Classes
For October '26 session
Oct. 3-4 and 10-11, 9am to 1pm Pacific TIme
Deadline to apply is Sept. 12th
¡Bilingual Poets Get Published! with Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo
Generative (write new work in class), all skill levels, poetry.
Write new poems Chicana-style and get them published! Facilitator Elizabeth Jiménez Montelongo will guide participants to write poetry, workshop their writing, and prepare their poetry for publication in literary journals, and the group will send poetry to calls for entry. The workshops include an overview of poetic devices and an overview of preparing a manuscript for publication. Writing in Spanglish is encouraged! For writers of any level: emerging & published poets looking to generate new poetry and get it published. Returning participants: there will be new samples, new prompts, and new calls for entry shared.
Playwriting - The 10 Minute Play with Carlos Morton
Playwriting – The 10 Minute Play with Carlos Morton
Lecture, Generative (writing new work in class), revising. Playwriting.
The Ten-Minute Playwriting Workshop is a combination of lecture and generative involving the writing of a ten-minute play for the stage about some aspect of the XicanX/Latinx community. It is for beginners, but can accommodate all levels.
Each student will write a one ten-minute play using no more:
THAN THREE PLAYERS (Doubling Permitted). The themes of the plays must be about our Community and based on History, Adaptation, Documentary/Public Record, Personal Experience, etc.
REQUIRED READING: “EL JARDIN” (VIA ATTACHMENT.) ATTENDANCE: Scenes will be read in class and students are expected to assist each other in the final staged readings.
Morton taught the 10 min. playwriting workshop at the University of California; Escuela de Artes Dramaticas, LIma, Peru; Aristotle University Thessaloniki, Greece; and the Saigon Players.
Crafting Nonfiction for Liberation with Ernesto Mireles
Lecture, Generative (write new work in class), all skill levels, creative non-fiction
Dive into the transformative world of resistance literature and the fight for national liberation in the Insurgent Aztlán Workshop. Based on Ernesto Todd Mireles’ work, this interactive session explores the role of cultural production in reclaiming identity, challenging oppression, and shaping revolutionary movements. Participants will examine how Xicana/o/x literature, film, music, and art confront colonial narratives, and foster collective will toward liberation. Through writing prompts, group discussions, and creative exercises, attendees will learn to connect cultural heritage to political identity, explore the principles of decolonization, and craft narratives that amplify resistance. Whether you’re a writer, activist, or scholar, this workshop offers tools to deepen your understanding of insurgent culture and inspire impactful change. Join us as we analyze key thinkers like Frantz Fanon and Amilcar Cabral, and learn to reframe history, ignite self-determination, and envision a liberated future. No prior experience required—just bring your passion for storytelling and transformation!
Speculative Fiction from Nepantla with Juan G. Berumen
Lecture. Generative (create new work in class). Multi-genre (fiction, screenplay, poetry)
If you were to journey through the borderlands, what stories would you encounter? Would they be of freedom fighting curanderas cruising lowriding hovercrafts, exorcising spirits possessed by the curse of El Mal Ojo?
Speculative Fiction from Nepantla explores how speculative storytelling can emerge from the in-between spaces of identity, history, and imagination. Drawing on the Chicana feminist concept of nepantla—a liminal space of transformation—this workshop invites participants to develop creative work that reimagine reality through elements such as horror, magical realism, futurism, and alternate histories. From haunted deserts to liberated futures, participants will experiment with crafting characters and worlds shaped by displacement, survival, and possibility through guided prompts and discussion. In these workshops, we explore how storytelling from nepantla allows us to break the straitjacket of dominant narratives and use speculative fiction to (re)imagine worlds where our communities thrive, transform, and envision new futures.
Lean Into Poetry / Poetry Para Desahogarse with Brenda Vaca
Generative (create work in class). For all levels of writer. Poetry.
Find peace, joy, and resistance in poetry. Question we’ll be exploring: How can poetry ground us when there is so much turmoil and uncertainty in our communities? Let’s wonder how poetry can be a vehicle to make sense of a fractured world and meet it with reverence and even joy. Lean into Poetry is a generative poetry workshop intended for writers of all levels.
New, Improved, Ancient Chicano Sci-Fi Wisdom with Ernesto Hogan
Lecture, intermediate level writers, speculative fiction
Updated for the mutating world-situation for intermediate students: Gonzo techniques to use the weirdness of the Latinoid Continuum in your fiction and nonfiction. How to get published in an unstable publishing situation and use social media for self-promotion. Outrageous, hair-raising, firsthand accounts of living a professional writer’s life. See a story written–from an idea generated on the first day, and rough draft done by the last–while he shares the creative process along the way while the students are encouraged to do the same and ask questions, share their work and projects. Let’s make it an interactive, creative explosion. The brain of the Father of Chicano Science Fiction will be yours to pick!
Beginning Creative Writing for Raza with Scótt Russell Dúncan
Mix of lecture, generative writing, and workshopping (editing).
Why write? What should you write? How do you get started? Get all your preguntas answered in this introductory class for beginning writers. We’ll explore fiction (short stories and flash fiction), poetry, creative nonfiction, and the writing world through the lens of Raza literature and the issues facing Brown writers and creators. Part of the class will be devoted to workshopping and editing student writing so participants can put the concepts into practice. Taught by Scótt Russell Dúncan, novelist, short story writer, editor, co-founder of Maíz Poppin’ Press, and director of the Palabras del Pueblo Writing Workshop.