January 29, 2025

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Writing the Personal Essay with JD Mathes

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
January 29, 2025

Writing the Personal Essay with JD Mathes

(All Levels)

Alternating Wednesdays, 1/15, 1/29, 2/12, 2/26, and 3/12/25, 6:00-8:00 PM PT, on Zoom.

$50. Registration required.

In this workshop, participants will explore moments from their lives and use research to uncover connections between themselves and the wider world – topics can include nature, science, travel, culture, history – to write personal essays that ring with humanity.

J.D. Mathes grew up a feral child in the deserts of the American Southwest who loved to read library books and take photographs. He is a 2019-2020 PEN America Writing for Justice Fellow, a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar alumnus, an award-winning author of four books, photographer, screenwriter, and arts reporter. Although Mathes still struggles with subject-verb agreement and where to put commas, he is finishing work on his memoir Of Time and Punishment.

Events in January 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6 6:00 pm: All Genres Workshop with James Coats 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm January 6, 2025 All Genres Workshop with James Coats (All Levels) Alternating Mondays, 1/6, 1/20, 2/3, 2/17, and 3/3/2025, 6:00-8:00 PM PT, on Zoom. $50. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW In this multi-genre workshop, participants submit poetry and prose for critique. Discussions include the craft of writing and the challenges writers face. James Coats is a poet, performer, and educator born in Los Angeles and raised in the Inland Empire. You can take a poetry workshop with him through his organization Lift Our Voices Education, which hosts an award-winning workshop monthly called Be the Change. He is the author of four poetry collections. His most recent is Midnight & Mad Dreams. More	7 Poet-TRY 14 - Back to Basics! January 7, 2025 Poet-TRY 14 - Back to Basics In our FOURTEENTH YEAR of poet-try, we’ll go back to basics for a refresher or else a first time experience with that thing called poetry. $150 for six weeks. Asynchronous. To register: https://tinyurl.com/Poet-TRY14 What’s a poem anyway? Why does English have that weird system with metric feet? What are forms and do I want to play with them? (Trick question: YES, YOU DO WANT TO PLAY WITH FORMS). What’s a prose poem and why should I care? And more. Join us for a generative, asynchronous workshop where we write together and give encouraging empowering feedback. Occasional online office hours, and this time, I’ll provide an occasional social hour space for students – also optional. All levels welcome. Stephanie Barbé Hammer is a seven time Pushcart Prize nominee in fiction, nonfiction and poetry and is the author of two poetry collections (How Formal? City Slicker: Encounters with the Outside), two novels (The Puppet Turners of Narrow Interior; Pretend Plumber), a novelette (Rescue Plan), and a how to write magical realism craft book (Delicious Strangeness). Originally from Manhattan, Stephanie moved to Southern California in 1986. She has lived on the West Coast ever since; she taught at the University of California, Riverside campus for 30 years and she now resides in Santa Barbara, California. A professor emerita of Comparative Literature, she teaches creative writing at Hugo House Seattle and Inlandia Institute, Riverside. She is managing editor at SHARK REEF literary magazine (currently on sabbatical) and is culture editor at large and writer at the Journal of Radical Wonder. She sits on the advisory board of Writers Bloc Presents. More 11:30 am: Celena’s Scribes with Wil Clarke 11:30 am – 1:00 pm January 7, 2025 Celena’s Scribes with Wil Clarke (All Levels) Tuesdays, beginning 1/7/25, 11:30 AM-1:00 PM PT, on Zoom. Free. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW Participants respond to prompts about universal themes related to the human condition and are encouraged to explore all genres of writing. Individual writing is shared with a friendly, supportive group who do their best to encourage each member’s success. Wil Clarke was born in Africa to missionary parents. He lived a total of 27 years in Africa. He is a career mathematician and is enjoying writing memoirs of his various experiences. His motto is, “You only live life once, so you may as well enjoy it the first time around and do all the good you can.” More	8 6:00 pm: All Genres Workshop with Victoria Waddle 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm January 8, 2025 All Genres Workshop with Victoria Waddle (Int.-Adv.) Alternating Wednesdays, 1/8, 1/22, 2/5, 2/19, and 3/5/25, 6:00-9:00 PM PT, on Zoom. $50. