Free Wednesday Writing Workshop Series at the Truckee Library on the third Wednesday of July, August, and September - for all ages and abilities

 

I'm so excited to offer this series of free creative writing workshops at the Truckee Library this summer! Thanks to a grant from the Nevada County Arts Council and the Truckee Cultural District, this workshop series can offer a creative space for writers of all ages and experience levels to explore new approaches to being creative on the page. Come to as many workshops as you want. These workshops include prompts that can lead to any form of writing - poetry, fiction, memoir, even songwriting. Of course, light refreshments are included!

Each workshop is the third Wednesday of the month from 5:30 - 7 pm.

Our first workshop is July 17th and our theme is Music and Poetry. Write a new poem (or two). Ever thought of writing a song to go along with your poem? We'll consider rhythm and rhyme, melody and harmony, in poems and learn how writers can use music to drive the writing process. 

On August 21st we'll focus on Science and Poetry. Find ways to connect with science, nature, the cosmos, to write poems that evoke emotion for our shared experiences. Any science geeks out there?

Finally, September 18th, our theme is Journey and Story. In this workshop, we will discover new techniques to write about your own journey or a fictional one, a journey within or to another place.

The Truckee Library address is 10031 Levon Ave, Truckee, CA 96161. (530) 582-7846

https://www.nevadacountyca.gov/336/Truckee-Library

Want to participate in Truckee's project to develop our Art and Culture identity? Write a poem

 

As Truckee considers how to build on its identity as a Cultural and Historical District, I've found guidance in California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick's statewide poetry project. In his project, he asks all Californians to explore their relationship to place as a door into seeing themselves in new ways with the world around us. He invites us to write a poem that describes about the communities we live within. This project empowers the variety of voices in California through writing. 

In Lee Herrick’s words:

“Each of us has a unique experience and relationship with California. It is a place of bounty and innovation, opportunity and progress, as well as difficulty and violence, challenges and areas of need. Poetry can be a bridge to personal and societal change. It can show us new ways of seeing ourselves and the world around us. Poetry can illuminate and inspire. Poetry is a way of expressing and imagining the ideas inside of us. I believe there is poetry in everyone. I believe poetry is everywhere in this great state.

With this in mind, in partnership with the California Arts Council, I am pleased to launch a statewide poetry writing project, Our California. Our California invites all Californians to write a poem about their town, city, or "their" state. What do you love about it? What joys does it bring? What would you change about it? How could it be improved?

I hope you will consider joining the chorus of Californians writing about our state. Our California is open to all Californians: all ages, all poetry experience levels, documented or not, free or not. We want to hear your unique voice.”

The statewide project invites all Californians to write a poem about their state and share it on the Poet Laureate’s website. No matter the writer’s age, origin, gender, or background, all are invited to submit their work to the project. The goals of Our California are:

• To encourage Californians to write poetry, to think about their communities, and to realize that their voice is important.
• To inspire Californians to write poetry that uplifts all people through awareness of social justice or civic engagement.
• To elevate poetry writing as a way to explore one's creativity and relationship to place.
  

Here is how to participate:

Write a poem (any form, up to 50 lines) about your town, city, or state. Consider these prompts (or write something completely different!):

Prompt 1: Write a poem about your town, your city, or “your” California. What do you love about it? What joy do you find there? You may also include what you don't love about it and what you would change. What do you envision or hope for?

Prompt 2: Write a poem about a memory or experience rooted in your town, city, or state. What makes the experience unique to the location?

Tips from Lee:

1. Avoid clichés or aphorisms.

2. Use unique, specific details and imagery.

3. Be true to yourself and your ideas.

4. Have fun!

This project is inspired by LeeHerrick’s poem “My California.” 

My California by Lee Herrick

 

Here, an olive votive keeps the sunset lit,

the Korean twenty-somethings talk about hyphens,

 

graduate school and good pot. A group of four at a window

table in Carpinteria discuss the quality of wines in Napa Valley versus Lodi.

 

Here, in my California, the streets remember the Chicano

poet whose songs still bank off Fresno's beer soaked gutters

 

and almond trees in partial blossom. Here, in my California

we fish out long noodles from the pho with such accuracy

 

you'd know we'd done this before. In Fresno, the bullets

tire of themselves and begin to pray five times a day.

 

In Fresno, we hope for less of the police state and more of a state of grace.

In my California, you can watch the sun go down

 

like in your California, on the ledge of the pregnant

twenty-second century, the one with a bounty of peaches and grapes,

 

red onions and the good salsa, wine and chapchae.

Here, in my California, paperbacks are free,

 

farmer's markets are twenty four hours a day and

always packed, the trees and water have no nails in them,

 

the priests eat well, the homeless eat well.

