-26 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-08-30 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 over 15 years. After studying History in grad school, he tromped around the outdoors doing conservation with teenagers. Spending time as a Montessori educator revealed the power of incorporating creativity with learning. Encouraging youth to tap into their creative abilities convinced him to discover his own. Since then, in addition to his original love of storytelling, he’s found a penchant for calligraphy, puppetry, poetry, and block printing. A San Antonio native, he explores the crystalline waters of Central Texas in his free time.

Open Writer's Labs
2025-07-28 18:30 - 20:30, 2025-08-25 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.

Reawakening the Past: How to Use Historical Research in Fiction with Katie Gutierrez
2025-08-04 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Mexico_City) | Online via Zoom
Monday(s) August 4 & 11, 2025 6:30-8:00 pm cst via Zoom
Nonmember $90; Member $75; Student/Educ/Mil $63
*EARN CPEs
TWO SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

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Are you a writer digging up history to paint a picture of the past? Are you researching historical facts or concepts to support your story? Learn the ins and outs of historical research from a national bestselling author!
In this two-part lecture, Katie Gutierrez will discuss how to use historical events and research to create a high-concept contemporary novel, based on her experiences writing More Than You’ll Ever Know and her upcoming second novel. She’ll discuss retellings and the differences between “based on” and “inspired by” with examples. Writers will learn journalistic techniques for sourcing research–from YouTube to primary interviews–and how to let events of the past guide but not dictate their own original narratives.
This lecture is open to writers of all skill levels 18+.
By the end of the lecture students will:

Identify a solid starting point for conducting historical research
Have a list of resources to continue their research following the lecture

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Katie Gutierrez is the author of the national bestselling, Edgar Award-nominated debut novel More Than You’ll Ever Know, which was also a Good Morning America Book Club selection. She is a National Magazine Award finalist whose essays and features have appeared in TIME, Texas Highways, Harper’s Bazaar, and more, and acknowl
edged in Best American Magazine Writing and Best American Essays. She has an MFA from Texas State University and lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband and their two kids.
Learn about Cancellation & Refund Policies at https://geminiink.org/registration/

Gemini Ink Veteran’s Writing Collective Community Reading & Open Mic
2025-08-06 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Mexico_City) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Join us as we celebrate our military writers with an evening of readings, refreshments, and conversation.
Whether you’re a writer, a supporter, or simply curious, this event welcomes all!
Date: Wednesday, August 6
Time: 6:30–8:30 PM
Location: Gemini Ink, San Antonio
Enjoy readings and presentations by Amanda Cerreto, Scott McClean, Herb Nordmeyer, Miranda Serra, Rhett Smith, Philip Verges, and other talented members of the Veterans’ Writing Collective. There’s still room for more—if you’d like to share your work, please contact Sarah Colby. Participation is optional and open to anyone interested!
Who can attend?
Everyone is welcome—bring friends, family, and fellow community members.
Interested in sharing your writing?
Slots are still available for readers and presenters. Simply reach out to reserve your spot: veteranscollective@geminiink.org
We look forward to an evening of storytelling, creativity, and connection. See you there!
— Hosted by Sarah Colby, Veterans’ Writing Collective

Live Storytelling: Voices of San Anto Showcase
2025-08-16 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Mission Branch Library, 3134 Roosevelt Ave, San Antonio, Texas, 78214
You’re invited to a live storytelling show featuring students from our Voices of San Anto Bilingual Storytelling workshop!
Students from our workshop, led by local writer, performer, and San Antonio Poet Laureate Eddie Vega, will share deeply personal stories. Each participant will read a 5-7 minute piece about a significant moment in their life.
Come experience the power of live storytelling and hear these moving narratives firsthand.
We hope you can join us!

Luminescence and Grit: An Evening with Gemini Ink Teaching Artists & a Community Open Mic
2025-08-21 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Mexico_City) | Artisan Distillery & Craft Bar, 402 Austin St, San Antonio, TX, United States
Join Gemini Ink for a night of poetry, prose, and performance as we celebrate the personal artistry of our Gemini Ink teaching artists and staff. Every day, these professionals bring their passion for the writing arts to community spaces, inspiring students of all ages. Tonight we hear their stories!
Our featured writers will include Teaching Artists Daniel Ramirez, Ana Ortiz Varela, Joyous Windrider, and Gemini Ink staff Florinda Flores-Brown, Catherine Burianek, Mandy Lynn, and Cloud Cardona.
Following the featured reading, we will host a community open mic. Bring your poems, stories, and thoughts to share (there will be a 3-minute limit for each reader). Open mic sign-up in person, starting at 6pm.

