30 Days | 30 Poems

6 Saturdays | March 28 - May 2 | 11am-1pm Eastern

Class Dates: March 21, March 28, April 4, April 11. April 18, April 25

Celebratory Reading: May 2

Online, Zoom

Sliding Scale: 450 | 500 | 550

*Early Birds: Register by March 6 for a free writing coaching session ($150 value) to redeem after the course ends.

*If the sliding scale is not financially accessible to you, please reach out about partial scholarships.

April is National Poetry Month—and it is National Poetry Writing Month! Inspired by National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), NaPoWriMo encourages poets to write 30 poems over 30 days.

The intention of this class is to help writers—whether they are just beginning a chapbook or rounding out a full-length manuscript—prepare for this generative challenge (and keep at it!) through resource mapping, community building, daily support, and gentle accountability.

Sessions will largely focus on writing time, troubleshooting obstacles through guided journaling and small group discussion, as well as celebrating wins.

Between sessions, Yasmine will offer writers a daily poem from a contemporary literary magazine and an optional prompt. Literary magazines may include Seventh Wave, The Margins, and Mizna, among many others that writers may wish to submit their work to after the challenge ends.

Writers will also have the opportunity to upload their daily drafts to a Google folder to share with their peers and, while critique is not a formal component of this workshop, writers are encouraged to forge connections with other participants who may be eager to form a critique circle. Participants will also receive up to 3 discounted writing coaching sessions post-course.

Toward the end of the course, we will consider next steps for our writing, including publication, and have the opportunity to read our new work at a celebratory online reading to which particiapnts may invite their communities.

Writers will leave this course with several drafts, a strong daily writing practice and self-insight into their own process, publication resources, practice reading their work in front of an audience, and a sense of what to do next.

Artist Residencies 101

Friday, April 10 | 1-3pm Eastern

FREE, registration limited to New England artists

Online, Zoom

Assets for Artists

Curious about artist residencies? In this workshop, we will go over different art residency models and what they have to offer, from artist communities to DIY and micro-residencies. We will discuss how to assess whether you are in the right season of your life and practice to apply, what residency model makes the most sense for you, and navigating residencies as a full-time worker or caregiver. Participants will leave with resources on where to find open calls, funding opportunities, and application dos and don’ts. This workshop will be discussion based and artists should come ready to journal. There will be time for Q&A.

Yasmine Ameli (she/her) is an Iranian American poet and essayist whose writing has appeared in POETRY, Ploughshares, The Sun, the Southern Review, and elsewhere. A fellow A4A grantee, she coaches creative writers on the business of thriving as an artist.

Suitable for artists of all disciplines. 25 participants max.

Past Readings & Events

“Creating and Sustaining a Satisfying Writing Life.” WriteAngles Conference. Northampton, MA (2024).

Literary Reading & Open Mic for Palestine/UNRWA. Bookends, Florence, MA (2024).

Conversation with Ani Gjika. Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, MA (2024).

“Women, Life, Freedom: Iranian Writers Reading & in Conversation.” RAWIFest+Mizna 2023. Minneapolis, MN (2023).

RAWIFest+Mizna 2023 Reading. Minneapolis (2023).

The Elemental Salon. Florence, MA (2023).

The Thirsty Lab Reading. Zoom (2023).

2022 Edith Wharton / Straw Dog Writers-in-Residence Celebration. Lenox, MA (2022). 

AGNI Launch of Issue 95. Goethe-Institut Boston. Boston, MA (2022).

QTWOC + QPOC Winnipeg. Zoom (2022).

Radius of Arab American Writers Festival (RAWIFest). Zoom (2021).

Poetry Reading with Fatemeh Shams. Blacksburg, VA (2019).

Contemporary Iranian-American Creative Nonfiction. University of Maryland Summer Language Institute Graduate Education Panel (2018).

Past Workshops

Creative Writing Workshops: Introduction to Creative Writing (12-week class), Introduction to Creative Nonfiction (12-week class), Jumpstart Your Writing: Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction (6-week class), Introduction to Poetry (6-week class), Space & Time for BIPOC Writers (12-week class), Poet Tea: Making & Writing about Tea (3-hour class), Eat the Apple: Writing Sensual Experiences (3-hour class), Beloved: How to Write a Love Letter (3-hour class), Who Let the Dogs Out: Writing About Pets (1-hour class)

Arts Business Workshops: Submitting to Literary Markets & Magazines (3-hour class), Artist Residencies 101 (2-hour class), Fund Your Writing: Fellowships, Residencies, and Grants (3-hour class); MFA Application Crash Course (3-hour class), Writing the MFA Application (4-week course) Cultivating Sustainable Writing Practices (3-hour class); Finding Your Literary Community (3-hour class)

Teaching Artist Professional Development: Teaching Artist Summer Camp: Cultivating a Teaching Philosophy (6-week class)