Here, in my California, everywhere is Chinatown,

 

everywhere is K-Town, everywhere is Armeniatown,

everywhere a Little Italy. Less confederacy.

 

No internment in the Valley.

Better history texts for the juniors.

 

In my California, free sounds and free touch.

      Free questions, free answers.

Free songs from parents and poets, those hopeful bodies of light.

Lee Herrick, "My California" from Gardening Secrets of the Dead. Copyright © 2012 by Lee Herrick, published by WordTech Communications LLC.  Reprinted by permission of Lee Herrick.

 

 

Call for event proposals for the Tahoe Literary Festival: Deadline July 29, 2024

The Tahoe Literary Festival, happening for the first time this October 11 & 12, 2024, is for you.

Maybe you attended the Sierra Poetry Festival in Nevada City over these past 8 years. Maybe you enjoy a Wednesday evening in the summer listening to poetry at the Tahoe Backyard while sipping Bear Belly Brews. Maybe you browse the shelves at Word After Word in downtown Truckee on a weekly basis. Or you've participated in any of the other open mics, library workshops, Community of Writers Conferences in Olympic Valley (celebrating 50 years of summer workshops!) or Writers in the Woods readings. 

Maybe you have a writing group you meet with for inspiration? Maybe you publish your work? Maybe you write in private?

Do you love to read? Do you read to your children? Do you visit the library for books to listen to? Are you part of a book club that meets once a month to celebrate reading (and food) and the community and the empathy that literature evokes?

Literature, reading and writing, allow us to develop our compassion for people we don't know, for people we may not even be able to imagine. In an interview with Marilynne Robinson in The New York Review of Books, Nov. 19, 2015, Barack Obama said:

When I think about how I understand my role as citizen, setting aside being president, and the most important set of understandings that I bring to that position of citizen, the most important stuff I’ve learned I think I’ve learned from novels. It has to do with empathy. It has to do with being comfortable with the notion that the world is complicated and full of grays, but there’s still truth there to be found, and that you have to strive for that and work for that. And the notion that it’s possible to connect with some[one] else even though they’re very different from you.

The Tahoe Literary Festival is a two day event happening in various wonderful venues in Tahoe City on October 11 and 12, 2024. Through author readings, workshops, panels, music, open mic, and other offerings, the festival will gather our talented local community of writers and readers to celebrate the theme of "spirit of place" through the art of language in its many forms.

Call for submissions: We are calling on  all writers, poets, songwriters, editors, and community groups to please submit your ideas for panels, workshops, book talks, readings, or masterclasses by July 29. The festival theme is "Spirit of Place."

The Tahoe Literary Festival is being presented by Tahoe Guide and The Seasoned Sage. Festival sponsors are Tahoe City Downtown Association, Wildbound PR, Tangled Roots Writing, Yoga Room Tahoe, Gatekeeper’s Museum, SNOW Museum and Tahoe Wine Collective. 

 

Festival events will be held at Yoga Room Tahoe, Gatekeeper’s Museum, SNOW Museum and Tahoe Wine Collective, with more venues to be announced.

 

All events will be offered for free to local high school and college students to attend, and several scholarships will be available. Festival tickets will be available soon. 

 

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of the inaugural Tahoe Literary Festival, becoming a lodging partner, or participating as a moderator or presenter, please email Katherine Hill at kat@tahoelitfest.com or Priya Hutner at priya@tahoelitfest.com.

Mountain Words Literary Festival: Vastness of space - a panel of 4 scientists/journalists (female) discuss the concept of the uncanny, life, and how to get back to Earth

Imagine a dandelion seed, hanging in the air and floating across your vision, is like a ship made to transport a being of origin. 

Is there life out there? What does it look like? What is life?

We look for ourselves in space because we can't look for what we can't imagine.

The anthropological question is why are we making these leaps about possible extraterrestrial visitors? Do we want them to: save us with their experience, save us from ourselves, offer a higher power (the human need to seek a technological god?), or will their destruction erase human agency and fault? Why do we want to be visited? 

Think about how the Concept of the Uncanny - seeing something like us but just off - relates to the iconic alien image. When we see our self but cannot know if it is an alien or not, as in the classic movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

This science panel of 4 women scientists discusses what-ifs and imagined situations and possible ethic-challenging scenarios regarding nuclear power, extraterrestrial searches, astronomical origin stories, and travel to Mars.  As such, fiction they say can realistically present these science questions to the public through excellent novels such as The Sparrow, Arrival, and Contact. For example, Laura Krantz's podcast Wild Thing brings narrative into the communication of science through long-form stories. 

An aside: I notice in their conversations that, like myself, these women will test the public acceptance of their revolutionary concepts against the hypothetical "my dad" reasoner. 