Explore Four Japanese Poets: Inspiration from International Voices with Veronica Golos
2025-09-03 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Online via Zoom
Wednesday(s), September 3, 10, 17 & 24, 2025, 6:30-8:30pm CT, online via Zoom
Nonmember $200; Member $170; Student/Educator/Military $140
*EARN CPEs
TWO SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

In a time of worldwide strife and disconnection, poetry reacquaints us with humanity in a way that transcends borders, time zones, and languages. Join master poetry teacher Veronica Golos on an international poetry tour. Next stop: Japan!
In this four-week generative poetry workshop, we will read, discuss deeply, and draw our inspiration from foundational poets Kobayashi Issa, Izumi Shikibu, and contemporary poets Yuki Tanaka and Shizuka Omori. Yuki Tanaka, and Shizuka Omori. We will explore each poet’s craft tools and apply these techniques to our work. Participants will receive a packet with poems and suggestions for developing their writing.
This class is open to writers of all skill levels 18+.
Students will:

Write poems that follow the selected poet’s structure and theme
Receive on-the-spot feedback for written work

Read Veronica’s Writer’s Desk Q&A!

Veronica Golos is the author of four poetry books: GIRL, awarded the Naji Naaman Honor Prize in 2019; Rootwork, winner of the 2016 Southwest Book Design Award in Poetry; Vocabulary of Silence, a 2011 New Mexico Book Award winner that was translated into Arabic, Spanish and Persian; and A Bell Buried Deep, a Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize winner. She teaches poetry for Hugo House, Gemini Ink, and SOMOS. She reviews poetry books for Tupelo Press and works as a manuscript editor. She lives in Taos, New Mexico, with her husband, David Pérez.

The Big Give Drop-In at Gemini Ink
2025-09-06 10:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
We’re kicking off Big Give 2025—and we need your voice to help us reach our Goal of: $20,000 for Public Class Scholarships!
Your donation helps open the door for more writers everywhere to take our creative writing classes—regardless of their financial situation.
Come by for good company and conversation. Las Palapas is generously donating cheese enchiladas, so you can enjoy a meal while connecting with friends.
We’ll also have a filming station where you can record a short video message of support—your voice makes our story stronger.

“Gemini Ink helped me find my path to becoming a poet.” –Gerald S.
How You Can Support
JOIN – Stop by our Drop-In event on Sat, Sep 6, from 10am-2pm.
Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro, San Antonio, TX 78205
Free & Open to the Community
SHARE – Spread the word. Every post, every text, every email helps.
SEND – Share your story. Write it down or record it (60 seconds or less) and let the world know why Gemini Ink matters.
Every gift, large or small, counts. Together, we’ll make sure more stories are written, more voices are heard, and more writers thrive.
Questions? Reach out to Mandy Lynn Lara, Public Class Coordinator at Gemini Ink.

LitMinds Book Club
2025-09-10 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Mexico_City) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Join us for the LitMinds Book Club at Gemini Ink. We’re reading H.G. Wells’s novellas The War of the Worlds, and The Invisible Man.
Register
The Invisible Man is the startling tale of a man who uncovers the ultimate secret of invisibility and with it — instead of power and wealth — his own destruction.
The War of the Worlds has stirred the imaginations of countless readers — and writers. The first novel to describe the Menace from Space — in the form of a calamitous invasion from Mars– it also gave the first detailed description of mechanized warfare and introduced the world to the terrifying weapon known as the Heat-Ray.

by Elliott & Fry, sepia half-tone reproduction of a photograph, 1901
The son of a professional cricketer and a lady’s maid, H. G. Wells (1866-1946) served apprenticeships as a draper and a chemist’s assistant before winning a scholarship to the prestigious Normal School of Science in London. While he is best remembered for his groundbreaking science fiction novels, including The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Island of Doctor Moreau, Wells also wrote extensively on politics and social matters and was one of the foremost public intellectuals of his day.

