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DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250726T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250726T133000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241125T170232Z
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UID:12337-1753531200-1753536600@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Teen Writing Circle with Daniel Ramirez
DESCRIPTION:Register\nLast Saturday of Every Month 12-1:30pm cst via Zoom \nFor ages 13-19 years old \nAre 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!  \nIn 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! \nThis course is open to teen writers of any skill level. \nParticipants will leave the writing circle with:  \n\nNew\, unique written work\nListening and sharing experience\nConstructive feedback to help improve their writing\n\nWant to learn more about our Teen Writing Circle? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions!\n \n\nDaniel 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. \n \n  \n 
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/teen-writing-circle-2025-03-29-2025-04-26/2025-07-26/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Online Workshop,Workshop,Youth
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/TWC-website-header.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250724T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250724T120000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20240531T202659Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250627T212301Z
UID:10115-1753351200-1753358400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:How to Eat a Memory with Michelle Otero
DESCRIPTION:Thursday\, July 24\, 2025 from 10am-12pm CDT in-person\nThis 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. \nThis class is currently full.\nTo join the waitlist in case a spot opens up\, please email mllara@geminiink.org. \n\nWriting 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.  \nThe 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. \nIn 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. \nThough 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+. \nBy the end of the class students will have:  \n\nAn understanding of the role of food in telling personal stories\nA draft of new written work\n\n\n\nMichelle 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.
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/how-to-eat-a-memory/
LOCATION:Gemini Ink\, 1111 Navarro St\, San Antonio\, TX\, 78205\, United States
CATEGORIES:Workshop
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ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250723T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250723T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20250404T193211Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250714T175542Z
UID:12174-1753295400-1753302600@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Reconnect with Wonder & Illuminate Your Writing Process with Laura Munson
DESCRIPTION:Wednesday(s) July 23\, 30 & August 6\, 13\, 2025 6:30-8:30pm CDT via Zoom \nNonmember $240; Member $205; Student/Educ/Mil $168 \n*EARN CPEs\n \n__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nWonder 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.  \nIn 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.  \nUsing 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. \nThis class is open to writers of all genres and skill levels 18+. \nIn The Wild Why workshop\, Laura will be leading writers through: \n\nReconnecting with themselves & their wonder\nUsing wonder to rekindle voice and expand creativity\nExploring their unique narrative\nDrafting several new written works\n\n__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nLAURA 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. \nLearn about Cancellation & Refund Policies at https://geminiink.org/registration/
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/reconnect-with-wonder/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Laura-Munson-header.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250719T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250719T120000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20250414T211912Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250702T203533Z
UID:12273-1752919200-1752926400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Poets & Coffee
DESCRIPTION:Join Us for Coffee & Conversation\nJoin 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. \nWe’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. \nThis 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. \n__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \n​​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. 
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/poets-coffee/
LOCATION:Gemini Ink\, 1111 Navarro St\, San Antonio\, TX\, 78205\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025-Poets-Coffee-header.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250710T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250710T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20250414T202804Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250702T203034Z
UID:12234-1752172200-1752179400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Gemini Ink Volunteer Summer Social
DESCRIPTION:Are you interested in getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the writing life? Interested in helping our community craft their stories?\n\nThursday\, July 10\, 2025\, 6:30-8pm ct\, in-person at Gemini Ink \nFree and Open to Existing and Prospective Volunteers \nAre you interested in getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the writing life? Interested in helping our community craft their stories?  \nJoin 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.  \nHelp us teach the craft of writing to people of all skill levels so they can bring their stories to life! \nComplete this short volunteer survey for full details.
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/gemini-ink-volunteer-summer-social/
LOCATION:Gemini Ink\, 1111 Navarro St\, San Antonio\, TX\, 78205\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Volunteer-social-header.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250710T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250710T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20250404T192442Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250703T205927Z
UID:12163-1752172200-1752179400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:On the Edge of Your Seat: Writing Mystery & Suspense with Richard Santos
DESCRIPTION:Thursday(s) July 10\, 17\, 24 & 31\, 2025 6:30-8:30 pm CDT via Zoom \nNonmember $200; Member $170; Student/Educ/Mil $140 \n*EARN CPEs\n \n\nHave 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. \nOver 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.  \nEach 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. \nThis class is open to writers of all skill levels 18+. Both short story writers and novelists are welcome! \nBy the end of the class\, students will:  \n\nLearn basic elements of mystery and suspense\nLay the groundwork for their own suspenseful story\nWalk away with one complete scene\n\nRead Richard Z. Santos’s Writer’s Desk Q&A!\n\n \nRichard 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. \nSocial Media:  \n\nInstagram\nBluesky\n\nLearn about Cancellation & Refund Policies at https://geminiink.org/registration/
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/on-the-edge-of-your-seat-writing-mystery/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250709T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250709T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20250116T195626Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250602T185230Z
UID:11674-1752085800-1752091200@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:LitMinds Book Club
DESCRIPTION:Join us for the LitMinds Book Club at Gemini Ink. We’re reading My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante.\nRegister\n\nNow 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) \nBeginning 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. \nThrough 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. \n“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 \nFerrante 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. \n\n\nAbout the Author\n\nElena 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.
