Featured Author/Open Mic with Catharina Coenen

Catharina Coenen came to the United States from Germany as a Fulbright Scholar to attend graduate school. She now teaches biology at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. Her essays have appeared in literary magazines including The Threepenny Review, The American Scholar, The Christian Science Monitor, and Best of the Net.

Catharina is the recipient of the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, the Flash Nonfiction Prize awarded by The Forge, the Appalachian Review’s Denny Plattner Creative Nonfiction Prize, a Creative Nonfiction Foundation Science as Story Fellowship, and Residencies at Hedgebrook and at Millay Arts.

The Yin and Yang of Memoir Writing
A mini-memoir workshop (Starting at $25)

Writing a memoir is a full bodied experience. It includes the deep interior (yin) work of harvesting your life experience to unearth the jewels hidden in your caverns of darkness.

It also brings up questions regarding the outer (yang) aspects of the creative enterprise: 

do you need an agent? 
how do you find a publisher? 
should you self publish? 
who is your audience? 
where should you start? 

This hands on experience will answer the questions you have about writing your memoir and start you on the path.

Story Spinning: Harvesting Your Experience and Harnessing Its Power (starting at $79)

Our stories define us. As writers, they are grist for our mill. They affect our well-being, our relationships, our present and our future.They are vehicles of energy, vessels of possibility. They contain infinite potential and we can harness great light and great power from the experiences of our lives.

Our bodies are waiting to be tapped for their wisdom, gained from every ordeal we have suffered or encountered. Every catastrophe has stripped us of something and given us something. The nakedness, we know. The gifts are yet to be unearthed. In this circle of women, we will revisit our threshold experiences, our decisive moments and pivotal events and re-view them through a lens of emotional clarity and compassion. 

We will experience the deep listening of others as we share our stories, hear the narrative arc, define the crisis and revisit the resolution. We will see our role in co-creating the event and the narrative, and we will reconsider the telling from a place of power.

Each week is 90 minutes and includes story-telling, writing, and sharing our work.

“Our stories contain the answers to each others’ questions. What I cannot find in searching through the riches and rubble of my own life may become apparent to me in the witnessing of yours. It’s through our stories that we begin to name ourselves, to say who we are under all the social trappings, and to emerge from those trappings like a butterfly from a crysalis. We are midwives, in a way, to each other’s rebirth.”

     —Jan Phillips, from A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind

Jan Phillips i is the author of twelve award-winning books, has taught in over 25 countries, and has published work in the New York Times, Ms., Newsday, People, Parade Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, New Age Journal, National Catholic Reporter, Sun Magazine, and Utne Reader. She has performed with Pete Seeger, presented with Jane Goodall, sung to Gladys Knight, and worked for Mother Teresa. 

Jan teaches throughout the United States and Canada, facilitating retreats on evolutionary faith and prophetic action. Her quest has taken her into and out of a religious community, across the country on a Honda motorcycle, and around the world on a one woman peace pilgrimage. She is the author of Stop Seeking, Start Finding, Still On Fire—Field Notes from a Queer Mystic,  No Ordinary Time,  Creativity Unzipped, The Art of Original Thinking, Divining the Body, Marry Your Muse, God is at Eye Level, Making Peace, Born Gay, A Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind, ans Finding The On-Ramp to Your Spiritual Path. Jan sends out her Bulletins of Immortality weekly and a monthly Museletter to her mailing list. You can subscribe on her website.  www.janphillips.com

I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it
(Starting at $45)

I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it *
— a fiction / non-fiction freewrite event with Kate Copeland —

English grammar rules that place goes before time, via literature we may travel any place any time. Join me on a fiction / non-fiction tour, where we will look at language, art and perception through the eyes of time & place!
Linguistic ideas re temporal & spatial deixis, metaphors and cultural communication will spark your own ‘place in time’ writings. Fictionally speaking, you will be prompted by art, architecture, and by Patti Smith’s substacks, Jami Attenberg’s Writing myself home and LaTonya Yvette’s Stand in my window [a.o].

At the end of the workshop, you will receive a ‘muse document’ with all sorts of extra information. Joy Harjo states that "The world begins at a kitchen table […] So it has been since creation, and it will go on"... So, let’s sit down and write timelessly...hope to see you soon!

* From: As You Like It, by W. Shakespeare (1623)

Kate Copeland’s love for languages led her to teaching; her love for art & water to poetry. She is curator-editor for The Ekphrastic Review & runs linguistic-poetry workshops for the International Women's Writing Guild. Find her poems @ TER, WildfireWords, Gleam, Metphrastics, Hedgehog Press [a.o.], or
@ https://www.instagram.com/kate.copeland.poems/.
Kate was born in harbour-city, and adores housesitting in the world.

Inside the Edit: Navigating Process, Partnerships, and Publishing Routes

In the world of writing, editing is an essential step that transforms initial drafts into polished, compelling narratives. This presentation explores the critical role of editing in the publishing journey, highlighting importance in enhancing clarity, coherence, and impact. Attendees will only learn about the various types of editing, but the dynamics of the editor-writer relationship and how timelines and expectations vary depending on your chosen publishing route.

