Some of the areas we'll cover include:

• Seeing the whole picture of your project from inspiration to publication

• Five elements of a winning book proposal

• Understanding and growing your audience

• Finding your voice and trusting its authority no matter what you’re writing 

• Wrestling with the publish/self-publish/do I need an agent conundrums

• Using every avenue for creating your platform and expanding your creative reach

Jan Phillips is a queer feminist writer who connects the dots between spiritual intelligence, evolutionary creativity, and social transformation. She is the author of eleven 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, and Sun Magazine. Her memoir, Still On Fire—Field Notes from a Queer Mystic, was released by Unity Books in October 2021. Her books have been endorsed by Gloria Steinem, Jean Houston, Barbara Marx Hubbard and Joanna Macy. Jan has produced three CDs of original music, several videos, and a seven-hour audio program called Creating Every Day. Her chapbook Born Gay is available for free on her website, www.janphillips.com

Crafting Unforgettable Characters (starting at $55)

Great characters remain essential to any work of fiction. They are a combination of a writer's knowledge, skill, and imagination. This workshop will examine the process of creating strong, multi-dimensional characters, as well as the principles and techniques that can effectively improve and/or define characters, avoiding cultural clichés and hackneyed stereotypes.

Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry won Raz/Shumaker Prairie Schooner Prize for her collection, What Isn’t Remembered, long-listed for PEN/Bingham Prize and shortlisted for W. Saroyan International Prize. THE ORCHARD was a finalist for 2023 Chautauqua Prize and picked by NY Post as one of the best novels.

Find me in the Fiction District (starting at $45)

In this 90 minute workshop, we will look at how our brain hemispheres handle fiction, while touching upon theories re syntax, semantics and the folk model of the mind. We will merge this all with various characters, settings and contrasts; in other words: facts and fiction-freewriting galore.
Authors included are Kiki Petrosino, Shira Erlichmann and George Sand [a.o.]; lyrics by Kate Bush and Björk will relate to our narratives. Included is a document with some miscellaneous reads to muse on, next to the workshop information. Find me in the fiction district, and let’s meet up in freewrite territory!

Kate Copeland’s love for languages led her to teaching, her love for art & water to poetry. She is curator-editor for TER & runs linguistic-poetry workshops for IWWG [a.o.].
Find her poems @ TER, WildfireWords, Gleam, Spirit Fire Review [a.o.] & at https://www.instagram.com/kate.copeland.poems/ 

Self Publishing with Services

Join us to delve into the world of self publishing. We’ll discuss exactly what self publishing is, the differences between ‘do it yourself’ and using a service provider, and go into a detailed look at the stages of a book’s typical production life cycle.
You can expect to leave this presentation with a clear understanding of the self publishing process, tips for preparing for publication and what options are available to you.

To assist you in getting started with your publication journey, we will be doing a giveaway and one of the attendees will win a Free Manuscript Evaluation from one of our editors!

Christoph Koniczek joined FriesenPress's team of employee owners in 2013, reconnecting with his passion for literature after a career in the culinary arts. Christoph has assisted authors with bringing over 2,000 titles to the market in his decade-plus in the trade.

Telling Your Story: From Memories to Memoir (starting at $50)

In some ways, writing a memoir seems easier than writing a short story. After all, you know what happens. The challenge comes in choosing what to tell, and how to tell it. If you made a timeline of your life, what would you put on it? What would you leave out? Where would you start? Every writer faces this challenge. We’ll look at short published texts to see how writers including Cheryl Strayed, Jesmyn Ward, and Nick Flynn have chosen to tell their stories. You’ll also have a chance to try out writing a short piece of your own. Leave with new ideas for moving forward, whether you’re just getting started or you’ve already written several pages. Above all, your story matters! As Sonja Livingston says, “We crave the connection that comes from well-written memoirs and personal essays. The more we move away from each other—geographically, culturally, spiritually—the more this hunger grows.”

Clara Silverstein is the author of seven books, including the memoir "White Girl: A Story of School Desegregation." Her work has appeared in the Boston Globe, Runner’s World, and several literary magazines. She teaches memoir at GrubStreet and previously directed the Chautuaqua Writers' Center.

Featured Author/Open Mic Joy Ladin

Joy Ladin is the author of eleven books of poetry, including the brand-new Family (Persea, September 2024), National Jewish Book Award winner The Book of Anna and Lambda Literary Award finalists Transmigration and Impersonation, and three books on trans issues, including Once Out of Nature: Selected Essays on the Transformation of Gender, also new from Persea. Her writing is available at www.joyladin.com.