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/litminds-book-club-2/
LOCATION:Gemini Ink\, 1111 Navarro St\, San Antonio\, TX\, 78205\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/my-brilliant-friend2-e1748890340873.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250707T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250707T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20250404T190141Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250624T195132Z
UID:12135-1751913000-1751918400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:The Real Writing is in the Revision with Jasminne Mendez
DESCRIPTION:Monday(s) July 7 & 14\, 2025\, 6:30-8:00 pm CDT via Zoom \nNonmember $90; Member $75; Student/Educ/Mil $63 \n*EARN CPEs\n \nHave 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!  \nIn 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. \nThis lecture is open to writers of all skill levels 18+. \nBy the end of the lecture students will have:  \n\nPractical\, concrete revision strategies \nIdeas for visual organization\nA plan for setting revision goals before writing\n\n\n \nJasminne 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. \nInstagram: @jasminnemendez \nLearn about Cancellation & Refund Policies at https://geminiink.org/registration/
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/the-real-writing-is-in-the-revision-with-jasminne-mendez/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250701T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250701T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20250404T191121Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250623T194447Z
UID:12149-1751394600-1751401800@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Sex is Not a Four-Letter Word with Laura Castoro
DESCRIPTION:Tuesday(s) July 1\, 8 & 15\, 2025 6:30-8:30pm CDT Hybrid (available online via Zoom and in-person) \nNonmember $150\, Member $129; Student/Educ/Mil $105 \n*EARN CPEs\n \n_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \nAre you a writer looking for a fresh approach to sex scenes\, or are you a newbie ready to write your first R-rated interaction? Learn how to write memorable sex scenes that fit your characters and your plot!  \nThis is a frank\, fun\, respectful workshop about the ‘birds and the bees\,’ and what goes on between the sheets\, or on the kitchen floor\, or maybe out at sea. This class will allow participants to explore the many ways of writing about sex no matter the genre or fictional interest–Thriller\, Science Fiction\, Romance\, Suspense\, Mystery\, Western\, Saga\, General Fiction\, and more. \nThe classes will include writing prompts based on examples from books\, song lyrics\, visual images\, short videos\, and more. Writers will be asked to interpret them by writing their own versions. Each class will include in-class writing and homework assignments. Writers will be encouraged to share their own work in progress. \nThis course is open to fiction writers 18+. \nBy the end of the class students will:  \n\nLearn how to decipher the needs of a sex scene vs. a romantic scene\nWrite a compelling scene in the genre of their choice\nIdeas on how to keep the creative process going\n\nRead Laura’s Writer’s Desk Q&A!\n_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ \n \n Laura Castoro\, a USA Today\, Amazon top 100\, and Apple Books bestseller\, has published 47 novels with major publishing houses such as Dell Books\, Berkley\, Avon\, Warner\, MIRA\, Harlequin\, Kensington\, Pocketbooks\, St\, Harper Collins\, Martins Press\, and William Morrow. She has also contributed to several fiction anthologies and has published non-fiction YA and short fiction in Good Housekeeping. Under the name Laura Parker\, she writes historical and contemporary romance\, westerns\, and sagas. As Laura Castoro\, she writes contemporary African American and contemporary women’s fiction. Writing as D. D. Ayres\, she publishes a romantic suspense series called the K-9 Rescue Series. Her current release as Laura Castoro is Love On The Line (2021) through William Morrow. Laura has won multiple national writing awards. In 2005 she was inducted into the Arkansas Writers’ Hall of Fame. She is a past president of Novelists\, Inc. (2013)\, an international professional fiction writers’ organization. She is a past president and board member of the Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow\, a writer residency program in the AR Ozarks. She is a speaker at numerous conferences and workshops in the U.S. and abroad. Laura currently lives in San Antonio\, TX. Email: Laurapcastoro@gmail.com. website: www.ddayres.com \nLearn about Cancellation & Refund Policies at https://geminiink.org/registration/ 
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/sex-is-not-a-four-letter-word-with-laura-castoro/
LOCATION:Gemini Ink\, 1111 Navarro St\, San Antonio\, TX\, 78205\, United States
CATEGORIES:Online Workshop,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/laura-castoro-3.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250630T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250630T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20191105T141203Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260105T193006Z
UID:11137-1751308200-1751315400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Open Writer's Labs
DESCRIPTION: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.\n \n  \n\n\nOnline Via Zoom\nFor the online workshop\, sign up the day before the class to ensure you receive the Zoom link. \nThis 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. \n\nIn-Person at Gemini Ink\n \nJoin our in-person Open Writer’s Lab with Robert Allen at Gemini Ink’s office\, 1111 Navarro St.\, San Antonio\, TX 78205. \nRobert 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. \nParking at Gemini Ink\nGemini 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.
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/open-writers-lab-2-2020-08-31-2020-09-28-2021-06-28-2022-05-30-2022-06-27-2022-07-25-2023-03-27-2023-12-25-2025-04-28-2025-05-26/2025-06-30/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/open-writers-lab.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250628T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250628T133000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241125T170232Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260105T192244Z
UID:12336-1751112000-1751117400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Teen Writing Circle with Daniel Ramirez
DESCRIPTION:Register\nLast Saturday of Every Month 12-1:30pm cst via Zoom \nFor ages 13-19 years old \nAre 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!  \nIn 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! \nThis course is open to teen writers of any skill level. \nParticipants will leave the writing circle with:  \n\nNew\, unique written work\nListening and sharing experience\nConstructive feedback to help improve their writing\n\nWant to learn more about our Teen Writing Circle? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions!\n \n\nDaniel 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. \n \n  \n 
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/teen-writing-circle-2025-03-29-2025-04-26/2025-06-28/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Online Workshop,Workshop,Youth
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/TWC-website-header.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250618T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250618T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20250530T202346Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250616T203014Z
