WELCOME TO THE HVWC CALENDAR: home of all our upcoming readings, events and workshops. You can view by list or calendar (see right menu to choose). Click the colored tabs below to show only specific options. Our workshops run as multi-session series or one-day “intensives.” Note, we list the multi-session courses on the first day they meet only. The full dates of the session are described in the course descriptions. You would need to scroll back to the start date if you needed to enroll for something already underway. But do let us know if you want to join something in midstream since we need the blessing of the instructor. Questions? Email us.
Workshops – This category encompasses all one-day and multi-week classes, whether in person or via Zoom.
Readings – Our readings are in many different genres and take place in person, on Zoom, or both!
HVWC Recurring Events – This category encompasses such regular favorites as Open Mic, Open Write, and Submission Sunday.
Special Events – These other creative experiences are sure to interest our creative community!
This August 1 workshop will be a series of prompts to inspire your summer writing. This workshop will feature a series of contemplations inspired by dogs, the film Dog Day Afternoon, and the summer afternoon as backdrop. I am excited about this configuration, and the reflection it will provide us. First, dogs. Yes, dogs as friend, […]
This 6-week, 2.5-hour workshop is designed for those who would like to kickstart or refine their poetry writing practice. In this class, we will look at poems from established writers such as Michael Longley, Nicole Sealey, Marie Howe, and Ilya Kaminsky, as a means to discuss craft: line, imagery, language, and the consideration of form […]
There are things we find difficult to write about. Persona poetry is one way we can enter and explore the unsayable on the page. It helps us step back from the particulars of our lives and imagine other perspectives. In turning our focus away from our autobiographical selves, we can cut through our fears to […]
In this two hour intensive, we will delve into the strategies and techniques of dialogue, touching on the differences between writing dialogue and replicating real-life conversations; realistic vs. stylized dialogue, and the case for each; dialogue as character, i.e.,writing distinctive speech patterns; banter, crosstalk and verbal swordplay, and what the director Howard Hawks used to […]
How can I evoke a world/situation/character/emotion swiftly and potently? This is a question that fiction writers are always asking, but flash fiction brings particular urgency to it. Participants will examine samples of contemporary flash fiction, and then experiment with the form themselves. We will consider questions such as: How can a piece achieve arc and […]
This lecture will help poets discover their own poetic "family tree"--the poets who have and will make you the poet you are. We'll look at groups of poets to see what poetic influences we can trace through looking at several literary movements (Harlem Renaissance, Confessional poets of the 1960s, and Black Arts Movement Poets). How […]
“You own everything that happened to you.”—Anne Lamott This workshop will focus on writing your memories into poetry or prose with discussion, examples, and in-class writing prompts designed to help you mine the rich territory of your past. We’ll generate a lot of seeds for future work and look at some ways to structure your […]
Poetry finds you wherever you may be, in your kitchen, on a walk, at the supermarket, in the shower, or maybe when you are reading the paper, or a magazine. The great joy of a poem is that you never know when inspiration will strike! Some poets start with an idea, others with a first line or title, but often […]
This is a course designed for writers looking to create screenplays, stage plays, and teleplays for television shows. Paramount in this effort, we will focus on an approach which is necessary in all dramatic writing — the importance of conflict. How we define, pinpoint and create interesting, unusual characters. How structure is the backbone of […]