Inquiring at the Heart of a Subject: How to Ask Great Questions to Prompt Great Writing (starting at $45)

Inquiry drives engagement, but how do we ask questions that will access powerful emotions, yield compelling insights, and inspire rich stories? Amy Wright will offer seven tips for asking great questions she has gleaned from interviewing over 60 artists, activists, scientists, etc., then open a conversation and workshop to discuss and practice these skills.

Amy Wright was the 2022 Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence at East Tennessee State University, where she now teaches. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Denver, has received two Kenyon Review fellowships and published four books, including a Nautilus Gold Award winner for Lyric Prose.

Featured Author/ Open Mic with Lisa St. John

Lisa St. John lives in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York, where she calls the Catskill Mountains home. Her chapbook, Ponderings, was published by Finishing Line Press, and her book of poetry, Swallowing Stones, by Kelsay Books. Lisa has published her poetry in many journals and anthologies.

Her writing has been published in numerous journals including Light, The Poetry Distillery, New Verse News, Glassworks, Poets Reading the News, and Sleet. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley, and is currently working on a memoir. Lisa believes that art is hope and that there is beauty in possibility. She can be found online at lisachristinastjohn.com

Imagination and Justice: Meditation and Free-Writing Circles

with Lisa Freedman

An activist’s faith can never be unquestioning … can never oversimplify, as believers and activists are often tempted or pressured to do. Adrienne Rich

A question is a pursuit, an invitation to envision and explore a series of possibilities, to struggle and empathize and doubt and believe. The question moves, whereas our sense of what an answer is can often be static, a stopping point. Tracy K. Smith

We women writing in the fall of 2024 are blessed and cursed to live in interesting times. For just one example, we have the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025,” which the Center for American Progress calls “the playbook of a dictator.” But extremists don’t have a monopoly on ideas for the future. What does your vision for 2025 and beyond consist of? How do your identity and life experiences shape your priorities? How might we come together and contribute to the process of imagining a more just United States, a more perfect union, a process that started to unfold and has gotten derailed repeatedly over the past 400 years?

This round of the Imagination and Justice meditation and freewriting circles will pursue and move with the questions above. The I and J circles are both intimate and expansive. We hold space for the complexities of our own and each other’s stories and dreams. Each time we meet, we start with a few minutes of silence followed by a brief guided free-write and share to check in. Then Lisa guides us in two more rounds of meditation, free-writing, and sharing. The sharing is always optional.

Holding silence together is a bonding activity, and as the weeks progress, we connect more deeply through our writings. This is how we help each other take writerly risks to reveal ourselves and our imaginings. And this is how we support each other as we dare to share our voices and visions.

Meditators, writers, activists, skeptics, and idealists at every level of experience are welcome. All genres are welcome. These circles are a place to write or re-write material that dwells (or wants to dwell) in the realm where the personal is political. You may already be working on a relevant project, or you may be starting a new one. Either way, you and your stories, your writings are welcome here.

Participants receive the prompts and background materials each week. These come from Tracy K. Smith’s writings and a wide community of other voices that complement hers.

While this is a generative, free-writing circle, participants are often surprised by the power of the words that land on the page. Those of us in the first Imagination & Justice Circle, which took place in the fall of 2021, are delighted to have our writings collected by the IWWG in this anthology, which you can read here: Roots/Trunk/Sky.
https://issuu.com/guild2021/docs/imagination_and_justice_an_iwwg_writing_circle

Lisa Freedman is an author, activist, and professor of creative writing. She holds an MFA from the New School and is certified as a mindfulness meditation teacher by Dhama Moon. She founded and directs Breathe/Read/Write, an online community where mindfulness and writing come together.

6-Week Intensive: Transitions, Translations, Transformations

with Carmen Bugan

This minicourse explores literary language through the Protean lens of transitions (life transitions, travel and exposure to other cultures, languages, and ways of thinking); translations (work on producing several versions of a poem from another language); and transformations (reflecting on how the language of our writing changes over time). What does creative language know but keeps to itself—like wise Proteus who changes shape and is able to see into the future?  We will devote two sessions to each of these lenses, and participants will be asked to bring to class a favorite poem, an excerpt from a story, or a memoir. Each two-hour session will involve reading and discussion of example poems and guided writing exercises.  Work we will discuss: “When Giving is All We Have” by Alberto Rios, “Transformation” by Adam Zagajeswski; excerpts from The Snow Geese by William Fiennes (review here); and excerpts from “The Wonderful Adventures of Nils” by Selma Lagerloff. This course will help ease writers’ block and help writers meditate on the vast possibilities of creativity.