UID:12553-1750273200-1750278600@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:The Big Texas Author Talk featuring Amanda Churchill
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Wednesday\, June 18th\, 2025\, via Zoom for a conversation with Amanda Churchill\, to discuss her new book\, The Turtle House\, A Novel (Harper Collins). Moderated by Kim Garza\, author of the critically acclaimed novel The Last Karankawas.\n\n\n\n\n(Virtual Readings Quarterly @ 7pm CST) \n\n\nRSVP \n“A heartbreakingly resonant debut\, The Turtle House is a tender\, big-hearted story about women\, family\, and the complicated history of Texas. These characters\, and their tentative\, flawed stumblings toward grace\, will stay with me.”—Elizabeth Wetmore\, author of Valentine \n“Sweeping yet intimate\, Amanda Churchill’s Turtle House spans cultures and continents. Minnie and her granddaughter Lia are unforgettable protagonists\, whose grit and grace will inspire you. Together\, they find a way through in this gripping debut.”—Vanessa Hua\, author of Forbidden City \nSpanning from late 1990s small-town Texas to pre-World War II Japan and occupied Tokyo\, this emotionally engaging literary debut follows a grandmother and granddaughter who bond over a beloved lost place and the secrets they share. \nIn spring 1999\, 25-year-old Lia Cope and her 73-year-old grandmother\, Mineko\, find themselves sharing a bedroom in Curtain\, Texas. Both at turning points—Mineko\, a Japanese war bride\, displaced after a fire; Lia\, an architect who’s returned home under mysterious circumstances—the two grow close through late-night conversations. Mineko recounts her early life in Japan\, her love for Akio Sato\, and the Turtle House\, an abandoned estate where their relationship blossomed. As Mineko reveals her past\, Lia begins to understand her grandmother’s sacrifices and sees her family anew\, while confronting her own secrets. \nWhen Mineko’s children plan to move her into assisted living\, she and Lia hatch a plan to revive a cherished lost place\, seeking safety and belonging together.\nThe Turtle House is a story of intergenerational friendship\, family\, identity\, and love—illuminating the hidden lives we lead and what it means to find home again when it feels lost forever. \n\nAbout the Author\nAmanda Churchill is a writer living in Texas. Her novel\, The Turtle House\, was inspired by the life of her beloved grandmother\, a Japanese war bride. Her work has been featured in Hobart Pulp\, Witness\, River Styx\, and other publications. Amanda is a Writers’ League of Texas 2021 Fellow. She attended the 2021 Community of Writers workshop in fiction as a James D. Houston Memorial Scholarship recipient. She has also attended the Tin House Summer and Winter Conferences\, the One Story Summer Workshop\, and StoryBoard Chicago. She was a Fall 2020 mentee in AWP’s Writer to Writer program. \n\nAbout the Moderator\n \nKimberly Garza is the author of the critically acclaimed novel The Last Karankawas\, a New York Times Editors’ Choice and an Indie Next pick. Her stories and essays have appeared in Electric Literature\, Texas Highways\, Copper Nickel\, and elsewhere\, and she is a 2024 National Endowment of the Artscreative writing fellow. She teaches creative writing and literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio\, where she directs the Creative Writing Program.
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/tbtat-featuring-amanda-churchill/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025-amanda-churchill-website-header-e1748883305336.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250604T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250604T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20250404T185046Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250603T140402Z
UID:12106-1749061800-1749069000@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Delving into the Levant: Inspiration from International Poets with Veronica Golos
DESCRIPTION:Wednesday(s)\, June 4\, 11\, 18\, & 25\, 2025 from 6:30-8:30 pm CDT\, via Zoom \nNonmember: $200; Member: $170; Student/Educ/Mil: $140 \n*EARN CPEs\nTWO SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE\n \n\nIn 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: the Middle East!  \nIn this four-week generative poetry workshop\, we will read\, discuss deeply\, and draw our inspiration from foundational poets Mahmoud Darwish (Palestine)\, Etel Adnan (Lebanon)\, Saadi Youssef (Iraq)\, and contemporary Iranian-American poet Solmaz Sharif.  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.  \nThis class is open to writers of all skill levels 18+. \nBy the end of the class\, students will have the following:  \n\nStudy and analyze the work of 4 Middle Eastern poets\nWrite poems that follow the selected poet’s structure and theme\nReceive on-the-spot feedback for written work \n\n\n \nVeronica 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. \nLearn about Cancellation & Refund Policies at https://geminiink.org/registration/
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/delving-into-the-levant/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Online Workshop,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/SU25golos2-e1748959387113.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250531T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250531T133000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241125T170232Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260105T192244Z
UID:12335-1748692800-1748698200@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Teen Writing Circle with Daniel Ramirez
DESCRIPTION:Register\nLast Saturday of Every Month 12-1:30pm cst via Zoom \nFor ages 13-19 years old \nAre 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!  \nIn 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! \nThis course is open to teen writers of any skill level. \nParticipants will leave the writing circle with:  \n\nNew\, unique written work\nListening and sharing experience\nConstructive feedback to help improve their writing\n\nWant to learn more about our Teen Writing Circle? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions!\n \n\nDaniel 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. \n \n  \n 
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/teen-writing-circle-2025-03-29-2025-04-26/2025-05-31/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Online Workshop,Workshop,Youth
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/TWC-website-header.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250526T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250526T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20191105T141203Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260105T192950Z
UID:11136-1748284200-1748291400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Open Writer's Labs
DESCRIPTION: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.\n \n  \n\n\nOnline Via Zoom\nFor the online workshop\, sign up the day before the class to ensure you receive the Zoom link. \nThis 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. \n\nIn-Person at Gemini Ink\n \nJoin our in-person Open Writer’s Lab with Robert Allen at Gemini Ink’s office\, 1111 Navarro St.\, San Antonio\, TX 78205. \nRobert 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. \nParking at Gemini Ink\nGemini 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.
