International Women's Writing Guild |
Poetry Palooza Events The International Women’s Writing Guild is a vibrant creative community that connects soulful women writers across the world—writers from countless backgrounds, interests, and genres. Now, we are delighted to share with you our ambitious new poetry series. The Guild’s Poetry Palooza is a multiple-month program where you can hone your craft, learn about literary citizenship, and arm yourself with insider knowledge on the publishing industry. Whether you’re brand new to poetry or a best-selling professional, there is lots to learn in these workshops, open mics, free writes, and more. Credit/Refund Policy If you withdraw from a workshop or class:
Please note that notification of withdrawal must be processed via email iwwgquestions@iwwg.org. If IWWG must cancel a class for any reason, we will give you a full refund or, if you choose, a credit in the amount of your payment, to be used for any future class or event. Credits are valid for one year from date of issue. | PURCHASE POETRY PALOOZA WORKSHOP BUNDLE (20% DISCOUNT): |
Poetry Program Panel - Literary Citizenship February 1, 2022 Moderator: Trish Hopkinson | Join IWWG with your host Trish Hopkinson for an evening of celebration, literary citizenship, poetry programming, and a national poetry month special event announcement! We’ll be introducing the upcoming poetry programming, Kelsay Books 40% discount on all books just for IWWG members, and gathering together literary advocates, and of course poets, to talk about literary citizenship and how to grow and strengthen your poetry community. Panelists include:
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Alina Stefanescu | Camille Wanliss | Dayna Patterson | Deborah Bacharach |
Write a book review To write a great book review, you have to tell the reader about the context, themes, and craft. In the last few years, I’ve published almost 30 reviews in top journals using the techniques I’m going to share with you. I’m going to focus the class on poetry books, but all these techniques are transferrable to other genres. We will learn to code the poems as we go, find themes, analyze their craft, and collect the results in a cohesive, engaging review. You are welcome to practice all these techniques with a book of your choosing. But in addition to your individual work, all students will be provided with a free copy of Heidi Seaborn’s poetry chapbook Bitemarks. We will work together practicing all the reviewing skills and will finish the class with a publishable review of Bitemarks. |
Debby Bacharach is the author of Shake & Tremor (Grayson Books, 2021) and After I Stop Lying (Cherry Grove Collections, 2015).
Her poems and essays have been published in journals nationally and internationally, including Midwest Quarterly, Poetry Ireland Review, Vallum, Cimarron Review, New Letters and Poet Lore; been anthologized in A Fierce Brightness: Twenty-Five Years of Women's Poetry; and received a Pushcart prize honorable mention. She has been the featured reader at poetry readings in Boston, Oberlin, Seattle, South Bend, and Minneapolis. She is currently a poetry reader for The American Journal of Nursing, reviewer for Broadsided and Carolina Quarterly, and a staff writer for The Asheville Review.
Educated at Swarthmore College and the University of Minnesota, Debby lives in Seattle with her family. She is a college writing instructor, editor, and tutor and teaches poetry workshops for children. Find out more about her at DeborahBacharach.com.
Exploring the Feminine Divine (2-Part) February 16 / March 2, 2022 | The Shekhinah. Lady Wisdom. God the Mother. Many religious traditions are patriarchal and worship mainly a male deity, but traditions of the feminine divine persist, sometimes hidden, obscured. In this two-part workshop, we’ll “dwell in possibility” as we explore alternative approaches to theology, uncovering and celebrating the feminine divine. We’ll look at prose and poetry by Alicia Ostriker, Allison Pelegrin, Elizabeth Vignali, Traci Brimhall, Vandana Khanna, and others, as we reconceptualize and draft our own poems, flash fiction, and micro-memoir pieces that question, invoke, praise, and complicate the feminine divine. Because March is Women’s History Month, in the second workshop, we’ll continue our exploration of the feminine divine as we discuss 2022’s theme, designated by the National Women’s History Alliance: “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope.” We’ll write to and about women whose contributions may have been overlooked, including our own maternal ancestors, recognizing and relishing the sacred as manifest in the women around us. |
Dayna Patterson is a Thea-curious recovering Mormon, fungophile, macrophotography enthusiast, and textile artist. She’s the author of Titania in Yellow (Porkbelly Press, 2019) and If Mother Braids a Waterfall (Signature Books, 2020). Honors include the Association for Mormon Letters Poetry Award and the 2019 #DignityNotDetention Poetry Prize judged by Ilya Kaminsky. Her creative work has appeared recently in EcoTheo, Kenyon Review, and Whale Road Review. She’s the founding editor of Psaltery & Lyre and a co-editor of Dove Song: Heavenly Mother in Mormon Poetry. In her spare time, she curates Poetry + Fungus, a pairing of poetry books and species from the fungal world. daynapatterson.com
Opportunities for Writers: March 23 & March 30, 2022 | Finding and submitting to creative writing opportunities – whether its literary journals, fellowships, residencies, or grants – can often feel like an overwhelming and daunting task. You may find yourself asking, “Where do I look?” “What work should I include?” or “What materials are required?” In Part 1 of this workshop, we’ll share resources and offer tips and best practices for getting the most out of your application – from where to find opportunities to developing a strong artist statement and project proposal that will help you stand out. In Part 2, we’ll celebrate with an interactive submission party! We’ll work together to find the best opportunities for you and cheer you on as you press “submit!” Come with questions and prepared materials. |
Camille Wanliss is a New York-based writer and founder of Galleyway, an online platform that spotlights monthly opportunities for writers of color.
She is a 2022 Periplus Fellow and was selected for AWP’s Writer-to-Writer Mentorship Program (2021), the NYFA/DCLA City Artist Corp Grant (2021), and among the winners of the 2020 Pigeon Pages Essay Contest.
Her work has appeared in Plantin Mag, Raising Mothers, Anomaly, Kweli Journal, Weird Sister, and The Feminist Wire, among others.Additional honors include the Adria Schwartz Award in Women’s Fiction, the Small Axe Literary Prize shortlist, and fellowships and residencies from Mineral School, Vermont Studio Center, and Writing in the Margins. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the City College of New York.
FREE Events
Free Write with Alina Stefanescu February 18, 2022 | Mary Ruefle says the secret of every word is etymology, its "DNA", the fabric one pushes against to find the hidden seam. Two sides of a secret are "expression" and "repression." Two sides of a poem are "told and untold." In this free-writing session, we will explore how to defang a secret by telling it, by writing the visible and the invisible, riding the tension between what is sacred and profane. |
Alina Stefanescu was born in Romania and lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her partner and several intense mammals. Recent books include a creative nonfiction chapbook, Ribald (Bull City Press Inch Series, Nov. 2020) and Dor, which won the Wandering Aengus Press Prize (September, 2021). Her debut fiction collection, Every Mask I Tried On, won the Brighthorse Books Prize (April 2018). Alina's poems, essays, and fiction can be found in Prairie Schooner, North American Review, World Literature Today, Pleiades, Poetry, BOMB, Crab Creek Review, and others. She serves as poetry editor for several journals, reviewer and critic for others, and Co-Director of PEN America's Birmingham Chapter. She is currently working on a novel-like creature. More online at www.alinastefanescuwriter.com.
National Poetry Month Reading Featuring Maggie Smith April 7, 2022 |
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