Krier Book Launch
2025-09-11 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Poetic Republic Coffee Co., 2330 S. Presa St, San Antonio, Texas, United States
(Private Book Launch for one of our Partner Classes)
Each year, Gemini Ink collaborates with the Krier Juvenile Correctional Treatment Center to offer creative writing workshops for teens and publish a collection of their work. This year’s launch will debut the newest anthology—a powerful testament to the creativity, resilience, and truth-telling of its young authors. Though this event is closed to the public, we celebrate and honor these emerging voices and the transformative power of writing.

Metro Health Storytelling Final Celebration
2025-09-12 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Landa Branch Library, 233 Bushnell Ave, San Antonio, Texas, 78212, United States
Photo from Metro Health 2024.
Private Reading for one of our Partner Classes.

YA 4U: Young Adult Writing with Gume Laurel
2025-09-15 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Monday(s), September 15, 22, 29 & October 6, 2025, from 6:30-8:30pm CT, Hybrid (available in-person and online via Zoom).
Nonmember $200; Member $170; Student/Educator/Military $140
*EARN CPEs
TWO SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Do you have an idea for a Young Adult (YA) novel simmering in your mind? Have you always wanted to write YA but thought you were too old to connect with young readers? Learn to write YA from a place of lived experience!
In this four-session workshop series, Junior Library Guild Gold Standard author, Gume Laurel III, will share personal insight into YA novel writing. We’ll start by reflecting on our own young adult experiences, so we can write from a place of familiarity. From there, we will lean into our own young adult writing voices, regardless of our age or writing level. Then, we’ll get to writing! Students will leave class with at least one rough draft of a YA flash fiction story.
This class is open to writers of all skill levels 18+.
Students will leave the course with:

A clearer understanding of the young adult category
Connection to their own young adult writing voice
One or more drafted chapters of a young adult flash fiction story

Gume is a Texan, native to the Rio Grande Valley, along the southernmost US/Mexico borderlands. He has dedicated himself to crafting literary works that promote inclusion and showcase diverse characters with intersectional identities. Gume’s stories especially highlight the underrepresented groups he is a part of: Latine, Chicanx and queer. His first hi-lo verse novel, Samson & Domingo, published by West 44 Books, received Honorable Mention for Best in LGBTQ+ Themed Book from the International Latino Book Awards. His most recently published hi-lo verse novel, Solar Punks, gives readers a hopeful look into a future powered by renewable energy, and is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection. When Gume isn’t writing, he can be found getting lost on a hiking trail with his dogs Blu and Mouse. He’s also a botana connoisseur, considers himself a professional amateur poet, and firmly believes he could probably be a good DJ if he tried.

The Big Give SA 2025
2025-09-17 18:00 - 23:59 (America/Mexico_City) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Join us Sep 17–18 in raising $20,000 to support writers.
Help Us Reach Our Big Give Goal!

Learn about the Cary Clack Scholarship Fund in the video above!
Double Your Impact for Emerging Writers!
Every gift to the Cary Clack Scholarship Fund during The Big Give helps bring writing to life—for 160 San Antonians.
All donations from The Big Give are in support of the Cary Clack Scholarship Fund. Gemini Ink established this fund for emerging writers in honor of esteemed journalist Cary Clack, a beloved member of the Gemini Ink board. Born and raised in San Antonio, Cary Clack became the first Black journalist on the metro desk at the San Antonio Express-News, where he has covered local and national news and social issues for three decades. He is the author of Clowns and Rats Scare Me and More Finish Lines to Cross and was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2017.
This year, all donations support the Cary Clack Scholarship Fund—honoring San Antonio journalist Cary Clack by granting free writing classes to new storytellers. Your gift is matched dollar-for-dollar by generous donors, doubling its power.
“A lot of people don’t see themselves as writers and just need the encouragement to do it.” –Cary Clack

Your gift is matched dollar-for-dollar by our generous donors Dr. Karen A. Waldron and Patricia Pratchett, doubling its power.
Help us honor San Antonio journalist Cary Clack by granting free writing classes to new storytellers through our popular Cary Clack Scholarship Fund.”

Gemini Ink’s mission is to teach the craft of writing to people of all skill levels. We believe everyone has a story, and writing that story is powerful. By 2026, our strategic vision is to teach 15,000 people how to bring their stories to life.
Anyone can apply to the Cary Clack Scholarship Fund. Learn more about our scholarships.