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/open-writers-lab-2-2020-08-31-2020-09-28-2021-06-28-2022-05-30-2022-06-27-2022-07-25-2023-03-27-2023-12-25-2025-04-28-2025-05-26/2025-05-26/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/open-writers-lab.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250517T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250517T133000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241125T174924Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250515T220202Z
UID:11128-1747476000-1747488600@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:The Art of Bad Poetry with Abby E. Murray
DESCRIPTION:Saturdays\, May 17\, 2025\, 10am-1:30pm CST\, (includes a 30-minute lunch)\, via Zoom \nNonmember: $155  Member:  $130  Student/Educator/Military: $90       \n*EARN CPE’S\nTWO SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE\n \n  \n\n\nWhat do we even mean when we consider a poem “good” or “bad”? Beginners aren’t the only ones who benefit from conversations that question our assumptions about poetry and the way we practice connecting with our own voices. Established poets also gain from discussing poetry’s rules and reputation\, its stereotypes and possibilities.  \nIn this class\, writers of all levels will strive to expand their understanding of the art of poetry\, first by weeding out our judgments of “good” and “bad” poetry\, then shaping poetry’s elusive boundaries by playing with work that challenges our notions of value and weakness. Expect laughter. Anticipate letting go of fears that limit us. Plan to write. \nStudents will leave this class with:  \n\nAn awareness of how judgment applies to the “good” and bad” of poetry\nIncreased sense of freedom without worrying about bad poetry\nDrafts of new written work\n\nRead Abby’s Writers Desk Q&A!\n\nAbby E. Murray (they/them) is the editor of Collateral\, a literary journal concerned with the impact of violent conflict and military service beyond the combat zone. Their first book\, Hail and Farewell\, won the Perugia Press Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award\, while their second book\, Recovery Commands\, recently won the Richard-Gabriel Rummonds Poetry Prize and is forthcoming from Ex Ophidia Press. Abby served as the 2019-2021 poet laureate for the city of Tacoma\, Washington\, and currently teaches rhetoric in military strategy to Army War College fellows at the University of Washington. \n 
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/the-art-of-bad-poetry-2/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Online Workshop,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/murray.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250514T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250514T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241125T202457Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250116T194337Z
UID:11205-1747247400-1747252800@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:LitMinds Book Club
DESCRIPTION:Join us for the LitMinds Book Club at Gemini Ink. We’re reading  Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.\nRegister\nAn instant New York Times Bestseller! \nLonglisted for the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction\, the Carnegie Medal in Fiction\, the 2019 Aspen Words Literacy Prize\, and the PEN/Hemingway Debut Novel Award \nShortlisted for the 2019 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize \n“A lyrical work of self-discovery that’s shockingly intimate and insistently universal…Not so much briefly gorgeous as permanently stunning.” —Ron Charles\, The Washington Post \nPoet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family\, a first love\, and the redemptive power of storytelling \nOn Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker\, Little Dog\, is in his late twenties\, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known\, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son\, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race\, class\, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment\, immersed as we are in addiction\, violence\, and trauma\, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness\, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard. \nWith stunning urgency and grace\, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds\, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive\, and how to make of it a kind of joy\, powers the most important debut novel of many years. \n\nOcean Vuong is the author of the debut novel\, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous\, out from Penguin Press (2019) and forthcoming in 12 other languages worldwide. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection\, Night Sky with Exit Wounds\, a New York Times Top 10 Book of 2016\, winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize\, the Whiting Award\, the Thom Gunn Award\, and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. A Ruth Lilly fellow from the Poetry Foundation\, his honors include fellowships from the Lannan Foundation\, the Civitella Ranieri Foundation\, The Elizabeth George Foundation\, The Academy of American Poets\, and the Pushcart Prize.
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/lit-minds-book-club/
LOCATION:Gemini Ink\, 1111 Navarro St\, San Antonio\, TX\, 78205\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/91cYzQxaDL._UF10001000_QL80_-e1732566475518.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250508T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250508T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20250422T125421Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250501T193846Z
UID:12361-1746729000-1746734400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Gemini Ink Author Reading & Open Mic Featuring Jonathan Fletcher
DESCRIPTION:Come celebrate Jonathan Fletcher and his new chapbook\, This Is My Body: Poems\, winner of the Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize. He will be joined by poets Alex Z. Salinas and Jen Yáñez-Alaniz. \nFollowing 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 will be in person starting at 6:00pm\, so be sure to arrive on time! \nFood trucks are available on site. All ages are welcome. Under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. \n\nJonathan Fletcher holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Columbia University School of the Arts.  His work has been featured in numerous literary journals and magazines\, and he has won or placed in various literary contests. A Pushcart Prize\, Best of the Net\, and Best Microfiction nominee\, he won Northwestern University Press’s Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize contest in 2023\, for which his debut chapbook\, This is My Body\, was published in 2025.  Currently\, he serves as a Zoeglossia Fellow. \n  \n  \n \nAlex Z. Salinas is the author of four volumes of poetry\, most recently Hispanic Sonnets and Trash Poems. His book of stories\, City Lights From the Upside Down\, was included in the National Book Critics Circle’s Critical Notes. He lives in San Antonio\, Texas. His debut novel\, The Dream Life of Larry Rios\, is forthcoming in 2025 through FlowerSong Press. \n  \n  \n \nJen Yáñez-Alaniz is a Chicana Cúelcahén Ndé scholar\, poet\, and community organizer whose work centers on cultural preservation\, land-based ceremony\, and decolonial epistemologies. Her poetry can be found in There is So Much I Want to Tell You (Mouthfeel Press) and Somos Xicanas (Riot of Roses Publishing House)\, as well as in various anthologies and journals. She is the author of Surrogate Eater (Alabrava Press) and the forthcoming chapter\, “Catalyzing academic writing through notions of sensuality\, surrogacy\, and consumption as examined in the poetry of Surrogate Eater and selected translingual poems\,” in Decolonizing Academic Writing through Translingualism: Walking the Talk (Routledge Publishing). Jen also authored a critical biography of Carmen Tafolla in Chicana Portraits (University of Arizona Press). Her current manuscript\, Pain Theory: Sweetness Ferments into a Beast\, reflects poetically and critically on healing\, endurance\, and living beyond multiple autoimmune conditions.
