Calling all Tahoe/Truckee Teens - Come find your inner poet! Free Workshop May 16

Trails & Vistas announces a free literary arts workshop opportunity on May 16, 2026, for teens in Truckee/Tahoe area. The “Teen Poetry Workshop: From Generation to Revision” is an all-day event hosted at Church of the Mountains, downtown Truckee, that invites teens to “Come find your inner poet”.

Sponsored by Trails & Vistas at Church of the Mountains, 10079 Church St, Truckee, the event welcomes all teens to a day of generative writing, feedback, and revision techniques in a supportive and welcoming community. Workshop leaders Journalist/Poet/Photographer Petra Molina and Nevada County Poet Laureate Karen Terrey bring a depth of experience in creative writing and teaching. For more information and to register for this free workshop, see the evite https://evite.me/523DmXEgnN. For more info you Karen Terrey at 530-386-3901.

The day’s schedule includes time for writing, sharing, and connecting with fellow teens and writers:

Generative Workshop with Petra Molina 10 - 11:30

Sneak Peak at Revision with Karen Terrey 11:30 - 12

Lunch and writing 12 - 1:30

Revision workshop with Karen Terrey 1:30 - 3:30

Trails & Vistas strengthens community with collaborating partners of artists, poets, conservationists, educators, writers, art and environmental nonprofits. They build a thriving rural culture that inspires arts activity, provides economic activity with geotourism, builds pride of place, and inspires environmental awareness. Founded in 2004, Trails & Vistas has grown to offer Art Hikes, Art in Nature Field Trips, Awe Walks, and community art/dance workshops in Spanish and English.

Petra Molina is a Peruvian-American journalist, writer, photographer, and poet. She grew up in Cusco, Peru, a small city nestled in the Andes Mountains, where her connection to storytelling and the outdoors began. After earning her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, she moved to Lake Tahoe to focus on covering the subjects she loves the most: nature, sports, and adventure. She is the recipient of Nevada Press Foundation’s 2024 Best Collegiate Feature Writing for her reporting on sexual harassment faced by Las Vegas showgirls, and a two-time recipient of the Greenspun College’s Hank Covell Award for journalistic excellence. Her work has appeared in the Sierra Sun, Tahoe Daily Tribune, Tahoe Magazine, Desert Companion, and KNPR.

Karen Terrey serves as the Poet Laureate for Nevada County. She's a writer, editor, and writing coach, offering writing services, developmental editing, publishing guidance, and creative writing workshops in Truckee through her business Tangled Roots Writing for clients of all ages.  An alumni of Community of Writers, she teaches at Sierra College and has served as a poetry editor for the literary journals Pitkin Review and Quay. Her award-winning poems have appeared in anthologies and literary journals such as Rhino, Meadow, River Heron Review, Puerto Del Sol, Wicked Alice, Canary, and Gray Sparrow Journal, among others. Her poetry chapbook Bite and Blood is available from Finishing Line Press and local bookstores, including  Word After Word in Truckee, CA.

 

Open Mic readers compete for a chance to read at the Sierra Poetry Festival

SPF Fringe officially kicked off this Thursday, March 12 with Nevada County Poet Laureate Karen Terrey of Tangled Roots Writing and her monthly open mic series! We had a fun crowd join us with our local writers and poets at Alibi Ale Works - Brewery and Barrel House, Truckee. Each month don't miss this amazing opportunity to share your voice with our wonderful poetry community.

 The Tangled Roots Open Mic & Reading Series is hosted by Nevada County Poet Laureate Karen Terrey every second Thursday of the month. This month featured  a special twist! Readers had the opportunity to compete.  Open mic readers compete for a chance to read their work from the Main Stage at the 10th annual Sierra Poetry Festival on Saturday, April 18. Two winners will be selected by a panel of judges.

