The week's events
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- How to do Justice to Diversity in Fiction — Journey to Merveilleux City
How to do Justice to Diversity in Fiction — Journey to Merveilleux City
How to do Justice to Diversity in Fiction — Journey to Merveilleux City
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June 2, 2024Sunday, June 2, 2024
Conversations at the Culver with Stephanie Barbé Hammer and Romaine Washington
How to do Justice to Diversity in Fiction — Journey to Merveilleux City
1:30-3:00 PM; doors open at 1:00 PM
UCR ARTS
Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts
3824 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92501
Free and open to the public.
How do we, as writers, tell the stories of characters whose lived experience is different from our own? How do we create a world in our work that’s true to the multicultural spaces we inhabit – without risking the misappropriation of those cultures?
Please join Romaine Washington and Stephanie Barbé Hammer in conversation about Stephanie’s new novella, Journey to Merveilleux City, finalist for the Foreword Indie book award, Mystery category.
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- Writing for Children with José Chávez, Poetry & Prose with James Coats
Writing for Children with José Chávez
Writing for Children with José Chávez
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June 3, 2024Writing for Children with José Chávez
(All Levels)
Alternating Mondays, 6:00-8:00 PM PT 4/22, 5/6, 5/20, 6/3, and 6/17/24 on Zoom.
$50. Registration required.
https://tinyurl.com/Spring2024CWW
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 and dedicates his life to writing. He's had poetry published in the Multilingual Educator Journal, Acentos Review, Inlandia Anthology and has written two award-winning bilingual poetry books for children. He lives in Riverside, CA, is married, and has three grown children.
Poetry & Prose with James CoatsPoetry & Prose with James Coats
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June 3, 2024Poetry & Prose with James Coats
(All Levels)
Alternating Mondays, 6:30-8:30 PM PT, 4/8, 4/22, 5/6, 5/20, and 6/3/24
on Zoom
https://tinyurl.com/Spring2024CWW
In this multi-genre workshop, participants receive twice-monthly inspiration in the form of both poetry and prose. Prompts inspire writing in the genre of your choice. Class discussions include the craft of writing and the challenges writers face in generating poetry, memoir, and short and long fiction.
James Coats is an author, poet, and educator born in Los Angeles and raised in the Inland Empire. He received his BFA from Cal Poly Pomona and his MBA from Cal State San Bernardino. As a creative change agent, he believes the arts can inspire youth and influence positive change in the world. His first poetry collection, If I had Lived, was published in 2018. In 2021, he founded Lift Our Voices Education, which hosts the monthly “Be The Change: Social Justice Writing Workshop.” His newest poetry collection, Midnight & Mad Dreams, is published by World Stage Press. Follow him on Instagram @MrLovingWords.
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- Micro Memoir with David Puma
Micro Memoir with David Puma
Micro Memoir with David Puma
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June 4, 2024Micro Memoir with David Puma(All Levels)
Alternating Tuesdays: 4/23, 5/7, 5/21, 6/4, and 6/18 • 6-8 PM
In person at Riverside Main Library – Carnegie Room
3900 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside 92501Micro memoirs are short standalone pieces that often explore a moment in time, rather than an expanded life chapter. They are drawn from personal experience. Micro memoirs combine truth-telling with narrative tension and are specific to the writer’s micro-memory. Join instructor David Puma for this in-person workshop at Riverside Main Library as participants unleash the power of micro memoir.
David Puma obtained his M.F.A. in creative writing at San Jose State University and his B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Redlands. He has been in advanced poetry workshops every semester for the last four years, and has performed spoken word across California, including the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and the Inland Empire – as well as in New York City and in London, U.K. Professionally, David’s poetry has been included on streaming platforms like Disney+.
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- All Genres Workshop with Victoria Waddle
All Genres Workshop with Victoria Waddle
All Genres Workshop with Victoria Waddle
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June 5, 2024All Genres Workshop with Victoria Waddle
(Int.-Adv.)
Alternating Wednesdays, 6:00-9:00 PM PT, 4/10, 4/24, 5/8, 5/22, and 6/5/24, on Zoom
$50. Registration required.
https://tinyurl.com/Spring2024CWW
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.