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW In this multi-genre workshop, participants submit poetry and prose for biweekly critiques and receive feedback from other group members. Discussions include the craft of writing and the challenges writers face. The workshop leader provides biweekly articles and links related to participants’ work, particularly to problems that were discussed in the previous session. Victoria Waddle is a Pushcart Prize-nominated writer, with fiction and nonfiction published in literary journals and anthologies, including in Best Short Stories from The Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest. A collection of her short fiction, Acts of Contrition, is available from Los Nietos Press and her chapbook, The Mortality of Dogs and Humans, is available from Bamboo Dart Press. Her YA novel about a teen escaping a polygamist cult is coming from Inlandia Books. Previously the managing editor of Inlandia: A Literary Journey, she helped to establish a yearly teen issue. In a previous life, she was a high school English teacher and librarian. More	9 11:15 am: All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello 11:15 am – 1:15 pm January 9, 2025 All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello (All Levels) Thursdays, 11:15 AM-1:15 PM, In person at the Redlands Community Center, 111 W. Lugonia Ave, Redlands, Ongoing. Meets Weekly. (A Zoom option may be available; contact Inlandia for details.) This ongoing writing workshop meets weekly at Redlands Community Center. Memoir writing, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction writing are all encouraged and welcome. Discover the pure joy of writing and creating with others in a supportive environment. Mae Wagner Marinello has been a part of Inlandia since a 2008 writing workshop with Ruth Nolan. In 2014, she began facilitating a weekly writing workshop called Joslyn Joy Writers, at the Joslyn Senior Center in Redlands. During the pandemic lockdown, the weekly workshop continued on Zoom; it is now a hybrid class averaging between 10-20 combined participants on Zoom and in-person. More	10	11
12	13 6:00 pm: Writing for Children with José Chávez 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm January 13, 2025 Writing for Children with José Chávez (All Levels) Alternating Mondays, 1/13, 1/27, 2/10, 2/24, and 3/10/25, 6:00-8:00 PM PT, on Zoom. $50. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW This workshop is designed to meet the needs of those who wish to write or are writing for children. We’ll explore the writing voice for children, define a “picture book,” story arc, story introductions, appropriate vocabulary, children’s poetry, and more. There will be time to flex our writing muscles and develop the beauty and strength of our “voice” for children. José Chávez is a retired bilingual teacher who dedicates his life to writing. His poetry has been published in the Multilingual Educator Journal, Acentos Review, and the Inlandia anthology, and he is the author of two award-winning bilingual poetry books for children. José lives in Riverside, California, is married, and has three grown children. More	14 11:30 am: Celena’s Scribes with Wil Clarke 11:30 am – 1:00 pm January 14, 2025 Celena’s Scribes with Wil Clarke (All Levels) Tuesdays, beginning 1/7/25, 11:30 AM-1:00 PM PT, on Zoom. Free. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW Participants respond to prompts about universal themes related to the human condition and are encouraged to explore all genres of writing. Individual writing is shared with a friendly, supportive group who do their best to encourage each member’s success. Wil Clarke was born in Africa to missionary parents. He lived a total of 27 years in Africa. He is a career mathematician and is enjoying writing memoirs of his various experiences. His motto is, “You only live life once, so you may as well enjoy it the first time around and do all the good you can.” More 6:00 pm: The Art and Craft of Writing Poetry with Romaine Washington 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm January 14, 2025 The Art and Craft of Writing Poetry with Romaine Washington (All Levels) Alternating Tuesdays, 1/14, 1/28, 2/11, 2/25, and 3/11/25, 6:00-8:00 PM PT, on Zoom. $50. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW Discover the art and craft of writing poetry with generative prompts and other forms of poetic inspiration. Brief group feedback will help you uncover images and language that resonate for you and for your audience. Romaine Washington, M. Ed., is the editor of These Black Bodies Are... A Blacklandia Anthology and the author of Purgatory Has an Address and Sirens in Her Belly. She has been published in various anthologies and periodicals. Ms. Washington is a graduate fellow of The Watering Hole, South Carolina, and the Inland Area Writing Project at the University of California, Riverside. She was a public school educator for over twenty years. The proud mother of two sons, Romaine Washington is a native Californian from San Bernardino who resides in the Inland Empire. More	15 6:00 pm: Writing the Personal Essay with JD Mathes 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm January 15, 2025 Writing the Personal Essay with JD Mathes (All Levels) Alternating Wednesdays, 1/15, 1/29, 2/12, 2/26, and 3/12/25, 6:00-8:00 PM PT, on Zoom. $50. Registration required. In this workshop, participants will explore moments from their lives and use research to uncover connections between themselves and the wider world – topics can include nature, science, travel, culture, history – to write personal essays that ring with humanity. J.D. Mathes grew up a feral child in the deserts of the American Southwest who loved to read library books and take photographs. He is a 2019-2020 PEN America Writing for Justice Fellow, a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar alumnus, an award-winning author of four books, photographer, screenwriter, and arts reporter. Although Mathes still struggles with subject-verb agreement and where to put commas, he is finishing work on his memoir Of Time and Punishment. More	16 11:15 am: All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello 11:15 am – 1:15 pm January 16, 2025 All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello (All Levels) Thursdays, 11:15 AM-1:15 PM, In person at the Redlands Community Center, 111 W. Lugonia Ave, Redlands, Ongoing. Meets Weekly. (A Zoom option may be available; contact Inlandia for details.) This ongoing writing workshop meets weekly at Redlands Community Center. Memoir writing, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction writing are all encouraged and welcome. Discover the pure joy of writing and creating with others in a supportive environment. Mae Wagner Marinello has been a part of Inlandia since a 2008 writing workshop with Ruth Nolan. In 2014, she began facilitating a weekly writing workshop called Joslyn Joy Writers, at the Joslyn Senior Center in Redlands. During the pandemic lockdown, the weekly workshop continued on Zoom; it is now a hybrid class averaging between 10-20 combined participants on Zoom and in-person. More	17	18
19	20 6:00 pm: All Genres Workshop with James Coats 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm January 20, 2025 All Genres Workshop with James Coats (All Levels) Alternating Mondays, 1/6, 1/20, 2/3, 2/17, and 3/3/2025, 6:00-8:00 PM PT, on Zoom. $50. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW In this multi-genre workshop, participants submit poetry and prose for critique. Discussions include the craft of writing and the challenges writers face. James Coats is a poet, performer, and educator born in Los Angeles and raised in the Inland Empire. You can take a poetry workshop with him through his organization Lift Our Voices Education, which hosts an award-winning workshop monthly called Be the Change. He is the author of four poetry collections. His most recent is Midnight & Mad Dreams. More	21 11:30 am: Celena’s Scribes with Wil Clarke 11:30 am – 1:00 pm January 21, 2025 Celena’s Scribes with Wil Clarke (All Levels) Tuesdays, beginning 1/7/25, 11:30 AM-1:00 PM PT, on Zoom. Free. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW Participants respond to prompts about universal themes related to the human condition and are encouraged to explore all genres of writing. Individual writing is shared with a friendly, supportive group who do their best to encourage each member’s success. Wil Clarke was born in Africa to missionary parents. He lived a total of 27 years in Africa. He is a career mathematician and is enjoying writing memoirs of his various experiences. His motto is, “You only live life once, so you may as well enjoy it the first time around and do all the good you can.” More	22 6:00 pm: All Genres Workshop with Victoria Waddle 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm January 22, 2025 All Genres Workshop with Victoria Waddle (Int.-Adv.) Alternating Wednesdays, 1/8, 1/22, 2/5, 2/19, and 3/5/25, 6:00-9:00 PM PT, on Zoom. $50. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW In this multi-genre workshop, participants submit poetry and prose for biweekly critiques and receive feedback from other group members. Discussions include the craft of writing and the challenges writers face. The workshop leader provides biweekly articles and links related to participants’ work, particularly to problems that were discussed in the previous session. Victoria Waddle is a Pushcart Prize-nominated writer, with fiction and nonfiction published in literary journals and anthologies, including in Best Short Stories from The Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest. A collection of her short fiction, Acts of Contrition, is available from Los Nietos Press and her chapbook, The Mortality of Dogs and Humans, is available from Bamboo Dart Press. Her YA novel about a teen escaping a polygamist cult is coming from Inlandia Books. Previously the managing editor of Inlandia: A Literary Journey, she helped to establish a yearly teen issue. In a previous life, she was a high school English teacher and librarian. More	23 11:15 am: All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello 11:15 am – 1:15 pm January 23, 2025 All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello (All Levels) Thursdays, 11:15 AM-1:15 PM, In person at the Redlands Community Center, 111 W. Lugonia Ave, Redlands, Ongoing. Meets Weekly. (A Zoom option may be available; contact Inlandia for details.) This ongoing writing workshop meets weekly at Redlands Community Center. Memoir writing, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction writing are all encouraged and welcome. Discover the pure joy of writing and creating with others in a supportive environment. Mae Wagner Marinello has been a part of Inlandia since a 2008 writing workshop with Ruth Nolan. In 2014, she began facilitating a weekly writing workshop called Joslyn Joy Writers, at the Joslyn Senior Center in Redlands. During the pandemic lockdown, the weekly workshop continued on Zoom; it is now a hybrid class averaging between 10-20 combined participants on Zoom and in-person. More	24	25