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/author-reading-featuring-jonathan-fletcher/
LOCATION:artistan craft bar\, 402 Austin St.\, San Antonio\, TX\, 78215\, United States
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/jonathan-fletcher-e1746043532328.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250506T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250506T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241125T174539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250221T192113Z
UID:11125-1746556200-1746563400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Writing an Identity Not Your Own with Alex Temblador
DESCRIPTION:Tuesday(s)\, May 6 & 13\, 2025\, 6:30-8:30pm CST\, via Zoom \nNonmember $135        Member    $115                  Student $80 \n*EARN CPE’S\nTWO SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE\n \n  \n\nDo you want to craft diverse and dynamic characters with respect and care for their unique identities? What honest questions must you ask yourself when creating characters different from you? Let’s explore character creation in a thoughtful way! \n \nIn this two-session workshop\, Mixed Latine award-winning author Alex Temblador of Writing An Identity Not Your Own will discuss one of the most contentious topics in creative writing: crafting a character whose identity is not your own. We will examine bias and how it might influence the text through stereotypes\, harmful storyline tropes\, character descriptions\, dialogue\, and more.  \nThe class will also cover the history and state of diversity and representation in publishing. Then\, we will discuss how a writer might approach writing main\, secondary\, and tertiary characters who have historically marginalized identities\, including race and ethnicity\, sexual and romantic orientation\, gender identity\, disability\, nationality\, etc.  \nThis course is open to writers of all genres\, backgrounds\, and skill levels\, 18+. \nStudents will leave this workshop with:  \n\nAwareness of how a writer’s own bias can appear in their creative writing  \nA list of considerations before you write\, as you write\, and in the editing process of character development\nAn introduction to using an intersectional identity approach to crafting characters\n\n\nAlex Temblador is the Mixed Latine award-winning author of Writing An Identity Not Your Own\, Half Outlaw\, and Secrets of the Casa Rosada. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma and is a contributor to Living Beyond Borders: Growing Up Mexican in America and Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology. Her work has also appeared in PALABRITAS\, D Magazine\, and Colorado Review. Alex has taught creative writing seminars\, workshops\, and classes with the Women’s Fiction Writers Association\, WritingWorkshops.com\, the Writer’s League of Texas\, and more\, as well as spoken about diversity in the literary world with Macmillan Publishers\, Texas Library Association\, Abydos Learning Conference\, and at many other festivals\, conferences\, and universities. Alex lives in Dallas\, Texas\, where she runs a literary panel series called LitTalk and is the Executive Director of Write Here DFW.  \nSocial media links: IG and Twitter and Threads: @Alex_Temblador\, https://www.facebook.com/alextemblador
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/writing-an-identity-not-your-own/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Online Workshop,Workshop
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250501T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250501T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241206T205539Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241206T205629Z
UID:11320-1746124200-1746131400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:(RESCHEDULED) Everything but the Kitchen Sink: Writing Hybrid Essays with ire’ne lara silva
DESCRIPTION:This workshop has been rescheduled to April 1\, 2025 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm CST\, in-person at Gemini Ink \n\n\n(Rescheduled from May 1\, 8 & 15) \nView the class here: https://geminiink.org/events/writing-hybrid-essays/
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/rescheduled-everything-but-the-kitchen-sink/
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250428T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250428T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20191105T141203Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250401T180637Z
UID:11135-1745865000-1745872200@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Open Writer's Labs
DESCRIPTION: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.\n \n  \n\n\nOnline Via Zoom\nFor the online workshop\, sign up the day before the class to ensure you receive the Zoom link. \nThis 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. \n\nIn-Person at Gemini Ink\n \nJoin our in-person Open Writer’s Lab with Robert Allen at Gemini Ink’s office\, 1111 Navarro St.\, San Antonio\, TX 78205. \nRobert 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. \nParking at Gemini Ink\nGemini 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.
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/open-writers-lab-2-2020-08-31-2020-09-28-2021-06-28-2022-05-30-2022-06-27-2022-07-25-2023-03-27-2023-12-25-2025-04-28/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Workshop
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250426T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250426T133000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241125T170232Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260105T192231Z
UID:11198-1745668800-1745674200@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Teen Writing Circle with Daniel Ramirez
DESCRIPTION:Register\nLast Saturday of Every Month 12-1:30pm cst via Zoom \nFor ages 13-19 years old \nAre 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!  \nIn 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! \nThis course is open to teen writers of any skill level. \nParticipants will leave the writing circle with:  \n\nNew\, unique written work\nListening and sharing experience\nConstructive feedback to help improve their writing\n\nWant to learn more about our Teen Writing Circle? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions!\n \n\nDaniel 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. \n \n  \n 
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/teen-writing-circle-2025-03-29-2025-04-26/2025-04-26/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Online Workshop,Workshop,Youth
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/TWC-website-header.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250422T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250422T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241125T154614Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250421T204717Z
UID:11095-1745346600-1745353800@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Cultivate Creative Resilience and Write Unforgettable Works with Jen Knox
