February 2020
CANCELED: Fiction Workshop: Daydream Your Hero’s Journey
Member price: $132 Deadline to register: February 10, 11:59 pm February 17 - 19 Instructor: Wendy Low Ages 10 - 13 “We all—adults and children, writers and readers—have an obligation to daydream.” —Neil Gaiman Good at daydreaming? Writing fiction is one place to apply your talent! You can experience the world through the senses of your main character, whether they are a mouse, a dragon, a shy middle-schooler, or someone never yet encountered in fiction. By learning the basic structures…
Find out more »FLASH! Fiction and Photography
Member price: $275 Deadline to register: February 10, 11:59 pm February 17 - 21 Instructors: Juliana Muniz and Christine Green Ages 14 - 17 In this collaborative experience with Flower City Arts Center, participants will create their own fictional stories with a skilled writer, then learn how to create their own black- and- white photographs to illustrate their writing. Participants will enjoy craft lessons in setting, character, and story arc; gain hands-on experience using a professional lighting studio; learn how…
Find out more »Memoir in Fragments
Member price:$65 Deadline to register: February 10, 11:59 pm Instructor: Gail Hosking Do you ever feel overwhelmed about writing your past because it feels like too big of a task? Our memories and thoughts come in fragments. We can push through the opposition by using prompts as a springboard to generate small pieces and find ways into your stories of the past. We will play with language as we learn about the craft of scene, summary, reflection, and causal logic.…
Find out more »Happy Birthday, Toni Morrison
Join Writers & Books and The Baobab Cultural Center as we celebrate Toni Morrison. Begin the evening at The Baobab Cultural Center with a viewing of In Black and White, VOL. 3: TONI MORRISON (the first video series devoted to the life and work of contemporary African American authors.”- California Newsreel) followed by a facilitated round table conversation with special guests. Following this discussion, we will head next door to Writers & Books for a reception. Tickets for this…
Find out more »Writing Your Memoirs: The Surprise Story of Your Life
Member price:$225 Instructor: Anais Salibian Writing does more than put down what you already know; it helps you discover new meanings. If you're interested in writing about your life but don't know where to start, this is the class for you. We'll discuss different forms of memoir and do writing exercises that will help you find the stories inside the flow of events in your life. Writing does more than put down what you already know; it helps you discover…
Find out more »Character Driven Fiction: Making it Happen
Member price:$225 Deadline to register: January 12, 11:59 pm Instructor: David Seaburn E.M. Forster suggested that if an author writes that the King died and then the Queen died, there is no plot for the story; but if the author writes that the King died and then the Queen died of grief, the writer has provided a plot line. It is through the nuanced complexity of characters’ internal lives and external actions that plots are driven. Participants in this workshop…
Find out more »Comedy Improv
Member price: $88 Deadline to register: February 10, 11:59 pm February 20, 21 Instructor: Julie Donofrio Ages 10 - 13 In this two-day workshop, students will learn the basic rules of improvisation and some basic comedy techniques, as well as a variety of theater games and comedy improv games, such as those featured on the television show, Whose Line Is It Anyway? The class will present some of their favorite games for family members at the end of the second…
Find out more »Literary Partners: Lori Nolasco Martinez & Jennifer Kellogg