Dr. Carmen Bugan, a George Orwell Prize Fellow, is a prize-winning poet and writer who has published ten books including poetry, memoir, and literary criticism.  Her new and selected poems, Lilies from America was a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation. Her memoir, Burying the Typewriter won the Bakeless Nonfiction Prize, was shortlisted for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, and was serialized for radio as a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. Her book of essays, Poetry and the Language of Oppression (Oxford University Press) was named an “essential book for writers” by Poets and Writers.  Bugan appears at book fairs and festivals such as the London Book Fair, the Cork Literary Festival, The Goteborg Book Fair, and Le Livre sur les Quais (Morges, Switzerland) and lectures widely at universities in Europe, Middle East, and the United States. She is a member of the Geneva Writers Group and of the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers. She teaches memoir, creative writing, and provides book doctoring and private tutorials. Her forthcoming book of poems, Tristia, will be out this winter.

Writing Toward Wholeness with Susan Tiberghien

Susan Tiberghien is an American-born writer living in Geneva, Switzerland. She holds a BA in Literature and Philosophy (Phi Beta Kappa) and did graduate work at the Université de Grenoble and the CG Jung Institute of Zurich. She has published four memoirs, "Looking for Gold, One Year in Jungian Analysis" (Daimon Verlag, 1997, "Circling to the Center, A Woman’s Encounter with Silent Prayer" (Paulist Press, 2001), "Side by Side, Writing Your Love Story" and "Footsteps, In Love with a Frenchman" (both Red Lotus Studio Press, 2015) and two writing books, "One Year to a Writing Life" (Da Capo Press, 2007) and most recently, Writing Toward Wholeness, Lessons Inspired by C.G. Jung", along with numerous narrative essays in journals and anthologies on both sides of the Atlantic. Ms Tiberghien teaches and lectures at graduate programs, at C.G. Jung Centers, and at writers’ conferences both in the States and in Europe. She has taught at the International Women's Writing Guild Summer Conference since 1990 and does workshops for the IWWG annually, älso at the Hudson Valley Writers' Center, the Bethesda Writers' Center, Grub Street Boston and the Muse and the Marketplace. She founded the Geneva Writers' Group in 1993 which she directed for 25 years and where she continues to give workshops. 

WEATHERWORLD (starting at $45)

In this 90 minute workshop, we will look at how weather and weather words are part of cultures, lands and lifes; the human focus on weather being a code to connect, a way to write, and a possibility to paint or photograph.
We will touch upon theories re cultural climates as well as art representing all sorts of weather. Facts lead to fiction: we will draw up ekphrastic freewrites as well as stormy-cloudy-sunny pieces.

Look forward to exploring Weatherland by Alexandra Harris, poems by Vasalis and Cecilia Knapp [a.o.]; artworks by Josefina Holmlund and Frida Kahlo. Included is a document with 'weather art' to muse on, next to the workshop information. To quote anthropologist Kate Fox: “Depending on their response to your weather greeting, you can tell if someone is in the mood for a chat, or is feeling grumpy and negative”. Let’s forecast and freewrite to explore!

Kate Copeland’s love for languages led her to teaching, her love for art & water to poetry. She is curator-editor for TER & runs linguistic-poetry workshops for IWWG [a.o.].
Find her poems @ TER, WildfireWords, Gleam, Spirit Fire Review [a.o.] & at https://www.instagram.com/kate.copeland.poems/ 

Featured Author/ Open Mic with Andi Penner

From her Albuquerque, New Mexico, home on traditional Tiwa lands, Andrea (Andi) Penner serves up poetry and creative non-fiction on In Our Own Ink. Her third and most recent book, Upcycled: Poetry Repurposed comprises new work and poems recently published in Neologism, Sky Island Journal, and Does It Have Pockets? Her second book, Rabbit Sun, Lotus Moon was a poetry finalist for the 2017 Arizona/New Mexico book award. She has spent a lifetime upcycling her credentials in diverse fields, from college English professor to industry consultant, trade school administrator to sci/tech editor at a national laboratory. And she brings all that writerly experience together with her mindfulness practice to teach the Mindful Editing workshop for IWWG. And last century? Well, that’s the stuff of her memoir-in-progress, which she aspires to write with clarity and grace.

