WORKSHOPS
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GENERATIVE SEMINARS
Michelle offers a limited selection of small group workshops and individual editing sessions during the months of July-October.
If you are interested in participating in a course or having Michelle facilitate a more personalized writing workshop for your organization or group event, please reach out for pricing and details.
GENERATIVE SEMINARS
POETIC GEORGRAPHY
In this generative seminar we consider how geography influences the development of a poem. Each week participants will be asked to read and discuss an essay or set of poems exploring a particular geographic location. Then, using generative exercises designed to help develop an awareness of space, place, and presence, participants will produce a short portfolio of work focused on a location of their choosing.
Genre(s): Poetry
THE COLOR OF WORDS
In this generative seminar we look color theory, and the use and interpretation of colors in short-form literary texts across time. We will read scholarly work on forms of synesthesia, as well as work from poets and essayists explicitly addressing and utilizing color to successfully convey meaning. Finally, each participant will produce a short piece or portfolio detailing their relationship to the themes explored each week.
Genre(s): All
A Study in black optimism
In this discussion-based seminar we consider the future of Blackness. Looking at scholarly and creative texts, both realistic and speculative, we spend each week on a focused discussion around a concern facing Black writers, scholars, and artists followed by a guided, meditative, generative writing activity. Although we will aim to produce a portfolio of work, the primary objective of this workshop is to open a space for community and constructive conversation.
Genre(s): All
The Craft of spiritual communication
In this discussion-based seminar we will look at spiritual texts with an eye toward how one might convey the inconceivable. This course, while focused on Eastern and Western spiritual texts, will also consider texts related to quantum physics, psychotropics, and studies in consciousness. Although we will aim to produce a portfolio of work, the primary objective of this workshop is to open a space for community and constructive conversation related to the relationship between spiritual practice and artistic creation. Genre(s): All
Undoing Logic
In this portfolio-based workshop we undo, disrupt, and explode in-progress drafts in order to cultivate and create new and exciting forms.
Genre(s): Poetry
Writing Through Trauma
In this portfolio-based workshop we consider how to write about and through trauma in an authentic manner, while attending to the craft elements necessary in effectively conveying narrative to a contemporary audience.
Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction
Attempting avant garde
In this generative workshop, using written models and readings in the field of Art Theory, we attempt entirely new and experimental modes of production. Further, during latter portions of the workshop we will discuss and try our hand at using AI to ethically enhance, supplement, and inspire our original work.
Genre(s): All
Pop Culture & The Personal
In this generative workshop we look at how our own histories intertwine, converse, and respond to the music, media, art, and culture of our adolescence and childhoods. How might one convey something like the fear surrounding the Washington D.C. area during the anthrax and snipers cares of the early 2000’s? Each week we will engage with texts by contemporary poets and essayists order to discuss the influence of popular culture on history as it is currently unfolding. In addition, we will complete guided exercises, and finally, look at each other’s drafts in order to provide useful and constructive feedback.
Genre(s): Poetry, Nonfiction