Word Play: 6 Weeks of Poetry

6 Thursdays | April 24 - May 29 | 6-9pm ET

Online, Zoom

Sliding Scale: $360 | $270 | $180

Register by Thurs, April 17, 11:59pm

Whether you’re an established writer trying to get back into a writing routine or an emerging writer looking for direction, this generative poetry class welcomes you to 6 weeks of readings, prompts, in-class writing, community-building, and gentle accountability. During our time together, we will read narrative and lyric poems with attention to the stanza and the line, sound play, and imagery as well as energy, tension, and bewilderment.

Led by a trauma-informed teaching artist and holistic creative writing coach, this course also seeks to guide participants toward a more sustainable writing life. Each week, we will seek opportunities to “fill the well,” as Julia Cameron puts it, and nourish our writing lives outside of the Zoom room: topics include “reading like a writer,” creative play, writer’s block, building creative community, and revision. Potential readings include work by Leila Chatti, Marie Howe, Jericho Brown, sam sax, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, among others.

Artist Residencies 101 (2 sections)

Tuesday, May 6 | 2-4pm ET (FULL)

Tuesday, May 20 | 2-4pm ET (FULL)

Online, Zoom (Assets for Artists)

FREE to New England 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. An alum of the A4A Capacity-Building Program, she coaches creative writers on the business of thriving as an artist.

Suitable for artists of all disciplines. 25 participants max.

The Art of Placing Your Essays: Tips & Strategies for Publication Success

Wednesday, May 21 | 6:30 - 8:30pm ET

Online, Zoom (Grub Street)

$65

Ready to press submit on your essay? With a focus on paying markets, this session covers the essentials: finding the right journals for your work, writing a stand-out cover letter and author’s bio, and goal setting. You will leave with a list of journals to consider, a draft of your cover letter and author bio, plans for your next steps, and additional resources. This will be a lecture-based workshop with writing/reflection prompts and time for Q&A.

On the Rag: Writing about Menstruation

Saturday, June 21 | 2-5pm ET

Online, Zoom

Sliding Scale: $125 | $100 | $75

Register by Thurs, June 19, 11:59pm

In response to the sheer lack of literary spaces that support conversations about menstruation writing, this generative workshop invites writers of all genders and genres to come explore their relationship to menstruation in community.

Taught by a queer, trauma-informed teaching artist living with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, this workshop will begin with consideration for our self-care and community-care needs in the Zoom room. We will then read and discuss poems and essays (including work by Franny Choi) that examine menstruation from multiple lenses--queer, (dis)abled, BIPOC--before responding to prompts that invite us to reflect, without romanticization, on our first menses, last menses, and the ones that have come--or not come--in between.

In addition to writing about menstruation, there also will be time and space for us to reflect on how our menstruation experiences have impacted our creative processes (and what shifts might help us going forward).

Come ready to write! Writers of all experience levels are welcome, and writers will leave with drafts of their own work.

Summer Writers’ Circle

12 Wednesdays | June 4 - August 20 | 7-8:30pm ET

Online, Zoom

Sliding Scale: $360 | $270 | $180

Register by Weds, May 28, 11:59pm ET

This is a drop-in gentle-accountability group for creative writers who are struggling to write in isolation, whether that is due to writer’s block or a busy schedule. Each week, we will begin by considering an optional writing prompt and sharing our individual intentions before embarking on a 60-minute writing session. There will be an opportunity toward the end of the session to build community in small groups during which writers are encouraged to share excerpts from their work, exchange book recommendations, and ask for/offer (solicited) writing advice.

This group is suitable for creative writers at any experience level and working in any creative genre, including multimedia creatives whose art practice includes writing. Please note that this group does not include workshop feedback and is instead generative by nature. Writers need not attend every session in order to participate.

If you are primarily looking for detailed feedback on your work, you can learn more about my writing coaching practice here.

Teaching Artist Summer Camp: Cultivating a Teaching Philosophy

6 Thursdays | July 10 - August 14

Online, Zoom

Sliding Scale: $360 | $270 | $180

Register by Thurs, July 3, 11:59pm ET

What’s your teaching philosophy? In this workshop we will read and discuss excerpts from texts such as Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks, Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde, Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses, Critical Response Process by Liz Lerman, and others. Each week will be centered on reflecting on our own evolving teaching philosophies and integrating new ideas into our own teaching practices. Participants will leave with a teaching philosophy statement, revised syllabus and lesson plans, and additional resources.

Registration link coming soon!

Stay tuned for more spring and summer classes.

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

Workshops: Introduction to Creative Writing (12-week class), Introduction to Creative Nonfiction (12-week class)

Generative Writing Classes: 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)

Arts Business Classes: Submitting to Literary Markets & Magazines (3-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)