DESCRIPTION:Tuesday(s)\, April 22 & 29\, 2025 from 6:30-8:30pm\, CST via Zoom. \nNonmember $145        Member  $125        Student $85 \n*EARN CPEs\n \n  \n\n  \nCreative resilience means facing setbacks and moving forward in your artistry anyway. It means harnessing the energy tocreate what you feel called to produce. It means owning your journey completely as you share your art. But how do you manage the ups and downs of the writing life\, tell your truths without injuring yourself\, and keep your creative engine burning through it all? \nIn this two-part workshop\, we will explore the many versions of creative block\, from writer’s block to rejection letters\, from tough critiques to typos to self-doubt. We will then combine writing and resiliency techniques to support an enduring creative practice while generating bold new work that only you can write.  \nThis course is open to writers of all genres\, backgrounds\, and skill levels\, 18+. \nWhat you can expect in this workshop:  \n\nA nurturing and fun space to explore your stories and poetry\nCreative resilience techniques for writing through and about difficult times\nPractice using these tools to generate authentic raw material\nFeedback and an opportunity to share\n\n\n\nJen Knox is an award-winning author and lecturer at Ohio State University. Her fiction can be found in The Best Small Fictions\, The Adirondack Review\, Chicago Tribune\, Istanbul Review\, Literary Orphans\, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency\, Room Magazine\, The Santa Fe Writers Project Quarterly\, and The Saturday Evening Post\, among over a hundred other publications. Jen’s books include We Arrive Uninvited (Steel Toe Books Award Winner in Prose) and The Glass City (Press Americana Prose Winner). She recently received grants from the Ohio Arts Council and the Greater Columbus Arts Council to work on a collection of essays about work\, and her newest novel Chaos Magic\, will be released by Kallisto Gaia Press in February 2025. www.jenknox.net \nLinks:\nInstagram\nSubstack\nFacebook\n \n 
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/creative-resilience/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Online Workshop,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Screenshot-2025-04-01-at-2.04.42 PM.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250407T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250407T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241125T173426Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250407T154150Z
UID:11118-1744050600-1744057800@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:The Poetics of You: An Intro to Poetry Workshop with Melissa Studdard
DESCRIPTION:Monday(s)\, April 7\, 14\, 21 & 28\, 2025\, 6:30-8:30pm CST\, via Zoom \nNonmember $155        Member    $130                  Student $ 90     \n*EARN CPEs\n \n  \n\nPoetry has a way of shifting the way we view the world and ourselves\, of transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary\, of infusing the mundane with meaning. Ready to see life through a poetry lens?  \nIn this four-session workshop\, we’ll explore and review basic poetic concepts while working with prompts designed to unlock your own unique poetic gifts and subject matter. The Poetics of You will be a generative\, supportive\, and encouraging space to learn\, experiment\, and explore. In the weekly virtual meetings\, we will study basic techniques\, read sample poems\, compose drafts\, and share writings. \nThis course is open to writers of all genres\, backgrounds\, and skill levels\, 18+. \nStudents will leave this class with:  \n\nNew drafts of poems\nUnderstanding of basic poetic concepts\nA sense of your own subject matter and unique abilities\n\n\nMelissa Studdard writes poetry\, fiction\, song cycles\, and libretti. Her most recent book is the poetry collection Dear Selection Committee (Jackleg Press). Her work has been featured by PBS\, NPR\, The New York Times\, The Guardian\, Ms. Magazine\, the Best American Poetry blog\, and the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series and has appeared in periodicals such as POETRY\, Kenyon Review\, and New England Review. Her Awards include the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America\, The Penn Review Poetry Prize\, the Tom Howard Prize\, the REELpoetry International Film Festival Audience Choice Award\, and more. As a librettist/lyricist\, she has had works commissioned by Aspen Music Festival\, Wolf Trap\, Yale Institute of Sacred Music\, and the University of Michigan School of Music. With Kelli Russell Agodon\, she co-hosts the YouTube poetry series Poems You Need. You can find her at www.melissastuddard.com and www.youtube.com/@PoemsYouNeed \nSocial media links: @melissastuddard \nLearn about Cancellation & Refund Policies 
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/the-poetics-of-you/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Online Workshop,Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/1-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250401T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250401T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241125T174011Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250331T201257Z
UID:11121-1743532200-1743539400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Everything but the Kitchen Sink: A Workshop on Writing Hybrid Essays with ire’ne lara silva
DESCRIPTION:Tuesday(s)\, April 1\, 8 & 15\, 2025\, 6:30-8:30pm CST\, in-person at Gemini Ink \n(Rescheduled from May 1\, 8 & 15) \nNonmember $150        Member    $ 125                Student $90 \n*EARN CPEs\n \n  \n\n\nAre you a fan of essay writing who is bored to tears with the standard five-paragraph essays taught in school? Want to learn a new approach to essay writing that is fresh and fun? A hybrid essay crosses the boundaries of genre and can include elements of visual art\, photography\, found items and is pulled together by your voice. \nIn this three-week workshop\, we will liberate our minds and recover from the trauma of the “school-essay” mentality by creating hybrid essays that engage the reader\, reflect our realities\, and push the limits of what an essay can be. Bring any projects or ideas you’re working on–memoirs\, family histories\, love letters\, journals\, or thoughts you want to share about life\, art\, history\, spirit\, geography\, the world!  \nThis course is open to writers of all genres\, backgrounds\, and skill levels\, 18+. \nStudents will leave this workshop with:  \n\nA fresh approach to gathering source material for essays\nA first draft of one or more hybrid essays\n\n\nire’ne lara silva\, 2023 Texas State Poet Laureate\, is the author of five poetry collections\, furia\, Blood Sugar Canto\, CUICACALLI/House of Song\, FirstPoems\, and the eaters of flowers; two chapbooks\, Enduring Azucares and Hibiscus Tacos; a comic book\, VENDAVAL; and a short story collection\, flesh to bone\, which won the Premio Aztlán. ire’ne is the recipient of a 2021 Tasajillo Writers Grant\, a 2017 NALAC Fund for the Arts Grant\, the final Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Award\, and the Fiction Finalist for AROHO’s 2013 Gift of Freedom Award. Most recently\, ire’ne was awarded the 2021 Texas Institute of Letters Shrake Award for Best Short Nonfiction. Her second short story collection\, the light of your body\, will be published by Arte Publico Press in Spring 2025. http://www.irenelarasilva.wordpress.com \nSocial media links: Facebook: www.facebook.com/irenelarasilva\, Instagram: @silvairenelara
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/writing-hybrid-essays/
LOCATION:Gemini Ink\, 1111 Navarro St\, San Antonio\, TX\, 78205\, United States
CATEGORIES:Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Homepage-footer2.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250331T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250331T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20191105T141203Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250212T145425Z
UID:11134-1743445800-1743453000@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Open Writer's Labs
DESCRIPTION: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.\n \n  \n\n\nOnline Via Zoom\nFor the online workshop\, sign up the day before the class to ensure you receive the Zoom link. \nThis 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. \n\nIn-Person at Gemini Ink\n \nJoin our in-person Open Writer’s Lab with Robert Allen at Gemini Ink’s office\, 1111 Navarro St.\, San Antonio\, TX 78205. \nRobert 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. \nParking at Gemini Ink\nGemini 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.