I learn that without the Moon's historical influence on the Earth's development (gravity, tides, tectonic plates, light and darkness), the Earth would experience differently things such as rock strain, solar tides, destabalized tilt of access, and even subliming icecaps. In fact, history on Earth for humans can be divided into before and after the capture of the Apollo 8 Earthrise image. A gibbous shape, lumpy not round, of the earth. One of the big questions for space travelers is how will humans react psychologically once they cannot see Earth anymore?

• Laura Krantz is a journalist, editor and producer, in both radio and print, and co-founder of Foxtopus Ink. Her podcast, Wild Thing has received critical acclaim from Scientific American, Rolling Stone, and The Atlantic, which named it one of the best 50 podcasts in 2018 and 2020. 

• As a journalist, Rebecca Boyle has reported from particle accelerators, genetic sequencing labs, bat caves, the middle of a lake, the tops of mountains, and the retractable domes of some of Earth’s largest telescopes. Her first book, OUR MOON: How Earth’s Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are (Random House, 2024) is a new history of humanity’s relationship with the Moon, which Rebecca has not yet visited on assignment.

• As a Colorado-based science journalist, Sarah Scoles serves as a contributing editor at Scientific American and holds the position of senior contributor at Undark.

• Heather Swenson is an Aerospace Engineer with a multidisciplinary background in satellite operations, mission design, human factors, and trajectory analysis. Projects include reusable space transportation systems, lunar and interplanetary cubesat missions and human space flight systems including the Orion Program and lunar Human Landing System

These dynamic presenters are clear about their ultimate goal: to get us back to here, all one, all together, with all that we need, on Earth. This goal is pushed into the public by women scientists and women writers, and is a view not generally accepted by all scientists. Even as we can look to space for knowledge and resources and the unknown, we must realize that we are built to live here, we have everything we need to live here, and we need to preserve Earth.

Last question: what is the one subject that you would like to see more focused study of right now?

• space telescopes
• animal communication (see Lawrence Doyle in The Atlantic)
• matter and atoms can't yet be replicated with our equations!
• dark matter and energy - WTF?

Mountain Words Literary Festival: Premise in writing process

If one concept stands out as a thread to connect so many of the brilliant writers and presenters I've experienced this past long weekend at the Mountain Words Literary Festival in Crested Butte, Co, it is the guiding idea of a "premise" for the writing project, the essay, the book.

1. Friday morning I started off the festival weekend with a workshop on writing a play in two hours led by Steven Cole Hughes, a Visiting Professor of Theatre at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, CO. A dynamic and authentic teacher, he brought us back to Aristotle's three elements of a story: beginning, middle, and end. To which Steve added possibly the most important 4th element: premise. According to Steve, "You mean something and you are trying to affect your reader in some way. Be aware of why you said something." 

Aristotle names 6 elements of theater:

• plot
• character
• theme (premise)
• music
• diction
• spectacle

A premise is "a statement that is provable by the events of the story." I am a lover of sentences, and so Steven spoke to my own process of writing when he focused his teaching on "the way the story is told, word for word, the drama of the sentence." What is the story you are setting out to tell? Keep this statement in mind as you write in any genre that involves storytelling.

2. My next spectacular workshop, titled "Poems for which we are grateful," was led by Aaron A Abeyta. I fell in love with his writing two years ago in the first Mountain Words festival. In this workshop, Aaron drew from the teachings of W.H. Auden for certain essential questions he asks himself of the poem and the subject as he is writing. Aaron spoke about how he finds the poems he is most grateful for seem to ask some essential questions, personal as well as philosophical:

• why am i writing this? 
• whose poem is this?
• what is the universal question I am asking here that has been asked a thousand times already?
• what parts of me are emerging here? 
• What place is emerging? 

For Aaron, poems ask questions that perform as the guiding premise for the writing of that poem. If you are getting stuck in a certain draft, go back to these questions and see what question must be asked next. Szymborska wrote, "Whatever inspiration is, it is born from the continuous question, "I don't know." I thought that Abeyta, as a teacher, bravely and with humility held high standards for us writers in the room, and asked for everything of his students. He asked us to ask  ourselves, what is our guiding question in our life? 

3. Laura Pritchet PhD directs the MFA in Nature Writing at Western Colorado University. Her workshop approached storytelling through flash and fragments, experimental forms that provide fresh methods to write about challenging subject matter. Climate change, racism, society division, despair, can be illuminated through lists that subvert the standard "10 Rules of..." offerings online. Snippets unrelated through causality with large leaps between the fragments. The epistolary form can bring in voices and perspectives of others. And her favorite, the hermit crab essay/poem/piece of writing finds just the right container to crawl into and take over as its form. You must find just the right form for what you want to write about. 