Born and raised in Northern Ireland, Debbie Anderson joined the FriesenPress publishing team in 2012 after a career in the financial services industry. As a Publishing Consultant, she has helped hundreds of authors start their publishing journey and fully realize their literary aspirations.

Free Write: Using Questions to Pressure Narrative

Free Write: Using Questions to Pressure Narrative. Description: Many writers question their art to uncover what they are trying to answer through their writing. In this free write, we’ll explore creative angles through the use of interrogation and inquiry both as an artist and within our art.

Rebecca writes the difficult, the heart-full, the guidebooks for survivors. Her work includes a full length poetry collection, Tangled by Blood, a collection-length poem, Safe Handling, and a forthcoming collection of flash essays. Her work offers social commentary on surviving sexual assault., combining visual art, literary craft, and empowerment coaching.

Instructor to send new form with reschedule for Nov 2025

Exploring Visual Poetry: Generative Poetry Workshop 
(starting at $45)

Join us for a creative and interactive 1.5-hour workshop where we’ll explore the exciting world of visual poetry. In this session, we’ll look at examples of poetry that blend text and images, discovering how the visual elements enhance the meaning of words. There will be time for both writing and creating the visual aspect of your poem. No prior writing or art experience is needed—whether you’re starting from scratch or experimenting with new ideas, you’ll have the chance to explore prompts and add a visual element. Bring paper and any type of drawing tool—crayons, markers, pencils, etc.—or make your work digital or use mixed media. Just bring your curiosity and a willingness to blend words and images. Get ready to create something unexpected.

Erica Blumfield is a creative nonfiction writer and poet exploring mental health, aging, relationships, and trauma with levity and gravity. She’s a 2024 Writer of Note grantee through the de Groot Foundation and a 2023 Lighthouse Writers Workshop Fellow. Her work has appeared in All The Lives We Ever Lived and Bellevue Literary Review online. A self-taught artist, Erica loves collage and doodling and is an avid museum-goer. She teaches creative writing and volunteers at 826LA.

Your Memoir Writing Journey: From Inception to Publication (Starting at $59)

Many writers jump into memoir writing without a concrete plan. After all they’re writing about their own life. How hard could it be? Well, depending on the publishing intent of the memoir it can be more difficult than it may first appear. Some writers can lose time and motivation because of false starts and dead-ends. If you’re hoping to write a memoir with the best shot at being traditionally published, this workshop is for you.

This workshop will take would-be memoir writers through the life-cycle of writing a book-length memoir of publishable quality. It will help those looking to write a memoir that they hope to get traditionally published. From positioning and planning to proposal writing; to spending time in the querying trenches and navigating agency and/or publishing relationships, this workshop can help writers complete and publish their memoirs with minimal loss of time heading down unsustainable paths.

Jawahara Saidullah's memoir, We Are Warrior Queens, was published in 2024 by Scarsdale Publishing. She has two published novels, Where the Rivers Meet (2023) and The Burden of Foreknowledge (2007). Several of her fiction and non-fiction pieces have appeared in journals, anthologies, magazines and newspapers. A flash fiction piece, Counting and Recounting was published in IWWG's 2025 anthology, Write Forward. She has also been an acquisitions editor, literary agent, and a college instructor.

MONOLOGUE PLAY LAB (starting at $159)

Kelly is delighted to facilitate her popular Monologue Play Lab with showcase this fall for new and previous Play Lab participants. There’s beauty and meaning to mine from your life story, and this workshop will help you artistically express what you’ve overcome and achieved, and share your experience through the medium of theatre. During four two hour workshops on Zoom, you’ll present your monologue drafts, have them read by guest actors, and discuss revisions. Elements of dramatic structure will be discussed, including conflict, plot, subtext, voice, narrative, the importance of set-up, and collaboration. Each writer will present her monologue, performed by an actor, in the final showcase online in December which is free and open to the public. No prior playwriting experience is required.

Kelly DuMar is a poet, playwright and workshop facilitator from Boston. She’s author of four poetry collections & her poems, plays and images are published widely. For decades Kelly has taught a variety of creative writing workshops, including play labs with showcases for the International Women’s Writing Guild and the Transformative Language Arts Network. Kelly produces the Featured Open Mic for the Journal of Expressive Writing. Reach her at kellydumar.com

IWWG Regional Gathering:
Let Me Tell You About the Skin I'm In
Co-sponsored by the Bailey Learning and Arts Collective and
Terri Bailey CHATS

CLICK TO REGISTER HERE

This powerful weekend will center the stories, wisdom, and brilliance of women writers across generations and skill levels. IWWG board members Terri Bailey and Betty Pierre will host and serve as MCs for the event. The gathering will include workshops, keynotes, open mic, food, writing, and connection. 

