Creative writing is a tool for knowing yourself, understanding the world, and connecting with other people. Led by author Seema Reza and accomplished guest writers—including poets, memoirists, novelists, and storytellers—these generative community workshops follow the model developed by Community Building Art Works (CBAW) over the course of a decade of bringing people together in military and hospital settings. Each workshop is designed to help participants put their personal stories on paper in a supportive environment.

Whether you’re just starting out or have been writing for years, you are welcome; no experience is required. Bring a pen, a notebook, and an open mind!

“PARDON MY HEART”: Celebrating Unapologetic Candor with Rosebud Ben-Oni

About This Workshop
“Pardon my heart if it ruins your party,” writes Marcus Jackson. “It’s a large, American heart and has had // a good deal to drink. It’s a pretty bad / dancer—too much feeling, too little technique.” In this workshop, we’ll explore what it means to take up space on the page though it might “ruin the party,” so as to get past self-censorship and one’s own inner demons of fear and doubt. How can you, in times of such troubling uncertainty, unleash unbridled joy onto the page? How can you hit an inner “reset” button and start from a new, fresh perspective that celebrates who you’ve always been, including the good and the bad, the loud and the quiet, the clear and the dim? For inspiration we’ll read poets like Jackson and Ada Limón. We’ll examine different approaches to unleashing your most unbridled candor so that you jump new territory of imagination and fresh pages. You’ll be given writing exercises and poetry prompts, and also takeaways at the end of the lab on how to move forward in your poetry, even in writing of the past, and how to keep curiosity, hope and sheer audacity alive in such trying times.

Rosebud Ben-Oni is the author of several collections, including the forthcoming The Last Great Adventure is You (Alice James Books, 2027), a sequel to If This is the Age We End Discovery (2021), which won the Alice James Award and was a Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. Her work has been commissioned by Paramount, the National September 11th Memorial, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage. She has received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Queens Arts Fund, Cafe Royal Foundation, Queens Council on the Arts and CantoMundo. Her work appears in POETRY, APR, The Writer’s Chronicle, Academy of American Poets, Poetry Society of America, The Poetry Review, Poetry Wales, Tin House, among others. Find Rosebud Ben-Oni on: Facebook | Instagram | Blue Sky | Tiktok | X

These Strathmore workshops are recorded (unless otherwise specified) and a link to the recorded version is available for registered participants only, upon request. The recorded version is edited for participant privacy and focuses on the instructor’s lessons. Our partners at Strathmore want these workshops to be as accessible as possible, so they are priced as “pay what you can.” You will be prompted to enter an amount of your choice when you register. (If you are registering for free, please enter $0.) If you are able to pay for these workshops, every dollar goes to support Strathmore’s education programs.

REGISTER HERE

NOTE: This is a fully online event. When you register, your ticket email from tickets@strathmore.org will include a seat number, but remember that this is a virtual-only experience. The workshop takes place on Zoom, and you’ll receive the access link via email from strathmore@strathmore.org at approximately 4 PM Eastern Time on the day of the event. Click to view samples of the ticket email (HERE) and the zoom link email (HERE) for the Strathmore events.