# Free Workshops for Writers
Get help writing, publishing and marketing your own book with free Writer's Lab workshops at the Library. We typically offer one-two writing workshops a month plus an annual "Writer's Day" conference (as part of Jax Book Fest). All programs are free to attend and open to all.
# October & November Offerings
Writer's Lab: Writing Violence During Violent Times
Attend a free workshop with the Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker Award-winning novelist, Gabino Iglesias from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18, at West Branch Library. Participants will explore the most popular types of violence in fiction and learn how to use it as a tool to improve storytelling. He will share his dos, don'ts, and grey areas in between while paying attention and taking into consideration real violence on a local, national, and international level. Participants will also analyze the role of empathy in violent narratives, "Otherness," physicality, and other core elements of great character development.
After tackling the explosive, messy nature of violence and the role of language in violent narratives, he'll discuss the "formula" and how to pace it (and subvert it) to serve your writing.
Gabino Iglesias is the author of The Devil Takes You Home, as well as author of the critically acclaimed and award-winning novels Zero Saints and Coyote Songs. He is known for combining horror, noir, and supernatural elements with stories inspired by his Puerto Rican heritage.
His latest book, House of Bone and Rain, has been hailed as "Stand By Me with a haunted, obsidian-dark heart." by the New York Times Book Review.
Synopsis: "For childhood friends Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul, and Bimbo, death has always been close. Hurricanes. Car accidents. Gang violence. Suicide. Estamos rodeados de fantasmas was Gabe’s grandmother’s refrain. We are surrounded by ghosts. But this time is different. Bimbo’s mom has been shot dead. We’re gonna kill the guys who killed her Bimbo swears. And they all agree."
Check out books by Gabino Iglesias
Writer's Lab: Find Poems Anywhere (Found Poetry Workshop)
Learn how to discover poetry in the everyday, transforming everyday words, phrases, and objects into poetry. Using materials like newspapers and magazines, you'll learn the art of collage and arrangement to create unique, personal poems.
No writing experience required—just bring an open mind and a sense of curiosity from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 8, at the Willow Branch Library. By the end of the workshop, you'll leave with a few new poems of your own and an expanded perspective on where to find creativity in your day-to-day life.
Jessica Q. Stark is the author of Buffalo Girl (BOA Editions, 2023), Savage Pageant (Birds, LLC, 2020) and four poetry chapbooks. Savage Pageant was named one of the “Best Books of 2020” in The Boston Globe and in Hyperallergic. Her poetry has most recently appeared or is forthcoming in Best American Poetry, Poetry Society of America, Pleiades, The Southeast Review, Carolina Quarterly, The Boiler, Tupelo Quarterly, Glass Poetry Journal, among others. See more at jessicaqstark.com.
You can also watch the Lit Chat Interview with Jessica Q. Stark (from 2023) on our YouTube channel. Or listen to the episode on our Completely Booked podcast.
Readalikes for Jessica Q. Stark
- We Should All Be Feminists, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Borderlands/La Frontera, by Gloria Anzaldua
- If They Come for Us, by Fatimah Asghar
- We are Never Meeting in Real Life, by Samantha Irby
- No One Belongs Here More Than You, by Miranda July
- Sister Outsider, by Audre Lorde
- The Source of Self-Regard, by Toni Morrison
- Ain’t Burned All the Bright, by Jason Reynolds
- Black Girl You Are Atlas, by Renee Watson
- Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, by Lindy West
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