The panel of guest judges did not have an easy job, and I was happy to MC rather than judge. Dr. Kim Bateman, clinical psychologist, author, storyteller, and end of life doula, summed up the challenge as she announced our two winners. Each performer brought a unique style of audience engagement, use of strong imagery, and voice to their work. They all deserve to win and it was difficult to choose only two. You can find out more about Kim in this Community Spotlight interview. Our second judge, Hawa Arsala, is a poet based in Grass Valley, familiar with open mic performances as she won last year's Iron Door Open Mic Slam Competition.

Local writers George Perreault and Maeve Donovan were selected to perform their original work from the main stage on Saturday, April 18 during our Community Voices programming. You can buy tickets to the event here.

Alibi Ale Works Truckee is a hub for fresh beer, tasty eats & good times with Truckee’s largest outdoor patio.

For more information on area literary events: https://mailchi.mp/ba8f858cf94d/festivals-drama-crawls-open-mics-and-workshops

New Collaboration with Truckee Tahoe Theater Company: Write a Ten Minute Play Workshops

·        In these fun workshops you will hone your skills in dialogue, conflict, setting, and character. No drama experience necessary. All levels of writers and ages are welcome! We’ll look at the use of props, how to create suspense with a ticking clock, and how to choose the “at rise” occasion in the drama. Learn how to manage pacing, create strong emotional impact, present vivid characters, develop compelling situations, show rather than tell, and present a question that drives your audience’s attention with tension or suspense. Get small group feedback on your writing. 

·    Even if you’ve never thought about writing a play, this workshop will help you sharpen writing skills for all genres of writing. You can use this fun two-hour workshop to explore the ah ha moment in your novel or story or memoir.

·       Sign up for one workshop or both. Additional one on one editor feedback is available. The workshop is available in person in my living room with tea and chocolate as well as online with Zoom. A recording will be available.

As a bonus, we’ll review the call for submissions by Truckee Tahoe Community Theater for the Ten Minute Play Festival May 15-17. This will be a fast-paced, exciting showcase of short plays that pack big stories into small time frames. Each piece offers a unique world—ranging from heartfelt drama to laugh-out-loud comedy—brought to life by talented local actors and directors.  The deadline for Ten Minute play submissions to the festival is April 1, 2026. This festival is an exciting opportunity for regional writers to see their plays selected and produced here in Truckee! 

• March 16 & 23

• Mondays, 6-8 pm 

• $48/$90 for both 

 

 

Find Inspiration and Creative Community at the Sierra Poetry Festival April 18, 2026

Ten years ago I sat with a group of poets and artists brainstorming a new literary festival to take place in Nevada County. Who knew back then how successful this event would be, how it would become a gathering opportunity for artists throughout the Bay Area, Lake Tahoe, and beyond, to build creative networks and find inspiration in the synergistic sharing. The Sierra Poetry Festival is one of my favorite events each year. And this year we celebrate our ten year anniversary with some special extras.

 

Sierra Poetry Festival is a project of Nevada County Arts Council. This year’s mainstage event will take place on April 18, 2026, at The Center for the Arts, in Grass Valley, CA, attended by some of our most exciting local, national, and international poets and performers. Our keynote presenters are Brenda Hillman and Robert Hass! Tickets are now available.

Part of the community appeal is the opportunity for local poets to perform an original poem on stage. This year we have two Open Mic Competitions, one in Truckee on March 12 and another in Grass Valley on April 16, that offer two winners each this opportunity. The Tangled Roots Open Mic at Alibi in downtown Truckee runs 6-7:30 pm on March 12. Join us to cheer on local poets and writers on stage. On April 16, head down to the Iron Door in the basement of the Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley at 5:30 pm for another Open Mic Competition opportunity. These two events are a blast - meet other writers and join a community.

March 21st is World Poetry Day, and more events continue through the month of April with the SPF Fringe, a month and more of FREE poetry events happening in locations across Nevada County.

 

Sierra Poetry Festival marks National Poetry Month from the rolling foothills of California’s Gold Country to the rugged High Sierra, bringing a rich literary community together to celebrate the spoken word and reach out to new audiences in fresh ways. Through Sierra Poetry Festival we also celebrate California Arts, Culture & Creativity Month and we draw attention to our two coveted California Cultural Districts.