February 20, 2020 | Lori Nolasco Martinez & Jennifer Kellogg Free and open to the public A Rochester, NY, native, Lori Nolasco Martinez is the author of two FootHills poetry collections, Ariadne of the Freezing Rains (2010) and Demetrio’s Scythe (2014). Her poem “Maplewood Rose Garden,” which pays tribute to the last stop on the Underground Railroad, is included in the Rochester Poets Walk at the Memorial Art Gallery. Lori is a graduate of the Sorbonne, where she earned a Doctoral degree…
Find out more »A Sense of Place in Narrative Nonfiction
Member price: $75 Deadline to register: February 14, 11:59 pm Instructor: Michael J. McGandy Writing successfully with place in mind is tricky. Locality gives narrative non-fiction work focus, verisimilitude, and grit. It also can limit the audience and fail to pass the “so what?” test. Senior Acquisitions Editor Michael J. McGandy will consult with authors who are developing narrative non-fiction projects: from concept and proposal, then pitching, and to writing. We’ll also examine specific case studies of successful and failed…
Find out more »Hidden Figures: How Inanimate Objects Help Us See Ourselves
Member price: $22 Instructor: Alicia Hoffman How can writing behind the concealment of a mask both free and reveal us? What would your favorite blanket tell you if it could speak? Or the single hawk feather found on a trail in the deep woods? Or the radio tower looming over the city skyline? In this generative workshop, we will explore, through reading and writing our own work, how taking on the persona of the many inanimate figures that populate our…
Find out more »Write On for Homeschoolers
Member price: $182 Wednesdays, January 8 - March 25 (no class Feb. 19) Instructor: Caren Barth Ages 13+ We live to create at Write On. Students develop their own stories and poems. Weekly workshops focus on constructive, encouraging feedback and analysis. Classes include writing prompts or games, time to work on projects, and skill-building as needed. Content will be student-directed, so expect lots of creativity!
Find out more »The Threshing Floor: LGBTQ+ Writing Group
Free and open to the public The deep end is fine here, so we don't have to stay in the safe shallows. If you love writing, especially "edgy" stuff, bring it. In all good writing, we benefit from many perspectives and are willing to take them in while standing in and speaking from our own truth.
Find out more »Write Your First (or Next) Novel
Member price:$225 Deadline to Register: February 18, 11:59 pm Instructor: Alex Sanchez You’ve always wanted to write a novel, but aren’t sure how. Or maybe you tried and got bogged down, or lost steam, or don’t know what to do next. Have no fear! Through class discussions and readings, we’ll break down the novel-writing process into steps to help you work through the roadblocks holding you back. You’ll develop your own novel idea or manuscript through writing exercises and revision…
Find out more »History Reading Salon
Free and Open to the Public Explore the big issues and personalities of history. The History Reading Group focuses on one topic each month and invites attendees to bring in books, articles, pictures, or experiential knowledge to share. Topics have ranged from the Chicago Fire of 1871, to Martin Luther, to the Romanovs, to the Opium Wars. Join the conversation every first Thursday of the month. January 23: U.S. Eugenics, 1870-1950 February 27: The Conquests of Alexander the Great March…
Find out more »Writers ROC!
Free and open to the public Ages 10-12 In this young writers group you’ll do some new writing, share your work, and hone your skills. This will be a supportive community mentored by MCC creative writing major Misty Yarnall, who will present writing prompts, offer tips for revising and editing, and most of all create space for young writers to gather!