Tentative Agenda

Saturday, Nov 8

• 9:30a Check-in + Light Breakfast

• 10:00a Welcome & Ice Breaker (Terri Bailey)

• 10:15a “The Value of Your Story” – Terri Bailey

• 11:00a Workshop – Prof. Amira Sims

• 12:00p Keynote Lunch – Dr. Jillian Hernandez

• 1:00p Poetry Workshop – Neysa Rose

• 2:10p Workshop – Dr. Riche Barnes

• 3:15p “The Power of Joyful Journaling” – Ariel C. Williams

• 4:15p Closing Reflections

• Dinner on your own (We may have a sponsor)

• 6:00p–8:00p Open Mic (Betty Pierre, MC)
  Hosted at Flaco’s Tacos & Vecinos with drinks + finger foods

Sunday, Nov 9

• 10:15a Grounding + Free Write – Terri Bailey

• 10:45a Publishing Workshop – E. Claudette Freeman

• 12:00p Q&A Roundtable

• 12:45p Closing + Creation Station (lunch served)

Featured Speakers:

• Terri L. Bailey, MA – Host, Instructor

• Betty Pierre – Co-Host, Open Mic MC

• Dr. Jillian Hernandez – Keynote

• Dr. Riche Barnes – Instructor

• Amira Sims – Instructor

• E. Claudette Freeman – Instructor

• Ariel C, Williams – Instructor

• Neysa Rose – Poetry Instructor

Doubt or Devotion…is it...about Love?
(Starting at $45)

Doubt or Devotion…is it…about Love?
— a fiction / non-fiction freewrite event with Kate Copeland —

Join me on a linguistic-poetic quest for love, longing and other perfect imperfections.
Linguistically speaking, we will be diving into cultural variations of love languages, while analysing love concepts and letters. Body language and mind models galore!
Fictionally reading, our writing will be prompted by Chris Kraus’ I love Dick, Joanna Walsh’s Break.up, Sister Corita Kent’s pop art...and a jukebox of desire (Laura Marling, Celeste, Alicia Keys a.m.m.).

At the end of the workshop, you will receive a ‘muse document’ with all sorts of extra information. To quote poet Carmien Michels: Pain Pleasure Personality Perversion Poetry. If you desire a diverse tête-à-tête, please, join!

Kate Copeland’s love for languages led her to teaching; her love for art & water to poetry. She is curator-editor for The Ekphrastic Review & runs linguistic-poetry workshops for the International Women's Writing Guild. Find her poems @ TER, WildfireWords, Gleam, Metphrastics, Hedgehog Press [a.o.], or
@ https://www.instagram.com/kate.copeland.poems/.
Kate was born in harbour-city, and adores housesitting in the world.

Monologue Showcase: Voices for Healing & Transformation

A showcase of recent work created by Kelly DuMar's IWWG Fall Play Lab 

In writing monologues for the stage, a story begins as words on the page. The next stage of development is to have the monologue performed by an actor in front of an audience. In this monologue showcase, class participants who have been developing monologues over four weeks will have the chance to see their writing performed by an actor for an audience––you.

Stella Adler called theater the “seeing place”––the place we come to see the truth about our lives and social situation. Oscar Wilde called theater “the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” And August Wilson was, “fascinated by the idea of an audience as a community of people who gather willingly to bear witness.” We invite you, our audience, to share in making dynamic theater with us, by being present for this showcase of brand new stage monologues. This intimate and powerful experience will present writing by class participants––read by actors––is part of the critical page-to-stage development process that all new plays need. Please join us, and share the vitality of your presence and your witness as our much-appreciated audience.

The show is free and open to the public - although donations are always welcome! - and will take place via the online video conferencing platform Zoom. 

Featuring monologues by members of the Fall 2025 Monologue Play Lab

World Building for Any Novel (starting at $129)

A character’s world greatly impacts how that character responds to the obstacles they face and ultimately shapes who that character becomes. This mini-course will discuss the techniques necessary to create and/or strengthen works with complicated and layered worlds and timelines. This course is for any project with large worlds, whether that be science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, intergenerational novels, or a mystery novel, or if you simply want to understand how to incorporate diverse characters and perspectives. We will explore how to keep your readers engaged in such layered storylines. Considering writers such as Octavia Butler, N.K. Jemisin, and Margaret Atwood, we will be inspired to write stories that immerse readers in worlds that illuminate today’s conversations. We will spend four weeks learning world-building techniques, developing the character of multiple protagonists, incorporating diverse characters and world settings, and keeping track of your world’s details/rules. The final two weeks will be spent generating materials or making plans for revisions using your new tools. Start a novel, strengthen one already begun, or even finish a short story during our exploration of world-building techniques.

Melissa Michal is of Seneca, Welsh, and English descent and is a fiction writer and essayist. Melissa has work appearing in the SFRA and other spaces. Her story collection, Living Along the Borderlines, was a finalist for the Louise Meriwether first book prize and she writes Indigenous futurism novels.