My Calendar

The week's events

  • - Memoir: Writing Your Life Story with Rose Y. Monge, Make them Swoon: Writing Romance Readers Will Love with James Coats
    Memoir: Writing Your Life Story with Rose Y. Monge

    Memoir: Writing Your Life Story with Rose Y. Monge


    February 27, 2023

    (Seniors, all levels)

    Mondays, 1:00-3:00 PM Janet Goeske Center (Art Room), 5257 Sierra Street, Riverside,

    1/23, 1/30, 2/6, 2/13, 2/27, 3/6, 3/13, 3/20, 4/3, 4/10, and 4/17/22.

    To register: https://tinyurl.com/Winter2023CWW

    Writers are encouraged to respond to prompts about universal themes related to the human condition: key relationships, physical places, historic events, personal hardships/recovery, love and loss, and personal achievement and development. It is these ties that bind us all in different stages of our lives. Each of us brings a unique perspective to every story. Maybe it's time to write yours. Space is limited.

    Rose Y. Monge has facilitated memoir classes at the Goeske Center since 2009. She encourages everyone to leave a written legacy for future generations. As an immigrant from Mexico, her memoir honors her parents’ legacy of life lessons. Her activism since retirement has been advocating for social justice, diversity, and inclusion.

    Make them Swoon: Writing Romance Readers Will Love with James Coats

    Make them Swoon: Writing Romance Readers Will Love with James Coats


    February 27, 2023

    (All Levels, +18)

    Alternating Mondays, 6:30-8:30 PM, Zoom, 1/30, 2/13, 2/27, 3/13, and 3/27/23.

    To register: https://tinyurl.com/Winter2023CWW

    In this poetry and prose generative writing workshop, participants will be prompted to create delicious text the audience can’t put down. Participants will explore – and be inspired – by the work of romance writers past and present as we examine craft, ways to avoid cliché pitfalls, and how to develop text that is both unique and thrilling.

    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.

  • - Celena’s Scribes with Wil Clarke, “Writing the Novella-in-Flash” with John Brantingham
    Celena’s Scribes with Wil Clarke

    Celena’s Scribes with Wil Clarke


    February 28, 2023

    (All Levels)

    Tuesdays, 11:30 AM-1:00 PM, Zoom, Weekly. Meetings resume January 10.

    To register: https://tinyurl.com/Winter2023CWW

    Named in honor of beloved workshop leader CelenaDiana Bumpus, participants are encouraged to write from a prompt and share their work, with friendly critiques offered by workshop members. All genres are welcome to be explored. Enrollment is limited.

    Wil Clarke tolerates writing, but loves having written. He was born and spent 27 years of his life in Africa. He misses the guidance and wisdom of Celena Bumpus and is attempting to keep her legacy alive in her former students through Celena’s Scribes.

    “Writing the Novella-in-Flash” with John Brantingham

    “Writing the Novella-in-Flash” with John Brantingham


    February 28, 2023

    John Brantingham Boot Camp

    “Writing the Novella-in-Flash”

    Tuesdays, 2/7, 2/14, 2/21, and 2/28/23

    7:00-9:00 PM PT, on Zoom

    $100, four weekly meetings

    Register today at https://tinyurl.com/BrantinghamWrites.

    February is right around the corner! Time to register for our second boot camp in a series of four with esteemed poet, fiction writer, and teacher John Brantingham. John returns (online) to the Inland Empire for a series of writing boot camps you won’t want to miss. New boot camps will be offered in March and April.

    In “Writing the Novella-in-Flash,” participants will develop the skills to write flash and micro fiction pieces that can stand alone, but also form a unified work when collected. A number of techniques in storytelling will be explored and students will be able to workshop their pieces. (Meets weekly.)

  • - Call for submissions for the Spring 2023 Teen Issue of Inlandia A Literary Journey, Poetry for Young Adults with Cait Johnson
    Call for submissions for the Spring 2023 Teen Issue of Inlandia A Literary Journey

    Call for submissions for the Spring 2023 Teen Issue of Inlandia A Literary Journey

    March 1, 2023

    Call for submissions for the Spring 2023 Teen Issue of Inlandia: A Literary Journey

    Now accepting art, book reviews, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for the Spring 2023 Teen Issue of Inlandia Institute’s online literary journal, Inlandia: A Literary Journey. We dedicate each Teen Issue to work by and for teens, particularly — but not exclusively — with connections to Inland Southern California. Submissions are open to ages 13–19. We are also looking for Teen Editors (see the FAQs for more information).

    Deadline EXTENDED TO FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2023!!

    Submissions open Wednesday, February 1, 2023, and close FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2023, at midnight Pacific Time.

    For guidelines and to submit: https://inlandiaaliteraryjourney.submittable.com/submit

    Poetry for Young Adults with Cait Johnson

    Poetry for Young Adults with Cait Johnson


    March 1, 2023

    (18 +, College Students, Graduates, Young Adults)

    Alternating Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30, Zoom, 1/18, 2/1, 2/15, 3/1, and 3/15/23.

    To register: https://tinyurl.com/Winter2023CWW

    This poetry workshop is aimed to support young writers in refining their poetry for publication through a feedback-based workshop setting. Community care and trusted feedback will be fostered in a welcoming environment. Each session will create a space in which participants can relate to each other’s unique experiences as young writers. The authenticity of the writers’ work will be emphasized in a free, non-competitive setting.

    Cait Johnson is a poetry and nonfiction writer with a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from CSULB. She credits much of her writing growth to leading and participating in writing workshops over the last 5 years. Workshops helped Cait build the confidence to share her work with the public. Cait's poetry has been published by Picture Show Press, Left Coast Review, and Literary Alchemy Press. She has also created two zines of original poetry and serves as a co-founder and editor of Art of Nothing, an annual zine that showcases up-and-coming young artists.

  • - All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello, Don’t Just Hit SEND: On How to Avoid Common Errors in Publishing
    All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello

    All Genres Workshop with Mae Wagner Marinello


    March 2, 2023

    (All Levels)

    Thursdays, 11:00 AM-1:00 PM, Redlands Community Center, 111 W. Lugonia Ave, Redlands, Weekly.

    To register: https://tinyurl.com/Winter2023CWW

    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.

    Don’t Just Hit SEND: On How to Avoid Common Errors in Publishing

    Don’t Just Hit SEND: On How to Avoid Common Errors in Publishing


    March 2, 2023

    First Thursdays Arts Walk

    “Don’t Just Hit Print SEND: On How to Avoid Common Errors in Publishing” with Jo Scott-Coe

    Free and open to the public. No registration required.

    Riverside Main Library, 3900 Mission Inn Blvd, Riverside, CA 92501

    Doors Open at 6:00 PM

    6:30-8:00 PM

    It happens to the best of us: We hit print, or send, and only afterwards notice a glaring error.

    Proofreading our own work is notoriously difficult. Learn some tried and true strategies that anyone can implement for getting your work print ready.

    Open readings start at 6:30. Program begins at 7:00.

    Jo Scott-Coe’s essays and stories have been published widely, for literary as well as academic audiences. Her third book, Unheard Witness: The Life and Death of Kathy Leissner Whitman, is forthcoming in Fall 2023 from the University of Texas Press.