Find out more »Seeing Again: Digging Deeper for Revision
Member price:$65 Deadline to register: February 21, 11:59 pm Instructor: Anais Salibian Once you have an initial draft, editing is not the next step. Discovering a new vision is. "Beneath the external justifications for writing are secret internal motivations, and beneath these are subconscious impulses and great, pulsing mysteries we sense but cannot say. These appear in our writing's inner story...that current of emotion and thought that moves in and through the plot." (Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew, Living Revision) In this…
Find out more »CANCELED: Teen Writers Circle
Member price: $144 Saturdays, January 11, 25, February 8, 29, March 14, 28 Instructor: TBD Ages 13+ Avid and accomplished teen writers meet to explore new approaches to their craft, give one another feedback under the guidance of published writers, and plot world domination, or at least the future domination of the publishing industry! Using examples, prompts, and optional outside assignments, participants explore literary genres, techniques, and approaches, and receive encouraging, strategic feedback on whatever works-in-progress are underway. We’ll set…
Find out more »Writing the Future
Member price: $22 Instructor: Alison Lyke What breakout technology and trends will alter the future’s societal landscape? It’s up to you, a speculative and science fiction writer, to propose the answer to this question. In this workshop, we’ll explore some of history’s most intriguing pieces of postulate science fiction, including works by Margret Atwood and Kurt Vonnegut. Employing articles from current science, tech, and social magazines as a jumping-off point, you’ll use creative writing to take an emerging idea to…
Find out more »March 2020
Wide Open Mic
Free and Open to the Public Whether you have a polished piece or a rough work-in-progress, come and share your writing with a supportive community of writers. We begin with a featured reader and then open the mic to all. 7pm First Wednesdays. February 5 featured reader: Jennifer Maloney Jennifer Maloney has lived in Rochester since 1985. She writes from a place of addiction and recovery; bone-deep knowledge of poverty; the wilds of mental illness; and with gratitude for the…
Find out more »The Book Thieves: Young Professionals Book Club
First Thursday of the Month Free and Open to the Public February 6: Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden March 5: Severance by Ling Ma
Find out more »Literary Partners: Regina Buttner & Ted Obourn
Regina Buttner & Ted Obourn Free & open to the public Regina Butler has earned degrees in both landscape architecture and nursing, but it was Wendy Low’s “Time To Write” class at Writers & Books in 2014 that helped her to establish a daily writing habit that she has stuck with ever since. Her short fiction has appeared in Rochester Parent Magazine, Vine Leaves Journal, and Stone Canoe. Her debut novel, Absolution, will be published by Spark Press in October…
Find out more »First Fridays
Free and open to the Public
Find out more »Deepening Your Expression with a Journal
Member price:$65 Deadline to Register: February 28, 11:59 pm Instructor: Nancy Steinkamp What are we learning from our life journey? Is there wisdom lying dormant that is tender, humorous, or aching to be expressed so that it can connect with another person's experience? In this class you will review your past writing through a new reflective lens to reveal universal themes and deepen your unfolding story. Using special journaling techniques, you will discover the meaning behind your writing and determine…
Find out more »Veteran’s Writing Group
Free and open to the public First Saturday of the month, 10am - 1pm
Find out more »Poetry: Image and Sentence
Member price:$225 Deadline to Register: March 4, 11:59 pm Instructor: David Ruekberg Ezra Pound defined image as “that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time.” It’s the thing that sparks a moment of epiphany, that makes us go “Ah!” And yet poems are made of sentences, or parts of sentences, one damn word after another. In this class, we’ll look at how words, lines, and sentences prepare the way for moments of increased understanding. Through…
Find out more »Literary Partners: CaTyra Polland & Jesse Cruz
CaTyra Polland & Jesse Cruz Free & open to the public Author, editor, entrepreneur, and speaker CaTyra Polland’s debut book, Professionalism What’s That?, is available at Amazon as a paperback or e-book. CaTyra recently published a journal tailored to Black women and is working on her first poetry collection. A community volunteer serving on the boards of several Rochester nonprofits, her passions include promoting and celebrating Black excellence and encouraging youth to read and write. Author Jesse A. Cruz lives in upstate New York with…
Find out more »Literary Partners: Jennifer Hudak & David DeGraff
Jennifer Hudak & David DeGraff Free & open to the public Jennifer Hudak is a speculative fiction writer whose stories have appeared both online and off in such places as PodCastle and Daily Science Fiction and the anthology Endless Apocalypse. Originally from Boston, she now lives with her family in Upstate New York, where, in addition to writing, she teaches yoga, knits tiny pocket-sized animals, and misses the ocean. Visit jenniferhudakwrites.com David DeGraff is an astronomer, science fiction writer, and Professor of Astronomy at Alfred University. In addition…
Find out more »Show, Don’t Tell—But How?
