Dates: Mondays, June 21 – July 26 (no class on July 5). Five class session 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM EST Cost: $125 Register here
The past year has seen our entire world change, from the COVID-19 pandemic, to the global protests against racial violence and police brutality, to mass shootings, more racially-motivated violence, and on and on. Writers should be at the forefront, creating positive change for their communities.
As writers, we practice world-building as part of our craft. This workshop will focus on writing the world you want to live in. Participants will focus on a social issue about which they passionate, and will develop a writing project that they will develop over the course of the workshop.
The workshop is open to writers of all skill levels, ages 18+.
I am excited to be participating in the upcoming Women’s History Month Virtual Festival with this free writing workshop! Hope to see you there.
Virtual Writing Hour: Madame CJ Walker and Alice Dunbar Nelson Date: Saturday, March 27th 2021 Time: 3- 4pm EST Cost: Free Register here.
Join us for a virtual creative writing hour. We’ve set up a space where writers can create, connect and draw inspiration from portraits of Madam CJ Walker and Alice Dunbar Nelson. The Portrait Gallery will provide the writing prompts. Please bring a writing utensil and paper or have your computer or tablet at hand!
The festival will also have story time, drawing classes, lectures and activities for art lovers of all ages to celebrate Women’s History Month. It’s all free. You just have register. Reserve your spot!
Let’s Talk About It: Understanding Race and Culture Through Portraiture and Writing Wednesday, September 30, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM EDT Cost: Free Register here
Please join the National Portrait Gallery and DC-based writer Willona Sloan as we engage in creative writing exercises designed to encourage meaningful dialogue around topics that include race and cultural identity. Through guided looking of works of portraiture from the collection of the Portrait Gallery we will write to celebrate and affirm diverse perspectives and identities with the goal of fostering community across cultures. This program is intended for writers of all levels who are 18+.
Virtual Teacher Workshop | Portraits Inspiring Student Writing about Current Events Session I – Strike a Prose for Teachers Wednesday, September 16, 2020 3:30 — 5:00pm EST Cost: Free Register here
Learn teaching strategies while generating new writing of your own in this creative writing workshop. We will use portraits of social justice activists from the Portrait Gallery’s collection as the inspiration for creative writing that explores current political issues, including the ongoing protests for police reform and racial equity. The workshop will include guided nonfiction and poetry writing exercises.
Virtual Teacher Workshop | Session II – Portraits, Pens & Protests Wednesday, September 23, 2020 3:30 — 5:00pm EST Cost: Free Register here
In this workshop, we will share strategies for using portraits to inspire creative writing about current political events. The workshop will include interactive discussion and mini-writing exercises, designed to help you implement these strategies in your classroom. The workshop will build on Session I but may also be taken as an independent workshop.
Virtual Writing Hour Tuesdays, 5:00 – 6:00 PM EST Cost: Free Register here
I host a weekly, free virtual writing happy hour on Tuesdays. Please join us whenever you can. We look at one work of art that inspires the writing prompt. You can also work on your own writing during the time. It’s just a fun way to gather in a collective creative space.
Load up your cheese plate and join me for a virtual, creative writing hour at the National Portrait Gallery!
Virtual Writing Happy Hour
Bring your own happy hour beverage of choice and write with us at the Virtual Writing Hour at the National Portrait Gallery. Our goal is to create a virtual space where writers can create, connect, and draw inspiration from the Portrait Gallery’s online exhibitions. We will provide writing prompts, and you are also welcome to bring your own writing project-in-progress. We will write for about 30 minutes and end each session with a brief discussion or reading.
The happy hours will be held on Tuesdays at 5:00 PM, beginning on Tuesday, April 21. Choose the date you wish to join us. Register here.
I hope you are well. I am planning to start a weekly newsletter with creative writing prompts for adults and children for the next couple of months, with the goal of inspiring creative writing, reducing anxiety, and providing a little joy! It will also help me to alleviate some of my own anxiousness.
If you want in, please send me your email address at creativegeniusdc@gmail.com or you can send me a DM. If you are already on my mailing list, please email me to let me know that you would like to receive this newsletter.
Who Am I and Who Are We? (creative nonfiction) This is workshop has been postponed. New date TBD.
What does it mean to be “American” in 2020? In this creative nonfiction workshop, you will draw inspiration from Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today, which features 50 artists responding to the current political and social context in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. We will employ techniques from fiction and nonfiction writing to explore issues of identity, self-representation, and connectedness, as we tackle exhibition themes such as immigration, race, sexuality, violence, community, and family.
Strike A Prose: Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery This is workshop has been postponed. New date TBD.
In this creative writing workshop, you will develop flash fiction inspired by the short videos in Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today, which features 50 artists responding to the current political and social context in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. We will watch and discuss videos featured in the exhibition, and practice writing characters, setting, conflict, and action for flash fiction stories that grab readers’ attention.
Strike A Prose: Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery This is workshop has been postponed. New date TBD.
In this poetry writing workshop, you will draw inspiration from Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today, which features 50 artists responding to the current political and social context in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. We will discuss how to use works of art to inspire your writing; how to experiment with voice, rhythm, and form; and how to develop poems that communicate a social message, connect with readers, and tell a compelling story.
video: Hugo Crosthwaite, A Portrait of Berenice Sarmiento Chávez
Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2020 Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Location: Capitol Cider House, 3930 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20011
Cost: $25 Register here
Sip on cider and write!
Ernest Hemingway’s daily writing goal was to start by writing “one true sentence.” In this writing workshop, you will practice writing fearlessly, taking risks, and digging for your own version of truth. Open to writers of all levels. Writing prompts will be provided. You will walk away with three new pieces of writing and some new writing buddies.
I had the distinct honor to host a vision board workshop at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art. It was a really beautiful and positive experience for me. Such great creative energy in the room!
Esperanza Spalding by Sandrine Lee, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Check out these upcoming youth writing workshops that I will be hosting at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Feb! There are workshops for elementary, middle, and high school students.
Come create your vision for 2020! View and discuss works of art, creative writing, and art making as writer and literary host Willona Sloan leads participants in the creation of vision boards that reflect their personal visions for the future and their visions for the future of Africa.
Date: Saturday, January 18, 2020 Time: 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM Location:Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, 950 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20560 Cost: FREE Register here.
Willona M. Sloan 