For all of these experiments, the writer must also be aware of the theme or underlying meaning. Laura told us to say something that matters to you so that your writing can become an act of connection between you and the reader. She read a beautiful example of using these short fragmented forms from her latest book, Playing with (wild)Fire, that consisted of four paragraphs, each one a different character's third person description of that moment in time. Her characters were human as well as mammal and bird.

 

 

New Special Focus on Fiction: short story, novel, screenwriting workshop series begins April 29th

“What another would have done as well, do not do it. What another would have said as well or written as well, do not say or write it. Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself.” — André Gide

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor” – Anne Lamott

 “I try to leave out the parts that people skip.”   - Elmore Leonard

What if you could combine into your writing process through some beautiful technique the wisdom shared in the three quotes above? How can you pinpoint the perspective on your subject matter and the voice that exists nowhere but in yourself, and then translate that onto the page? At the same time, striving for perfection is the best way to never complete your manuscript. But how to figure out which are the parts that people skip reading? 

Beginning April 29th, I'll be offering a 6 wk writing series that will explore writing techniques that you can use to dig into your short story, novel, or screenplay. We will write stories, develop ideas, and expand novels in process. We'll also write in a supportive community, sharing tips about how to submit and publish your work along the way. Each week we'll cover new ideas and methods, focusing on a different key area of writing fiction each week: structure, plot, character, time, setting, and voice. Sign up for all 6 sessions or drop in depending on your schedule. In person and online.

2024 Monday Night Creative Writing Workshop Fiction Special Focus 

 6 workshops in this series: structure, plot, character, time, setting, and voice.

A fun and generative workshop especially for writers of fiction, short story, novel, and screen writing. Do you wish you wrote more? Want to feel a sense of community when you write? Want to start a book or finish a book? 

In-person and on zoom - sign up for the 6 wk series or drop in when your schedule works 

April 29 - June 10, 2024 (no workshop May 27) 6:30-8 pm 

Monday nights $160 or $30 drop in

This creative series is the most popular and longest-running workshop I offer. Craft, technique, and prompts for fiction of all forms. A kick in the butt for your writing life! Waiting for inspiration is also called procrastination. So don't wait - connect with a community and improve your fiction project and writing practice. Mondays from 6:30 to 8 pm. This series will fill up fast as I keep the size of the group intimate. Sign up by email to tangledrootswriting@gmail.com or call 530-386-3901.

What are the best open mics in the Tahoe Area?

Who knew this is what I look like reading a new poem of mine at the Iron Door in the Holbrooke Hotel, Grass Valley, when the stakes are an invitation to read on the main stage? Well, my performance impressed the judges and I got the opportunity to share my work at the 8th Sierra Poetry Festival.

Are you looking for an open mic in the area to perform your newest poem, your spoken word, your slam expression? Especially in April, National Poetry Month, we have more opportunities to share our work, but in the past couple of years, open mics are on the rise in Tahoe, Truckee, Reno, and Grass Valley/Nevada City. Here are a few that I recommend:

1. The Muse Exchange is an open mic at the Fern @ 235 Commercial St. in Nevada City every first Wednesday beginning this May 1. You can perform poetry, storytelling, and even comedy. Blast off is at 7 pm with doors opening at 6 pm. This open mic is hosted by Michael Clarity, MC extraordinaire, with DJ beats and visual art as well.

2. At Shim's Speakeasy on W 3rd Ave in Reno, NV you can share your poem on stage in an open mic hosted by Spoken Views Collective. The MC is Jesse Ziegler, Reno Poet Laureate himself. I love this scene at Shim's - super welcoming, fun and diverse. Their mission is to provide a platform and safe spaces for spoken word expression as well as build a community of spoken word artists and poets. 21+ 

3. Go to Incline Village this April 30th in the Prim Library for an open mic poetry night in celebration of national Poetry Month.This will be Incline Village Library and Prim Library, University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe second annual poetry night.  From 6:30-8:30 PM. Enjoy an evening of poetry, music, community gathering, and complimentary snacks. Register as a participant or an audience member! You can find tickets at

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tahoe-poetry-night-tickets-837803210957

4. Once or twice a month, Dark Horse in Truckee hosts open mic, live music, talent shows and other eclectic performance. They call themselves "a place for crunchy dirtbags, local classics, academics, poets, philosophers, artists, angels, devils, mirrors, mystics, skeptics, rebels, those with money, those without, those lost, those found, leave your judgement at the door." this coffee shop is one of my go to places to work and write in an old town filled with creative people type of vibe.

5. The Kings Beach Library has an open mic "Poetry in the Afternoon" on May 18th from 2-4 pm. I love this simple announcement below - what more do we need?

I know many other open mics are happening out there - what's your favorite?