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 1 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.

Beloved: How to Write a Love Letter

Sunday | February 1, 2026 | 2pm - 5pm Eastern

Online, Zoom

Sliding Scale: 100 | 125 | 150

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

Learn how to write a love letter in a warm, nurturing environment that honors both platonic and romantic love and centers BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ writers.

Beginning from a place of self-affirmation, this generative writing workshop invites you to savor contemporary love poems (including work by Danez Smith, Leila Chatti, and others) as inspiration for your own writing. We will spend the majority of the workshop engaging with a series of meditative writing prompts designed to help you express your deep tenderness through an exploration of the senses, memory, wish-making, and narrative.

Come ready to write! Participants will leave with a draft of a love letter to share with a friend, lover, family member, or someone else they love.

Note: Yasmine is certified as a trauma-informed teaching artist through the Bartol Foundation where she serves as the organization’s workshop and event coordinator.

Space & Time for BIPOC Writers

Note: Enrollment fills quickly—register ahead of time!

Thursdays | Jan 15 - Apr 2, 2026 | 7pm - 8:30pm Eastern

Drop In

Online, Zoom

FREE

Grub Street

This winter, GrubStreet is holding space for 90 minutes of writing time every Thursday evening. Instructor Yasmine Ameli will be present to guide the group and facilitate connections with other BIPOC writers. Feel free to come with a blank page, or bring your works in progress, and use this time how you like: chip away at a draft, work on submissions, or start new projects.

Each session will begin with an optional writing prompt to spark creativity, as well as an invitation to set a personal writing goal. We'll then spend five minutes in small breakout groups to share our intentions for the session with each other. From there, the majority of our time will be dedicated to uninterrupted writing time in an encouraging, low-stakes environment. We will end our time together with an opportunity to share—whether that be an excerpt from that session’s draft, a writing conundrum you’d like help troubleshooting, or a favorite book you think everyone should read.

Writers in all genres are welcome to attend. Weekly attendance is not required – come as you like, whenever having this space and time feels like it would be useful for you and your writing.

*This program welcomes writers of all backgrounds and experience levels, and was created to center and support BIPOC writers within our community.

Jumpstart Your Writing in 2026

6 Tuesdays | Jan 13 - Feb 17, 2026 | 10:30am - 1:30pm Eastern

Online, Zoom

Investment: $415

Grub Street

Whether you’ve never written creatively before or you’re a more experienced writer looking for a recharge, your mission in this course is simple: kick off 2026 by devoting three hours a week to your writing. With an eye on craft and openness to the muse, we will read and discuss short pieces, including poetry, essay, and fiction. We also will discuss the process of writing with a focus on sustainable writing practices, creative play, writer's block, creative community, reading for inspiration, and revision as generation. Potential readings include works by Lucille Clifton, Sandra Cisneros, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Fatimah Asghar, and others.

At the end of six weeks, you’ll leave class with a fresh set of drafts, new ideas to keep you writing, meaningful connections with fellow writers, and a stronger sense of your own voice on the page.

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)