Leora Fridman: Blank Slate & Blank Page – A Workshop in Generative Writing

1 Saturday, February 11, 10am-4pm
$130 members/$145 non-members

Do you love writing and want to express yourself, but feel intimidated by the blank page? In this course we will focus on the tender excitement of getting started: we will learn to see the opportunity in the blank page and the outlines of a sculpture that lies within a blank slate. We will look beyond just our notebooks and keyboards for inspiration, and will learn strategies and structures to get going that include prompts from a variety of genres, using the visual, the somatic, and other modalities of the body and mind.

“Once we respond to several kinds of prompts, we’ll then create prompts for one another and reflect on what is most effective to get (and keep) each of us moving,” says instructor Leora Fridman. “At the end of the day, you will have a better understanding of your writing process, a selection of prompts you can use moving forward, as well as brand-new starts that you can draw from and revise on your own time. This course is appropriate for those with lots of experience in writing and for those with very little experience—the purpose of the course is to (learn to) generate your own momentum in ways that will be useful across all genres of writing.”

Leora Fridman is the author of My Fault (Cleveland State University Press, 2016) in addition to five chapbooks, and is currently at work on a book of nonfiction. Her poems, prose, and translations appear and are forthcoming in magazines including Tricycle Magazine, Denver Quarterly, jubilat, and jacket2. Leora holds degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst MFA Program for Poets and Writers and from Brown University, and has taught for universities and community organizations across the country. She is a recipient of multiple grants and honors from supporters including the Vermont Studio Center, the Center for Cultural Innovation, and the Dorot Foundation. More at leorafridman.com.