Member price:$65 Deadline to register: March 6, 11:59 pm Instructor: Alex Sanchez You’ve probably been told at least once, “show, don’t tell!” It’s one of the fundamental rules of writing, but how exactly can we do it? Through class discussions, reading examples, and writing exercises, we’ll take a deep dive into learning the specific tools and techniques used by great writers and apply them to our own projects. (And we’ll also learn when it’s okay to tell.) Recommended Bibliography: The…
Find out more »Literary Partners: Lori Bruton & Seema Khaneja
Lori Bruton & Seema Khaneja Free & open to the public Lori Bruton is a passionate, faith-filled, fun-loving entrepreneur who shares her stories and adventures about love, travel, faith, fun, writing, essential oils, wellness, and living the Oola Lifestyle creating balance in the key areas of your life. Her book, Hole To Whole: Journey To Hope And Transformation, was published in December 2019. She is the mother of two grown sons and lives in Western New York. Seema Khaneja is the author of Physician,…
Find out more »Literary Partners: Claudia Stanek & Patricia Roth Schwartz
Claudia Stanek & Patricia Roth Schwartz Free & open to the public Claudia M. Stanek grew up in the blur of murmurs and silences of Polish-accented English while living on the border of Polish-Catholic steel town Depew and German-Lutheran rural Lancaster in Western New York State. Her Language You Refuse to Learn was the 2013 co-winner of the Bright Hill Press chapbook contest, Her poems have appeared in such magazines as Dime Show Review, Inscape, Modern Poetry Quarterly, and Ithaca Lit, and in the anthologies Cinquainicity, Community Voices, and Le Mot Juste. She…
Find out more »Talk Pretty to Me: Writing Dialogue
Member price:$65 Deadline to Register: March 13, 11:59 pm Instructor: Brian Wood Elmore Leonard once said, “Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them…. I’ll bet you don’t skip dialogue.” Perhaps because it’s so important, many writers find dialogue the most intimidating part of writing. Not any more. In this dialogue master class we’ll learn and practice the tools and techniques to make your dialogue sing. First,…
Find out more »Minda Harts Book Launch: The Memo: What Women of Color Need To Know To Secure A Seat At The Table
Free and Open to the Public The Memo is the much-needed career advice guide for women of color specifically, finally ending the one-size-fits-all approach of business books that lump together women across races and overlook the unique barriers to success for women of color. In a charismatic and relatable voice, Minda Harts brings her entrepreneurial experience as CEO of The Memo to the page, as well as her past career life as a fundraising consultant to top colleges across the country. With…
Find out more »Visiting Authors: Minda Harts in Conversation with Tianna Mañón
Book Launch: The Memo: What Women of Color Need To Know To Secure A Seat At The Table Free & Open to the Public Drawing on her entrepreneurial experience as CEO of The Memo, as well as her past career as a fundraising consultant, Minda Harts’s Memo acknowledges the “ugly truths” that keep women of color from getting the proverbial seat at the table in corporate America: micro-aggressions, systemic racism, and white privilege. With wit and candor, Hart gives…
Find out more »Writing a Powerful Memoir
Member price:$65 Deadline to Register: March 20, 11:59 pm Instructor: Mark Block Have you ever wanted to write a memoir? Share your life stories with family and friends? Do you have a story to tell that might inspire or challenge others? This special workshop will provide you with the basic steps for creating a powerful and compelling memoir. First we’ll examine memoir composition and discuss key elements of anecdotal writing. Then, using handouts as a guide, you’ll choose a relevant…
Find out more »How To Unravel A Buried Story: Re-Discovering Martha Matilda Harper March 31, 7pm
$5 General Public | Free to Members Learn how to use artifacts, curiosity, determination to uncover buried history and re-inspire the world about women’s achievements. Whether researching your own family history or facts for a story, or simply wanting to know how the Harper story was re-discovered, Jane Plitt, a Rochester businesswoman, stumbled on the name of Martha Matilda Harper and the fact that she was the first woman member of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. Yet the Chamber knew…
Find out more »Visiting Authors: Martha Matilda Harper, with Jane Plitt
