Writing Circle Master Class – Online

Meets the first two Wednesdays after Daré (with some variation)
6:30 – 9:30 pm PDT, via Zoom
See dates here. 

For accomplished writers working on a project or committed to regular writing. The goal is  to ally with the creative spirits and contribute to a literature that invokes a viable future for all beings. Fiction, creative non-fiction, story, memoir, poetry, theater, film narrative and story architecture.

These circles speak to the passion for language, deep respect for meaning and love for story and narrative, which are tools for creating a self, a body of work, and a life.  The original nature of the work and its intent is central.

These are the words I wrote last year and they are still true, but…

All our writing, that is all the real writing is gravely endangered by AI and the current Administration in ways and with a rapidity we never imagined. Both AI and the Administration reduce thought and meaning to a banal common denominator undoing the essential wisdom and richness of diversity, cultural traditions, true history, the astonishing intelligence of the natural world and all the non-human beings, as well as the range of our vibrant communities and so, my hope and intention is to invoke a circle with the means and inspiration to meet such times.

This being said, this is how we spoke of the writing circle last year and these values still exist:

These are forums in which writers are guided to explore their own voices and the meaning and depth as well as the ethical, philosophical implications of the stories they tell with in a community of peers.  The sacred responsibility and opportunities of the writer are confirmed and sustained. These circles serve published writers/artists as well as those not published, all of whom are working on a project and are serious about devoting themselves to writing, expecting to spend the next years or their lifetime in this pursuit.  While some members of this Writing Circle have been with Deena about 30 years, others have joined recently. Currently, Deena is exploring an earth based, spirit based Literature of Restoration that recognizes the possibilities of a viable future for all beings and writes toward this end.

Writing exercises are explored during each session with the goal of helping the individual writer formulate and pursue a plan for a larger work.  The individual exercises serve to propel the work forward, fulfill and enhance its dimensions, or sharpen and develop the skills and vision that the writer has.  The focus is upon meaning and upon craft through meaning.

Any of the genres, with the exception of screen and television writing, can be explored here.  The essential interest is in literature and not in commercial writing per se.

Deena teaches several weekend workshops per year and offers a weeklong Writing Intensive every year beginning on Memorial Day Weekend

To apply please contact Jude Weber.

Click here for fees.

To familiarize yourself with Deena’s work it is suggested you read Writing For Your Life, Entering the Ghost River, Feral, A Rain of Night Birds, and her latest novel, La Vieja: A Journal Of Fire. If you are a poet, please read Ruin and Beauty: New and Selected Poems.