Workshops June-Sept
All workshops (Live and Zoom) are free and open.
Registration is Required.
Saturday, June 10
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Buffalo Street Books, 215 N. Cayuga Street (DeWitt Mall), entrance on Buffalo Street, (wheelchair accessible - no steps)
LIVE EVENT - REGISTER HERE Note: Each person attending must register. Please Note: You won't receive (and don't need) a ticket to attend. We need the registration for a headcount AND your email in case there is a cancellation.
Disability: It's Not Just a Buzz Word
with Daley Downing. Whether it's physical or intellectual, genetic or the result of an unexpected life occurrence, adults and children everywhere are disabled, just trying to live their lives, and in many cases, share their stories. Mainstream media has often presented inaccurate and possibly hurtful portrayals of disabilities, leading to further marginalizing certain groups and perpetuating stereotypes among the general population. In this workshop, disabled author Jaclyn Smith (Daley Downing) will address some of the tropes in this niche genre, how to identify them as a reader, and hopefully not only avoid them but subvert them as a writer. This session will include time to examine a few writing prompts on different types of disabilities, and Q &A. daleydowning.wordpress.com
Wed, June 28
6:00 - 7:30pm
ON ZOOM - REGISTER HERE
Beyond Pink and Blue
with Cai Quirk. We grow up with many narratives fed to us about how the world is ‘supposed’ to be, but so often these tales are limited or false versions of deeper truths. Oppression has narrowed gender to a binary, but together in this interactive writing workshop we will discuss and write poems that invite healing and freedom. This workshop will be based on Cai’s poetry series Beyond Pink and Blue, using metaphors of color to explore gender and other identities. Through small and large group discussions and writing prompts, together we will create visions of a world beyond binaries. CaiQuirk.com
Wed, July 19
6:00pm - 7:15pm
Location TBA (probably a downtown Ithaca bookstore that is wheelchair accessible)
LIVE EVENT - REGISTER HERE
Each person attending must register. Please Note: You won't receive (and don't need a ticket) to attend. We need the registration for a headcount AND your email in case there is a cancellation.
Practice Makes Perfect: Nurturing Your Writing Habit
with Elisabeth Nonas. A workshop on the art/craft/joy/special hell that is getting your ideas onto the page. After an exploration of process, techniques, rituals, routines, and discipline, participants will have the opportunity to define their writing practice and leave with tools to keep it going. ElisabethNonas.com
Thurs, August 3
6:00 - 7:30pm
ON ZOOM - REGISTER HERE
Make Your Writing Sing: A Writer’s Practice for Reading Aloud
Story House Ithaca Presents: Writers are often called upon to read their work in public. Yet for many, reading aloud can be a nerve-racking experience. Join poet and performer Jaime Warburton and multi-instrumentalist Em Ludek to learn how to prepare yourself and your writing for performance, using a method of musical notation that brings your writing to life with sonic and rhythmic awareness that catches your audience's ear and heart. For novice and experienced writers/storytellers in all genres. No music reading necessary. Bring an excerpt of your own writing (<100 words). StoryHouseIthaca.org
Thursday, August 17
6:00pm - 7:15pm
ON ZOOM - REGISTER HERE
Infusing Writing Practice with Intention
How do you want to show up for yourself and your creative writing? In this workshop Brenna Fitzgerald guides participants through written reflection and mindfulness exercises to discover and create intentions to support their writing practice. You will discuss the value of process over product, as well as committing to intentions and practices for keeping them alive with regular review and revision. Participants will come away with a concrete set of creative writing actions to embody their deepest intentions and writing goals to inspire the creator within. This workshop will help writers ground in why they write and how to value their creative process. Participants will reconnect with how writing practice serves the writer in important ways that often lead to a sense of deep fulfillment, meaning, and purpose in life. BrennaCoaching.com
Sunday, September 10
2:00 - 3:15pm
Buffalo Street Books, 215 N. Cayuga Street (DeWitt Mall), entrance on Buffalo Street, wheelchair accessible; no steps
LIVE EVENT - REGISTER HERE Note: Each person attending must register. Please Note: You won't receive (and don't need) a ticket to attend. We need the registration for a headcount AND your email in case there is a cancellation.
A Question of Wildness
with nicole v. basta. Many writers and creatives struggle most with where to begin. Our tendency to over intellectualize the world around us can stop us in our tracks. In this workshop, writers will learn skills, techniques, and fun ways to approach the blank page. This process is easily teachable and both rooted in learning how to ask ourselves strange questions (and answer them strangely) and permitting our minds to wander the wildness where creativity lives. This workshop is part learning and it is also part unlearning the ways in which modern linear thinking can prevent our internal innovative selves from finding the pen. Prompts will be shared but also, a skillset will be learned that enables the participant to easily create their own prompts through whatever they read and encounter in the wilds. nicolevbasta.com
Wed, September 13
6:00pm - 7:00pm
ON ZOOM - REGISTER HERE
Developing the New Musical: Story, Script, & Stage
Walking on Water Productions will host a virtual forum with writers Jenny Stafford and Scotty Arnold, creators of the new musical Extended Stay--the audience favorite from Walking on Water Productions' recent festival of new musical staged readings (WoW's NoW). Jenny and Scotty will share about the various stages of development of this musical and other pieces they have written over the years, focussing on the development of story and character, as well as the collaboration with creative team members and actors in the rehearsal room that have influenced script and lyric revisions. The team is gearing up to collaborate with WoW again in 2024 for Extended Stay's first fully staged production. The writers will also provide examples from some of their other works during the forum, which have been produced at various theatres and festivals in New York State as well as other regions, both nationally and internationally. walkingonwaterproductions.org/