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- Loud and Clear -- The Voices of Gay and Trans Literature
Loud and Clear -- The Voices of Gay and Trans Literature
Loud and Clear -- The Voices of Gay and Trans Literature
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June 6, 2024Thursday, June 6, 2024
First Thursdays Arts Walk – Loud and Clear: The Voices of Gay and Trans Literature
Riverside Main Library Community Room
3900 Mission Inn Avenue
Riverside, CA 92501
7:00-8:00 PM; doors open at 6:30 PM
Free and open to the public.
Join Inlandia for a celebration of Pride Month as LGBTQIA+ community members share literary passages by LGBTQIA+ authors that have influenced, encouraged, shaped, and inspired them.
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- Writer’s Toolbox with Renee Gurley, Inlandia at the Maloof Artist Series Presents Ellen Estilai and Exit Prohibited
Writer’s Toolbox with Renee Gurley
Writer’s Toolbox with Renee Gurley
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June 8, 2024Writer’s Toolbox with Renee Gurley
(All levels)
Alternating Saturdays, 10:00 AM-12:00 PM PT, 4/13, 4/27, 5/11, 5/25, and 6/8/22, on Zoom.
$50. Registration required.
https://tinyurl.com/Spring2024CWW
Unlock the door to your storytelling potential with "Writer's Toolbox," a transformative 5-session workshop designed to hone your craft and elevate your writing to new heights. Whether you're an aspiring novelist, seasoned writer, or simply eager to unleash your creative prowess, this course is your gateway to mastering the essential elements of compelling storytelling.
Throughout this immersive journey, we'll delve deep into the art of characterization, exploring techniques to breathe life into your characters and make them leap off the page. From crafting complex personalities to infusing your characters with depth and authenticity, you'll learn how to create protagonists and antagonists that resonate with readers long after they've turned the final page.
Renee Gurley, MA, MFA, is a writer and English teacherwith over 20 years of experience with words, whose works have appeared in Coping Magazine, Lehigh Valley Woman’ s Journal, and Budget Press.
Inlandia at the Maloof Artist Series Presents Ellen Estilai and Exit ProhibitedInlandia at the Maloof Artist Series Presents Ellen Estilai and Exit Prohibited
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June 8, 2024Saturday, June 8, 2024
Inlandia at the Maloof Artist Series Presents Ellen Estilai and Exit Prohibited
12:00-2:00 PM
Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts
5131 Carnelian St
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91701
Free and open to all ages.
Inlandia Institute, in partnership with the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts, invites you to a very special afternoon with Ellen Estilai, author of Exit Prohibited: A Memoir of Iran, published by Inlandia Books. A book talk is scheduled for Saturday, June 8, at 12:00 PM, at the Maloof Home, Gardens, and Gallery in Rancho Cucamonga, and will include a discussion of the author’s extraordinary experiences living in—and leaving—Iran, accompanied by selected readings and book signing by the author.
Books will be available for sale in the Maloof Store, and may be purchased online at https://inlandia-institute.square.site/ and through Amazon.
Exit Prohibited explores a side of Iran and Iranians seldom portrayed in popular media. It follows Ellen Estilai and her family after the 1979 Iranian Revolution as they attempt to leave Tehran, their home of nine years. At the airport, Ali, her Iranian husband, is inexplicably prevented from leaving. As he confronts hostile colleagues and the Islamic Republic’s opaque bureaucracy, Estilai examines their lives, trying to understand what might have brought them to this point. It is a story of an Iran that is at once welcoming and hostile, progressive and traditional, enamored of and distrustful of the West—an Iran as complex as Estilai’s relationship to it.
Ellen Estilai has spent much of her career collaborating with artists, writers, and agencies to strengthen communities through the arts. She has served as the executive director of the Riverside Arts Council and the Arts Council for San Bernardino County, and has taught English language, literature, and writing in universities in Iran and California. Because Ellen and her husband have been immigrants in each other’s countries, her writing frequently explores the joys and tribulations of the immigrant experience.