In Our Own Ink indy publication (Substack) https://andipenner.substack.com/

When East Was North Facebook

Three Tools for Creating Believable Characters (starting at $50)

Three Tools for Creating Believable Characters: How do writers make characters "come to life" on the page for readers--including agents and editors? This course will delve into three tools (character timeline, setting timeline, identifying characters' wants and needs) that authors can use to create vivid, believable characters. Further, this course will show how all three tools work together and intersect with plotting and theme.

Sharon Short is the author of more than fifteen published books. Her newest, Trouble Island, is historical suspense (Minotaur Books), set in 1933 and inspired by true family history. Short is a contributing editor to Writer’s Digest, for which she writes the column, “Level Up Your Writing (Life).”

Gateway to Memoir (starting at $199)

Interested in writing memoir but not sure where to begin? Got a memoir in the works but could use some guidance? “Gateway to Memoir” is a foundational workshop that will show you the basics of the genre. We will spend four weeks discussing time in memoir, the ethics of writing memoir, establishing place and how to turn the people who populate your past into characters. The final two sessions will be reserved for workshopping writing submissions.

Minda Honey’s essays have appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Oxford American, Teen Vogue, and Longreads.

Her debut memoir, THE HEARTBREAK YEARS is a hilarious and intimate portrait of a Black woman finding who she is and who she wants to be, one bad date at a time.

Putting Our Grandmothers on the Page: Poetry, Prose, Memoir & Monologue (starting at $150)

“Grandma, come back, I forgot
how much lard for these rolls.”

Carolyn Forche’s poem, "The Morning Baking," is an address to her dead grandmother that evokes powerful longing and confronts the limits of memory. Grandmothers are a universal archetype––those from whom we are descended, the grandmothers we are, as well as those who influence us from fairy tale and myth. Grandmothers are rich thematic territory for poetry and prose, but we face challenges of writing past cultural stereotypes or into historical silences. How do we leap beyond sentimentality to grapple with shifting cultural norms? Grandmothers both illuminate and shadow our personal, family and cultural identities. In this writing generative workshop, participants will use prompts of personal photos, objects, and memory to excavate and expand our ideas and feelings about “grandmother.” New and experienced writers are welcome.

Kelly is a poet, playwright and workshop facilitator and author of four poetry collections. Her award-winning plays are produced around the US and Canada, and published by dramatic publishers. A past IWWG Board Member, Kelly teaches creative writing, including Monologue Play Labs & Showcases.

Elevate Your Fiction in Any Genre (starting at $50)

Elevate Your Fiction in Any Genre: Readers love stories that fit genre expectations. That's why stories and memoirs are classified into genres--so readers can narrow down the numerous options to a subset of books they think will interest them. But how can you make your story really stand out to readers--even while fulfilling genre expectations? This course focuses on how to overcome this seeming conundrum to create stand-out stories that readers will remember--and tell other readers about.

Sharon Short is the author of more than fifteen published books. Her newest, Trouble Island, is historical suspense (Minotaur Books), set in 1933 and inspired by true family history. Short is a contributing editor to Writer’s Digest, for which she writes the column, “Level Up Your Writing (Life).”

Paths to Publishing (starting at $50)

Paths to Publishing: You've written a memoir, novel, or book! Or a story or essay! Now... how do you get your prose into the hands of readers? There are many paths--traditional, self-publishing, or a hybrid approach. And all can seem daunting. This course defines these paths, explores each path's pros and cons, helps participants discern which might be the right one(s) for them, and gives practical how-tos and next steps.

Sharon Short is the author of more than fifteen published books. Her newest, Trouble Island, is historical suspense (Minotaur Books), set in 1933 and inspired by true family history. Short is a contributing editor to Writer’s Digest, for which she writes the column, “Level Up Your Writing (Life).”

Gateway to Memoir II (starting at $199)

In this 6-week workshop we will build on the foundation and skills developed during Gateway to Memoir I with more of a focus on:
Developing and strengthening your voice as a writer
Identifying narrative arcs at the chapter and book level
How to do self-research to aid your memory

The final two sessions will be reserved for workshopping writing submissions.

Minda Honey’s essays have appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the Oxford American, Teen Vogue, and Longreads.

Her debut memoir, THE HEARTBREAK YEARS is a hilarious and intimate portrait of a Black woman finding who she is and who she wants to be, one bad date at a time.