The Big Texas Author Talk featuring Joaquín Zihuatanejo
2025-09-17 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Online via Zoom
Join us on Wednesday, September 17th, 2025, via Zoom for a conversation with Joaquín Zihuatanejo, to discuss his new book, OccupyWhiteness (Deep Vellum). Moderated by Natasha Carrizosa.

(Virtual Readings Quarterly @ 7pm CST)

RSVP

Starting from long-form works of literature by straight, white men, Joaquín Zihuatanejo occupies their pages, erasing words and sections, leaving only his poetry behind — the white space that remains becoming colonized Brown verse.
Occupy Whiteness is an act of rebellion that reclaims spaces and highlights a history of erasure of Brown life. An unflinching look at the present day, the collection is haunted and blessed by the image of ancestors who braved the river and desert to travel into border states for the opportunity of freedom. These are poems meant to agitate and create unease, to make the reader realize that neither their author nor the immigrant children he describes are Other. Through poems and interspersed photography from the border, Zihuatanejo poignantly depicts this equally beautiful and brutal place we call home.

About the Author
Joaquin Zihuatanejo is a poet, spoken word artist, and award-winning teacher. Born and raised in the barrio of East Dallas, in his work Joaquín strives to capture the duality of the Chicano culture. He’s been called, “one of the most dynamic and passionate performance poets in the country, melding equal parts comedy, poetry, and dramatic monologue into a crowd-pleasing display of verbal fireworks… always thrilling, Joaquín’s hilariously manic presentation is full of compassion and nuance, never sacrificing substance for style.” Joaquin was a National Poetry Slam Finalist, a Grand Slam Spoken Word Champion, and HBO Def Poet, performing at universities, conferences and poetry slams all over the North America and Europe.

About the Moderator
Natasha Carrizosa is a vessel of the word – poet, writer, speaker, and teaching artist. Her grounding work is deeply rooted in her BIPOC living experiences, mindfulness, and truths. Author of mexiafricana, heavy light, and crown. Her work has been published in Manteca! – an anthology of Afro-Latino poets, CONTRA: Texas Poets Speak Out, The Ascentos Review, Learn Then Burn 2, defunkt & cutthroat magazines, R2: The Rice Review, huizache #9, and AfroLatinas and LatiNegras (Critical Africana Studies.)

The Big Give SA 2025
2025-09-18 00:00 - 18:00 (America/Mexico_City) | Gemini Ink, 1111 Navarro St, San Antonio, TX, 78205, United States
Join us Sep 17–18 in raising $20,000 to support writers.
Help Us Reach Our Big Give Goal!

Learn about the Cary Clack Scholarship Fund in the video above!
Double Your Impact for Emerging Writers!
Every gift to the Cary Clack Scholarship Fund during The Big Give helps bring writing to life—for 160 San Antonians.
This year, all donations from The Big Give are in support of the Cary Clack Scholarship Fund. Gemini Ink established this fund for emerging writers in honor of esteemed journalist Cary Clack, a beloved member of the Gemini Ink board. Born and raised in San Antonio, Cary Clack became the first Black journalist on the metro desk at the San Antonio Express-News, where he has covered local and national news and social issues for three decades. He is the author of Clowns and Rats Scare Me and More Finish Lines to Cross and was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2017.
All donations support the Cary Clack Scholarship Fund—honoring San Antonio journalist Cary Clack by granting free writing classes to new storytellers. Your gift is matched dollar-for-dollar by generous donors, doubling its power.
“A lot of people don’t see themselves as writers and just need the encouragement to do it.” –Cary Clack

Your gift is matched dollar-for-dollar by our generous donors Dr. Karen A. Waldron and Patricia Pratchett, doubling its power.
Help us honor San Antonio journalist Cary Clack by granting free writing classes to new storytellers through our popular Cary Clack Scholarship Fund.”

Gemini Ink’s mission is to teach the craft of writing to people of all skill levels. We believe everyone has a story, and writing that story is powerful. By 2026, our strategic vision is to teach 15,000 people how to bring their stories to life.
Anyone can apply to the Cary Clack Scholarship Fund. Learn more about our scholarships.

Art Above Everything: An Evening with Stephanie Elizondo Griest
2025-09-18 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Northwest Vista College, 3535 N Ellison Dr, San Antonio, Texas, 78251
Northwest Vista College
Innovation Center at Manzanillo Hall
3535 N. Ellison, San Antonio, TX
Free and open to the public
Celebrate Latinx Heritage Month 2025 with award-winning author Stephanie Elizondo Griest! Moderated by Cecilia Ballí.
Join Gemini Ink on Thursday, September 18th, as we partner with Northwest Vista College to showcase Stephanie Griest and her new book, Art Above Everything: One Woman’s Global Exploration of the Joys and Torments of a Creative Life, which features interviews with women artists from around the world.
Stephanie will highlight the profiles of several Latina artists featured in Art of Above Everything. She will then sit down for an intimate conversation with journalist Cecilia Ballí about her book, the joys and heartache of women living a creative life, and the reality of being a Latina artist. A live performance and audience Q&A will follow.
Light refreshments will be served.

See what readers are saying about Stephanie’s book:
“Art Above Everything is a quest, a cascade of questions, and especially a celebration: of art, of lives dedicated to art, and of the difficult choices such dedication requires. This is required reading for anyone who is compelled to create.”— Kirsten Valdez Quade
“In this brilliant exploration of women’s creativity, Stephanie Elizondo Griest asks over 100 artists, ‘Is art enough?’ Is the visual art, dance, music or writing really worth the sacrifices, misogyny, violence and hardships? From Iceland and India to Cuba and Rwanda, these artists will tell you their answers.”— Ms Magazine

Stephanie Elizondo Griest is a globetrotting writer from the Texas-Mexico borderlands. Her six books include: Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana; Mexican Enough; and All the Agents and Saints: Dispatches from the U.S. Borderlands. She has also written for the New York Times, Washington Post, The Believer, BBC, VQR, and Oxford American. Her work has won a Margolis Award for Social Justice Reporting, an International Latino Book Award, a PEN Southwest Book Award, and two Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism prizes. Professor of Creative Nonfiction at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, she has performed as both a Moth storyteller and as a literary ambassador for the U.S. State Department. Visit her website at: www.StephanieElizondoGriest.com
Cecilia Ballí is a writer and journalist who has been writing for magazines for more than twenty years. In 2000, she became the first Latina or Latino writer at Texas Monthly, where she published longform stories and essays as a writer-at-large. She has written extensively about Tejano history and culture, immigration, the sexual killing of young women in Ciudad Juárez, U.S.-Mexican border drug violence, and Mexican military disappearances and torture, among other subjects. She has also published stories in The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s Magazine, and Columbia Journalism Review. She began her journalism career as a high school senior writing for her hometown newspaper, The Brownsville Herald, and later worked as an education reporter for the San Antonio Express-News.

Short and to the Point: Writing Microfiction with Lyzette Wanzer
2025-09-24 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Online via Zoom
Wednesday(s), September 24 & October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 2025 6:30-8:30pm CT online via Zoom
Nonmember $300; Member $255; Student/Educator/Military $210
*Please note: our printed schedule lists September 17 in error. The class begins September 24.
*EARN CPEs
Learn the art of microfiction! This genre challenges and sharpens your skills by teaching you how to write an attention-demanding story in only a few words.
In this six-session workshop, writers will discover the key to successful microfiction: a well-defined character and plot, all compressed into an impactful short story. We’ll foster creativity and expand writing skills, refining the ability to convey complex ideas concisely without sacrificing the story’s punch. Throughout the duration of the workshop, students will write and revise a story of 300 words or less.
This is an intermediate-level workshop. Prior prose or poetry writing experience is required and assumed.
During this class you will:

Read and parse multiple microfiction examples
Workshop your story with your peers
Receive instructor feedback on your drafts
Explore places to publish your piece

Read Lyzette’s Writer’s Desk Q&A!

Lyzette Wanzer is a San Francisco writer, editor, and writing workshop instructor. She holds an MFA in Fiction from Mills College. A flash fiction connoisseur and essay aficionado, her work has appeared in Callaloo, The Los Angeles Review, Pleiades, The MacGuffin, Flashquake, and others. She is a contributor to Lyric Essay as Resistance, The Chalk Circle, Civil Liberties United, and 642 Tiny Things to Write About. Lyzette presents at conferences including AWP, CEA, Litquake, and the San Francisco Writers Conference. She judges literary contests in nonfiction and intercultural essay categories.
