No creative writing experience required! Join Community Building Art Works for our monthly community building creative writing workshop in partnership with Strathmore. May’s workshop will be led by Rosebud Ben-Oni. Tickets can be found here. Doors at 6:30, workshop begins promptly at 7 pm.
About the series: Led by accomplished authors, these generative workshops focus on the craft of writing as a tool for introspection, communication, and connection. Bring a pen, a notebook, and an open mind! Tickets are $25, and we appreciate any donation to support our programs. Your donation will fund similar workshops at military hospitals.
Drafting the Personal Essay With Seema Reza
About the workshop: The personal essay is a process of discovery, of honoring knowledge. In this workshop we’ll look at a few essay excerpts, do one or two exercises of discovery, and then get to writing a draft of a personal essay.
About the Facilitatotr: Seema Reza is the author of the poetry collection A Constellation of Half-Lives and the memoir When the World Breaks Open. Reza has led writing workshops within correctional facilities, military and civilian hospitals, and schools. She is the Executive Director of Community Building Art Works, a unique arts organization that encourages the use of the arts as a tool for narration, self-care, and socialization among a military population struggling with emotional and physical injuries.

Seema Reza is a poet and essayist and the author of two books: A Constellation of Half-Lives and When the World Breaks Open. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Writing and Community Building from Goddard College. In 2010 Seema began working with service members, veterans, and their families at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and has since developed a unique multi-hospital arts program that encourages the use of the arts as a tool for narration, self-care and socialization. In 2015, the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore awarded Seema the Col John Gioia Patriot Award for her work with service members in military hospitals. Seema is a 2019 George W. Bush Institute Stand-To Veteran Leadership Scholar.