Whether overwhelmed by life’s daily pressures, simply unsure how to start, or facing a bad case of writer’s block, this two-session workshop focuses on exercises that can help you clear your mind, identify story ideas, and get you writing (again). The first workshop session will consist of a brief lecture on the role of narrative writing in helping people cope with stress and trauma and a series of writing exercises to help students identify and potentially let go of those issues or concerns that may be interfering with their ability to create. The second session will focus on how students can build and expand upon those exercises to get those meaningful narratives, either fact-based or fiction, down on the page, allowing us to reconnect with ourselves and others. This workshop can benefit both new writers and seasoned writers who need some help jump-starting their creativity.
Date: Thursday, July 15; 7 - 8:15 and Friday, July 23rd, 7-8:15 pm
Location: Virtual Event
Price: $50 members; $65 non-members
Age: 18+
Materials Needed: Access to writing tools (pen and paper or computer/laptop)
About the Teaching Artist:
Sandi Sonnenfeld is a published fiction and creative nonfiction writer with more than 10 years of experience teaching creative writing workshops. Sandi holds a BA in English from Mount Holyoke College and an MFA in Fiction Writing from the University of Washington, where she studied under National Book Award Winner Charles Johnson. Her short stories and narrative essays have been published in more than two dozen literary magazines and anthologies. She’s also the author of the memoir, This is How I Speak (2002: Impassio Press), which recounts Sandi’s struggle to come to terms with herself both as an artist and a woman after surviving a terrifying sexual assault. Upon the memoir’s publication, Sandi was named a Celebration Author by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, which recognizes writers whose work merits special notice. She’s currently working on a historical novel set in 17th-century Russia. Sandi has taught writing at the Center for Talented Youth, Johns Hopkins University; Poughkeepsie Public Library District; and at various colleges and universities, most recently at Marist College. Sandi also sits on the board of the Mid-Hudson Arts Education Alliance, a new initiative through Arts Mid-Hudson.