How to Unravel a Buried Story: Re-Discovering Martha Matilda Harper, with Jane Plitt Talk & Book Signing Free & Open to the Public Jane Plitt stumbled on the name “Martha Matilda Harper'' and the fact that she was the first woman member of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. Yet the Chamber knew nothing about her. Ultimately, Plitt spent six years criss-crossing the United States and Canada piecing together Harper’s forgotten business and human achievements. Jane Plitt is the author of…
Find out more »April 2020
Visiting Authors: Gary Copeland Lilley
11 am - 12:30 pm: Special Topics Workshop: Writing a Personna Poem 1 pm: Reading Gary Copeland Lilley is the author of eight books of poetry, including Alpha Zulu (Copper Canyon Press) and, most recently, The Bushman’s Medicine Show (Lost Horse Press, 2017). Blue Horse Press published his chapbook, The Hog Killing, in 2014. A Cave Canem Fellow, he has received the DC Commission on the Arts Fellowship for Poetry and is published in numerous anthologies and journals, including The…
Find out more »MONDAY: Start Your Story
Member price: $44 Deadline to register: March 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Rylie Day Ages 7-9 Are stories constantly running through your imagination? Get your ideas out of your head and onto paper! This camp will give you fresh ideas and creative tools for starting your own story or continuing work on one you have already begun. Rylie Day is native to Rochester and graduated from Nazareth College in 2013 with her degree in English Literature. Her passions include Shakespeare, children,…
Find out more »MONDAY: Comedy Improvisation
Member price:$44 Deadline to register: March 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Julie Donofrio Ages 10-13 Improvisation is acting without a script, and often includes audience participation. Students will learn the basic rules of improv, and then a variety of theater games and comedy improv games such as those featured on the television show, Whose Line is it Anyway? To put their new skills to work the class will present some of their favorite games for friends and family at 2:00 pm.…
Find out more »TUESDAY: Young Storytellers
Member price: $44 Deadline to register: March 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Judy DeCroce Ages 7-9 The art of storytelling is important for confidence in any presentation. We’ll use theater games to introduce skills needed to perform and engage an audience. We will practice a variety of techniques to deliver a story including voice, body language, and facial expressions. Judy DeCroce is an educator and professional storyteller who has taught and entertained for over 25 years. Her technique is “first person”…
Find out more »TUESDAY: Myth, Mystery, & Me
Member price:$44 Deadline to register: March 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Almeta Whitis Ages 10-13 Today we will go on an imaginary adventure, encounter formidable and friendly beings to help us seek creative solutions to magical problems, mirrored in our present world challenges. Enter a magical landscape to discover our inner resources, explore myths, and use archetypes and mystery to learn important life lessons. A treasure hunt for magical amulets will bring challenges, dispel chaos, establish harmony and bring peace and…
Find out more »WEDNESDAY: Stories to Grow On
Member price: $44 Deadline to register: March 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Tracy Nemecek Ages 7-9 Stories can help us to take a closer look at our own thoughts and feelings and to appreciate moments of joy and face moments of challenge. We’ll read stories together as a group, create art, and use creative movement to understand and express our emotions more effectively. Read, create, grow! Tracy Nemecek is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. As an undergraduate, she majored in Psychology…
Find out more »WEDNESDAY: Flash Your Fiction
Member price:$44 Deadline to register: March 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Judy DeCroce Ages 10-13 Flash fiction is a short form of writing in which every word is essential. These stories have a rhythm, and foundation of character, setting, and plot. We will learn to hook the reader quickly, and then, through an unexpected twist, leave the reader wanting more. Students will go home with at least three new pieces of writing! Judy DeCroce is an educator and professional storyteller who…
Find out more »THURSDAY: Heroes of Social Justice