26	27 6:00 pm: Writing for Children with José Chávez 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm January 27, 2025 Writing for Children with José Chávez (All Levels) Alternating Mondays, 1/13, 1/27, 2/10, 2/24, and 3/10/25, 6:00-8:00 PM PT, on Zoom. $50. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW This workshop is designed to meet the needs of those who wish to write or are writing for children. We’ll explore the writing voice for children, define a “picture book,” story arc, story introductions, appropriate vocabulary, children’s poetry, and more. There will be time to flex our writing muscles and develop the beauty and strength of our “voice” for children. José Chávez is a retired bilingual teacher who dedicates his life to writing. His poetry has been published in the Multilingual Educator Journal, Acentos Review, and the Inlandia anthology, and he is the author of two award-winning bilingual poetry books for children. José lives in Riverside, California, is married, and has three grown children. More	28 6:00 pm: The Art and Craft of Writing Poetry with Romaine Washington 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm January 28, 2025 The Art and Craft of Writing Poetry with Romaine Washington (All Levels) Alternating Tuesdays, 1/14, 1/28, 2/11, 2/25, and 3/11/25, 6:00-8:00 PM PT, on Zoom. $50. Registration required. https://tinyurl.com/Winter2025CWW Discover the art and craft of writing poetry with generative prompts and other forms of poetic inspiration. Brief group feedback will help you uncover images and language that resonate for you and for your audience. Romaine Washington, M. Ed., is the editor of These Black Bodies Are... A Blacklandia Anthology and the author of Purgatory Has an Address and Sirens in Her Belly. She has been published in various anthologies and periodicals. Ms. Washington is a graduate fellow of The Watering Hole, South Carolina, and the Inland Area Writing Project at the University of California, Riverside. She was a public school educator for over twenty years. The proud mother of two sons, Romaine Washington is a native Californian from San Bernardino who resides in the Inland Empire. More	29 6:00 pm: Writing the Personal Essay with JD Mathes 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm January 29, 2025 Writing the Personal Essay with JD Mathes (All Levels) Alternating Wednesdays, 1/15, 1/29, 2/12, 2/26, and 3/12/25, 6:00-8:00 PM PT, on Zoom. $50. Registration required. In this workshop, participants will explore moments from their lives and use research to uncover connections between themselves and the wider world – topics can include nature, science, travel, culture, history – to write personal essays that ring with humanity. J.D. Mathes grew up a feral child in the deserts of the American Southwest who loved to read library books and take photographs. He is a 2019-2020 PEN America Writing for Justice Fellow, a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar alumnus, an award-winning author of four books, photographer, screenwriter, and arts reporter. Although Mathes still struggles with subject-verb agreement and where to put commas, he is finishing work on his memoir Of Time and Punishment. More	30 11:15 am: All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello 11:15 am – 1:15 pm January 30, 2025 All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello (All Levels) Thursdays, 11:15 AM-1:15 PM, In person at the Redlands Community Center, 111 W. Lugonia Ave, Redlands, Ongoing. Meets Weekly. (A Zoom option may be available; contact Inlandia for details.) This ongoing writing workshop meets weekly at Redlands Community Center. Memoir writing, poetry, fiction, and nonfiction writing are all encouraged and welcome. Discover the pure joy of writing and creating with others in a supportive environment. Mae Wagner Marinello has been a part of Inlandia since a 2008 writing workshop with Ruth Nolan. In 2014, she began facilitating a weekly writing workshop called Joslyn Joy Writers, at the Joslyn Senior Center in Redlands. During the pandemic lockdown, the weekly workshop continued on Zoom; it is now a hybrid class averaging between 10-20 combined participants on Zoom and in-person. More	31

My Calendar

January 29, 2025

Writing the Personal Essay with JD Mathes

6:00 pm: All Genres Workshop with James Coats

Poet-TRY 14 - Back to Basics!

11:30 am: Celena’s Scribes with Wil Clarke

6:00 pm: All Genres Workshop with Victoria Waddle

11:15 am: All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello

6:00 pm: Writing for Children with José Chávez

11:30 am: Celena’s Scribes with Wil Clarke

6:00 pm: The Art and Craft of Writing Poetry with Romaine Washington

6:00 pm: Writing the Personal Essay with JD Mathes

11:15 am: All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello

6:00 pm: All Genres Workshop with James Coats

11:30 am: Celena’s Scribes with Wil Clarke

6:00 pm: All Genres Workshop with Victoria Waddle

11:15 am: All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello

6:00 pm: Writing for Children with José Chávez

6:00 pm: The Art and Craft of Writing Poetry with Romaine Washington

6:00 pm: Writing the Personal Essay with JD Mathes

11:15 am: All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello

Hillary Gravendyk Poetry Prize Submission Window Opens!