Writing Through Crisis: A Four Week [online] Writing Workshop
with Tomas Moniz & Dani Burlison
We’re living through a critical moment in history: a global pandemic, climate catastrophes, a rise in white supremacy, collective trauma. We’re also seeing the strength of mutual aid, the crumbling of capitalism, and fresh air returning to cities.
Maybe the state of the world has inspired ideas for a personal essay or memoir but you’re longing for community to write with? Maybe you already have a completed essay that you’d like to breathe some new life into? Maybe you’re in the beginning stages of writing your story but not sure which direction to take it? Whether you’re writing for your own pleasure or have a piece you’d like to send out for publication, this workshop is for you!
In this four-week workshop focusing on this critical moment in history, we’ll discuss the art of the personal essay and all that comes with it– vulnerability, issues with confidentiality, self-reflection, and more. This includes:
Weekly reading materials + discussions
In class writing
Craft discussions
Feedback on manuscripts from Dani, Tomas, and the group
WHEN: Thursdays June 18 & 25, July 2 & 9; 6:30-9pm
WHERE: Zoom, baby!
COST: $250-350/sliding scale (reach out if this cost creates a barrier—we have limited scholarships). $75 deposit holds your spot. Email danisavestheworld@gmail.com to sign up
WHO: Tomas Moniz and Dani Burlison
* TOMAS MONIZ’s debut novel, Big Familia, was a finalist for the 2020 PEN/Hemingway, the LAMBDA, and the Foreward Indies Awards. He edited Rad Dad and Rad Families. He teaches creative writing at Ariel Gore’s Literary Kitchen, Mendocino Coast Writers Conference and privately. He’s the recipient of the SF Literary Arts Foundation’s 2016 Award and was awarded the 2018 SPACE Ryder Farm residency in NY. He has stuff on the internet but loves penpals: PO Box 3555, Berkeley CA 94703. He promises to write back.
* DANI BURLISON is the editor and creator of the anthology “All of Me: Stories of Love, Anger and the Female Body,” (PM Press, 2019), the author of a short story collection, “Some Places Worth Leaving” (Tolsun Books, 2020), and “Dendrophilia and Other Social Taboos: True Stories,” a collection of essays which first appeared in her McSweeney's Internet Tendency column of the same name. Dani has been a staff writer at a Bay Area alt-weekly, a book reviewer for Los Angeles Review and a regular contributor at Yes! Magazine, Chicago Tribune, KQED Arts, The Rumpus and Made Local Magazine. Her writing can also be found at Ms. Magazine, Earth Island Journal, WIRED, Utne, The Writer, Portland Review, Hip Mama Magazine, Rad Dad, Spirituality & Health Magazine, Shareable, and more. She teaches memoir writing classes and lives in Santa Rosa, CA