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Write Around Portland offers a unique generative workshop called Prompt designed for writers and aspiring writers in the greater Portland area who want to participate in a Write Around workshop and support the communities we traditionally serve who might not otherwise have access to writing and community.
Based on the acclaimed Write Around Portland model, this dynamic 10 week workshop incorporates our favorite writing exercises designed to inspire the writing life, including freewriting; work with writing elements; strength-building feedback and early-draft revision. The workshop caps off with a community broadside.
2013 Sessions
Session 1: Ten Tuesdays, Jan 29 - April 2, 6:30 - 8:30pm - FULL
Session 2: Ten Wednesdays, March 13 - May 15, 6:30 – 8:30pm - FULL
Session 3: Ten Tuesdays, May 14 - July 16, 6:30 – 8:30pm - Register now
Session 4: Ten Mondays, July 15 – Sept 23, 6:30 – 8:30pm - Register now
Session 5: Ten Tuesdays, Oct 8 - Dec 17 [skip Nov 26], 6:30 – 8:30pm - Register now
Location: Powell’s City of Books
1005 W. Burnside, downtown Portland
Cost: $285* - Payment plans available
Cost includes free parking, snacks and access to the “Bowels of Powell's.”
Workshop facilitators with bios listed below.
Proceeds help fund Write Around Portland programs, including our free workshops in hospitals, treatment centers, schools, senior centers, prisons, low income housing buildings and homeless shelters.
Pre-registration is required and is limited to 12 adults per workshop.
NOTE: Spaces fill quickly! Call us (503.796.9224) to confirm there is space, to register and to discuss payment plan options.
Click here for information about our registration, payment options and refund policies.
2013 Prompt Workshop Facilitators:
Prompt #1 (Jan - April) Workshop facilitator Mary Kibbe earned a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Marylhurst University where she explored communication, writing, and an interdisciplinary approach to the formulation and re-formulation of individual identity. Mary currently focuses her writing time on poetry and has studied the art of memoir, creative non-fiction and personal essays. She is a founding member of her writing critique group, Broads on the Side. As a Write Around Portland volunteer, Mary has facilitated workshops for burn and trauma survivors, at-risk youth and low-income families.
Prompt #2 (Mar - May) Writing has been the only constant in life for workshop facilitator Kellie Ernst (well, ok, breathing too). A word nerd by birth, and Medical Anthropologist by training, Kellie has witnessed the power of writing (especially in community) as salvation. With a few academic publications to date, chronicling tales and research data of pregnant teenagers, mothers who are abusing drugs and pediatric cancer survivors, she is inspired and driven to find a home and space for a multitude of creative writing pieces (mostly poetry and creative non-fiction). Kellie has facilitated Write Around Portland workshops for people who are incarcerated, low income housing residents, middle-schoolers, adults with developmental disabilities and people in addiction recovery. These have been the most gratifying moments of her life. She wants to write with you.
Prompt #3 (May - July) Writing has been central to every aspect of workshop facilitator Matt Blair’s life, from earning his BA in music composition, to teaching English in Japan and China, to speaking at national conferences. He is currently working on projects which increase awareness of public art, highlight poetry boxes throughout Portland, and encourage more people to try their pen at writing poetry. Matt has volunteered with Write Around Portland since 2009, facilitating Prompt workshops, as well as workshops for low-income seniors, burn- and trauma-survivors and people living with disabilities.
Prompt #4 (July - Sept) Workshop facilitator Graham Murtaugh is a poet with a serious bent towards civic engagement. With Write Around Portland, he has facilitated workshops in alternative high schools, conference rooms, hallways and at Multnomah County Inverness Jail; pretty much anywhere they'll let him set up shop. He also facilitates with the Center for Civic Reflection in Chicago and helps curate arts programming for Imago Dei Community in Portland. He has worked with Carl Adamshick, Kaia Sand, John Morrison and other local poets; his most recent work is forthcoming in Booth Journal.
Prompt #5 (Oct - Dec) Workshop facilitator Stacy Brewster is a writer, photographer, and artist. He earned his BFA in film and television production from NYU and worked as a producer for several years before moving to Portland to focus on fiction writing. Stacy has been volunteering with Write Around Portland since 2007 and has facilitated writing workshops for burn trauma survivors as well as adults on low incomes and with physical or mental disabilities and numerous Prompt workshops. He is currently at work on two novels and several short stories.
What Prompt participants are saying about their experience:
"Whether you’ve been writing for eons or have never shared your writing within a group, this experience is not to be missed."
"Prompt opened my writing in different ways. It pushed me past an extended period of writers' block into a new period of creativity."
"Prompt was fun and inspirational and a great place to meet other people who share the same passion."
"It's well worth the time, effort and money. You'll surprise yourself!"
"It was an amazing experience! I've always wanted to do something like this but was afraid to try until now."
"I felt exhilarated after each workshop. I'm inspired!"
"If you're in a rut, Prompt will get you out. If you're lacking confidence in your writing, it will build you up. And if you don't think you have a unique voice, it will prove you wrong!"
"I loved it! Prompt was everything I'd hoped for and more than I expected. Everyone should take it!"
"The facilitator was well-prepared, inclusive, supportive and an excellent writer."
"Prompt was like a door for me - it opened up my creative side again after a long time. I loved the non-pressure vibe."
"I loved the inclusive, community-building part of the workshop experience."
"This was an incredible experience. It's hard to express how much this has really impacted me and made me feel so much more confident about my writing."
"The facilitator was fabulous!"
"The sense of community was strong. It was a wonderfully diverse group of people that likely would not have otherwise met."
"It was great! Prompt helped me gain confidence and excitement about my writing."
"This is a great way to stretch yourself, deepen your experience of who you are as a person and a writer."
"I really enjoyed coming together with people from all walks of life and different age groups. It reminded me of what we share as humans - joys and sorrows."