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/open-writers-lab-2-2020-08-31-2020-09-28-2021-06-28-2022-05-30-2022-06-27-2022-07-25-2023-03-27-2023-12-25/2025-03-31/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Open-Writers-Labs-1250-x-600-px-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250329T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250329T130000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241125T170232Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250227T175337Z
UID:11197-1743247800-1743253200@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Teen Writing Circle with Daniel Ramirez
DESCRIPTION:Register\nLast Saturday of Every Month 11:30am-1pm cst via Zoom \nFor ages 13-19 years old \nAre 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!  \nIn 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! \nThis course is open to teen writers of any skill level. \nParticipants will leave the writing circle with:  \n\nNew\, unique written work\nListening and sharing experience\nConstructive feedback to help improve their writing\n\nWant to learn more about our Teen Writing Circle? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions!\n \n\nDaniel 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. \n \n  \n 
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/teen-writing-circle-2025-03-29/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Online Workshop,Workshop,Youth
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Teen-Writing-Circle-March-2025-e1740678808264.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250319T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250319T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20250227T220317Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250312T150149Z
UID:11957-1742410800-1742414400@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:The Big Texas Author Talk featuring Melissa Studdard
DESCRIPTION:Join us on Wednesday\, March 19th\, 2025 via Zoom for a conversation with Melissa Studdard\, to discuss her new book\, Dear Selection Committee (Jackleg Press). Moderated by Elena Karina Byrne.\n\n\n\n\n(Virtual Readings Monthly @ 7pm CST) \n\n\nRSVP\nSign up for Melissa Studdard’s class\, The Poetics of You: An Intro to Poetry Workshop on Monday\, April 7th! \n“I buried // everything they told me to bury. Then\, I dug it up again\,” Melissa Studdard writes in Dear Selection Committee\, an apt description of the work these poems do to unearth the incorrigible self and bury conventionality and its offspring\, shame. The speaker revels in her largesse\, claiming\, in one poem’s title\, she’s “Huge Like King Kong\, Like Godzilla\, Like Gulliver\,” and that the “world is my diorama of a world\,” and in another\, that her honeymoon pictures are “the cover / of the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass.” All of this immensity\, this grand unburying\, is squeezed into the prosaic corseting structure of a job application\, intensifying the split between tame and wild. Even her own birth is enacted with kinetic magnificence: “I broke the kingdom inside her\, broke the gala / of horses straining to get out. I broke the dancehall // mirrors and even the gilded faucet handles. / I was a river that strong. Made for flooding.” Indeed\, these poems are so desirous and animated that they spilled over the edges of the page and into my thirsty soul. “-Diane Seuss \n“The poems in Dear Selection Committee say what I’ve always wanted to say in a job application (and what I’m thinking as I perform the role of Normal Job Person) but never had the guts. Melissa Studdard’s burn-it-down-radical honesty is elating af—exactly what I needed to read—but the poetic attentiveness\, from the first page to the last\, was the real thrill. At the heart of the cyclone\, a dependable\, deepening pulse of self preservation.” -Jennifer L. Knox \n“In the universe of Melissa Studdard’s poems\, both the speaker and the audience will always have their cake and eat it too. After all\, “Life’s never dull when your name’s Melissa\,” and oh my goddess\, does Dear Selection Committee serve hard as a brilliant 21st-century take and critique of the epistolary\, filled with infinite heart and infinite humor and infinite neon signs that point towards the larger-than-life nature of poetry. This is excess. This is extravagance. This is the definition of sensuality. Studdard has the tremendous gift of finding the center of every poem\, giving us the whole damn thing.” -Dorothy Chan \nFramed as a job application and bounding with associative leaps and surrealist underpinnings\, Dear Selection Committee is a subversive\, sexy love song to an endlessly messy self and the burning world it inhabits. Full of apostrophic power\, these poems shift among registers of loss\, desire\, and joy as they wrestle with issues such as climate change\, addiction\, modern distractions\, gender presentation\, religious questioning\, and the nature of pain. Dear Selection Committee attests that although life can feel like a bumpy cab ride to an interview for a job you feel uniquely unqualified for\, if you lay aside the anxieties of self just long enough to peer out the window\, you’ll see great beauty amidst the chaos. \n\nMelissa Studdard is the author of five books\, including the poetry collection I ATE THE COSMOS FOR BREAKFAST. Her work has been published or featured by places such as NPR\, PBS\, The New York Times\, The Guardian\, POETRY\, Kenyon Review\, Psychology Today\, and New England Review. Her awards include The Poetry Society of America’s Lucille Medwick Memorial Award\, The Penn Review Poetry Prize\, the REEL Poetry Festival Audience Choice Award\, the Tom Howard Prize\, and more. \n\nModerator\nA Pushcart Prize and Best American Poetry recipient\, Elena Karina Byrne served as a final judge for PEN’s “Best of the West” award\, for the 2016-2018 Kate and Kingsley Tufts Poetry Awards\, and for the international Laurel Prize in environmental poetry. Her five poetry collections include If This Makes You Nervous (Omnidawn\, 2021). Poems\, reviews\, essays\, and interviews can be found in POETRY\, The Kenyon Review\, The Paris Review\, APR\, Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day\, Poetry Daily\, Verse Daily\, LA Review of Books\, Plume anthologies\, Reel Verse: Poems About the Movies\, BOMB\, and elsewhere. Former 12-year Regional Director of the Poetry Society of America\, Elena now works as a freelance editor\, lecturer\, reviewer\, and Programming Consultant & Poetry Stage Manager for The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/the-big-texas-author-talk-featuring-melissa-studdard/