Member price: $44 Deadline to register: March 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Marna Rossi Ages 7-9 Celebrate heroes around the world who stand up for justice and freedom. We will learn about local and international heroes, decide what makes a hero, and use your imagination in fun activities honoring heroes. With a partner, present to your classmates an amazing hero who dared to be different, through a short skit and a collage drawing. Marna Rossi, PhD, is a storyteller and workshop…
Find out more »THURSDAY: Hogwarts Day One
Member price:$44 Deadline to register: March 26, 11:59 pm Ages 10-13 Jump into the world of all things Harry Potter! You will make a wand, write for the Daily Prophet, and take several classes central to the wizarding world. Learn Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration and more! Leave at the end of the day feeling as if you yourself were a student at Hogwarts. It is not necessary to participate in Day One in order to participate in…
Find out more »Literary Partners: Danielle Pafundo & Edward Dougherty
Danielle Pafundo & Edward Dougherty Free & open to the public Danielle Pafunda is the author of nine books of prose and poetry, including The Book of Scab (Ricochet Editions, 2018), Natural History Rape Museum (Bloof Books, 2013), and Manhater (Dusie Press, 2012), Iatrogenic: Their Testimonies (Noemi Press, 2010), as well as two chapbooks. Her work has appeared in three editions of The Best American Poetry, and has been widely anthologized. A teacher at Rochester Institutute of Technology, she has served on the board of directors of VIDA; and holds a BA…
Find out more »FRIDAY: Superheroes Are Everywhere
Member price: $44 Deadline to register: March 26, 11:59 pm Instructor: Lisa Buck Ages 7-9 Superheroes aren’t just in the movies and comic books, they are everywhere: in your family, among your friends, in your neighborhood. We’ll look at the book Superheroes Are Everywhere by Kamala Harris. By exploring different cultural, ethnic, and social backgrounds not always found in mainstream children’s lit we will discover that everyone can have an amazing story. Lisa Buck has been a teacher in the…
Find out more »FRIDAY: Hogwarts Day Two
Member price:$44 Deadline to register: March 26, 11:59 pm Ages 10-13 Jump into the world of all things Harry Potter! You will make a wand, write for the Daily Prophet, and take several classes central to the wizarding world. Learn Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Transfiguration and more! Leave at the end of the day feeling as if you yourself were a student at Hogwarts. It is not necessary to participate in Day One in order to participate in…
Find out more »Literary Partners: Katherine Hastings & Charlie Coté
Katherine Hastings & Charlie Coté Free & open to the public Katherine Hastings is the author of three collections from Spuyten Duyvil Press: Shakespeare & Stein Walk Into a Bar (2016), Nighthawks (2014), and Cloud Fire (2012), as well as several chapbooks. Poet laureate emerita of Sonoma County, CA, she edited Know Me Here: An Anthology of Poetry by Women; Digging Our Poetic Roots: Poems from Sonoma County; and What Redwoods Know: Poems from California State Parks. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies. She hosted WordTemple on NPR affiliate KRCB FM,…
Find out more »Literary Partners: Paula Weld-Carey & Kitty Jospé
Paula Weld-Carey & Kitty Jospé Free & open to the public Paula Weld-Cary’s poetry has appeared in journals in the United States and abroad, including Portland Review, Slab, Cream City Review, Nimrod, Poetry Salzburg Review, Third Wednesday, and The Aurorean. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. One of her poems is forthcoming in The Midwest Quarterly and another in an environmental textbook. She lives in New York State. Kitty Jospé is a linguist and poet who has moderated popular weekly reading poetry appreciation sessions since 2008. She…
Find out more »Literary Partners: Jessica Cuello & Liza Flum
Jessica Cuello & Liza Flum Free & open to the public Jessica Cuello is the author of Hunt (The Word Works, 2017) and Pricking (Tiger Bark Press, 2016). She has been awarded The 2017 CNY Book Award, The 2016 Washington Prize, The New Letters Poetry Prize, a Saltonstall Fellowship, and most recently, The New Ohio Review Poetry Prize. Her most recent poems can be found in Copper Nickel, Cave Wall, Bat City Review, Pleiades, and Salamander. Liza Flum is a…
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