LOCATION:Online via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2025-TBTAT-2-e1740781793601.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250312T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250312T200000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20241125T200842Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250227T133637Z
UID:11191-1741804200-1741809600@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:LitMinds Book Club
DESCRIPTION:Join us for the LitMinds Book Club at Gemini Ink. We’re reading The Family Izquierdo\, by Rubén Degollado.\nRegister\nA Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of 2022\nLonglisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award \nA masterful debut that weaves together the lives of three generations of a Mexican American family bound by love\, and a curse. \nThe tight-knit Izquierdo family is grappling with misfortunes none of them can explain. Their beloved patriarch has suffered from an emotional collapse and is dying; eldest son Gonzalo’s marriage is falling apart; daughter Dina\, beleaguered by the fear that her nightmares are real\, is a shut-in. When Gonzalo digs up a strange object in the backyard of the family home\, the Izquierdos take it as proof that a jealous neighbor has cursed them―could this be the reason for all their troubles? As the Izquierdos face a distressing present and an uncertain future\, they are sustained by the blood that binds them\, a divine presence\, and an abiding love for one another. Told in a series of soulful voices brimming with warmth and humor\, The Family Izquierdo is a tender narrative of a family at a turning point. \n\nRubén Degollado’s work has appeared in Beloit Fiction Journal\, Gulf Coast\, Hayden’s Ferry Review\, Image\, and the anthologies: Bearing the Mystery\, Nepantla Familias\, and Living Beyond Borders: Growing Up Mexican in America. His debut novel Throw won the Texas Institute of Letters Best YA Book for 2020 along with several accolades and his second book\, The Family Izquierdo\, a literary novel\, is a New York Times Editor’s Choice and a PEN/Faulkner Award longlisted book.
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/litminds-book-club/
LOCATION:Gemini Ink\, 1111 Navarro St\, San Antonio\, TX\, 78205\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Degollado-Izquierdo-e1736806523358.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250306T183000
DTEND;TZID=America/Mexico_City:20250306T203000
DTSTAMP:20260405T143619
CREATED:20250220T181525Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250306T211633Z
UID:11906-1741285800-1741293000@geminiink.org
SUMMARY:Floricantos y Tumbaos: A Panel on Latinx Music in Poetry
DESCRIPTION:Join us as we explore the fusion of Latinx music and poetry at this Library of America event. This panel will feature Latinx poets discussing how Latin American musical traditions have inspired\, shaped\, and informed their creative work. \nOur featured authors include flutist Excy Guardado (Ceiba ili)\, renowned poet Urayoán Noel\, and hip-hop artist Marco Cervantes (Mex Step) all of whom will engage in a rich discussion with moderator Amalia Ortiz. Experience the talents of these artists who will share intimate renditions of their work. \nLight refreshments will be served. \nParking\nParking is located directly south of Central Library in a multilevel parking garage. It’s free for the first 3 hours.  \n\nPanelists\nMarco Cervantes\, Mexstep\, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Race\, Ethnicity\, Gender\, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio where he researches Black and Brown solidarity and cultural overlap. He also performs as a solo hip-hop artist and is a member of the group Third Root. \nExcy Guardado is a cultural educator and Musician from Honduras\, dedicated to connecting migrant communities\, supporting Indigenous rights\, and advocating for environmental justice. On stage\, she is known as Ceiba ili\, after the statuesque tree\, la Ceiba\, the Mayan tree of life. She lives with her niece\, Excy Veronica. They share a love for music\, dancing\, and best of all\, reading.  \nUrayoán Noel is the author of eight books of poetry\, most recently Transversal (Arizona\, 2021)\, named a Book of the Year by the New York Public Library and longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award. Noel’s other publications include the critical study In Visible Movement: Nuyorican Poetry from the Sixties to Slam (Iowa\, 2014)\, winner of the LASA Latino Studies Book Award\, and\, as translator\, No Budu Please by Wingston González (Ugly Duckling\, 2018)\, adjacent islands by Nicole Cecilia Delgado (Ugly Duckling/DoubleCross/La Impresora\, 2022)\,  and Architecture of Dispersed Life: Selected Poetry by Pablo de Rokha (Shearsman\, 2018)\, a finalist for the National Translation Award. A Letras Boricuas fellow in poetry\, Noel has been a fellow and faculty at CantoMundo and the Macondo Writers Workshop and is an editorial advisor for Latino Poetry (Library of America) and a board member of the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center. Originally from Río Piedras\, Puerto Rico\, Noel lives in the Bronx and serves as Director of Graduate Studies for NYU’s MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish and as editor-in-chief of Intervenxions (The Latinx Project). \nModerator\nAmalia Ortiz is a Tejana spoken word performer\, playwright\, and author of 2 award-winning books of poetry. She was awarded the 2020 American Book Award for Oral Literature\, and appeared on three seasons of Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry on HBO and the NAACP Image Awards on FOX. She was awarded a City of San Antonio Individual Artist Grant  and most recently\, her band\, Las Hijas de la Madre\, were awarded a Democratizing Racial Justice Artist Residency from the Mellon Foundation to complete their new project Diatribas Punk. Amalia received her MFA in Creative Writing from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. \n 
URL:https://geminiink.org/events/floricantos-y-tumbaos/
LOCATION:San Antonio Public Library\, 600 Soledad\, San Antonio\, Texas\, 78205
CATEGORIES:Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://geminiink.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Floricantos-y-Tumbaos-e1740663023952.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Mandy Lynn Lara":MAILTO:mllara@geminiink.org
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR