Saturday, April 26th is the last day register for the nonfiction session of From Query to Collaboration: How to Get an Agent. The fiction section is now sold out. Details below:

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

Journaling can help us move through pain and better understand the nature of life, loss, and joy. In this free hour-long journaling workshop, participants will spend time reflecting on grief, respond to writing prompts, and optionally share their responses or stories with the group. The sharing portion of the session will not be recorded to ensure privacy.

Adriana (she/her/ella) is excited to facilitate a space where stored emotions can be released. The power of gaining that inner confidence and voice is what lights her up. She also enjoys pilates, dancing salsa, somatic breathwork, laughing and exploring new things with a curious mindset. Her happy place is the beach. She recently has found a joy in her life again and it started with a pen, paper and a lot of rage.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom or in-person at CultureWorks in Philadelphia.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group but encourage connecting with other participants to do so on your own!

This event is free and open to all.

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

Successful short plays can captivate the audience in mere minutes. In this free, hour-long workshop, we'll cover the basics of writing 10 minute plays — the key elements of dramatic scenes, strategies for streamlining stories, crafting compelling characters — and begin outlining new scripts of our own.

Toby Tieger is a Philadelphia-based playwright and screenwriter. Toby writes LGBT+ coming-of-age fantasies about well-intentioned humanists figuring out what they value in a world that’s hard for them to navigate. His fantasy script THE ILLUMINATI KID about a girl who accidentally joins the Illuminati and must save the world from an army of lizards disguised as humans was selected as a Finalist for the 2024 ScreenCraft Animation and Family Competition (top 10/900). His work has recently placed in other contests including Stowe Story Labs, PlayPenn Foundry, and the Roadmap Writers’ Kids' Television Competition. His scripts are available on the New Play Exchange and on his website at www.tobytieger.com.

UPDATE 4/16, 3:30pm ET: Zoom is experiencing widespread outages today. We are meeting via an alternative platform; email info@bluestoop.org to request the new link. We should be back to business-as-usual for tomorrow’s Thursdays on the Stoop session. Thank you for your patience.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom or in-person at CultureWorks in Philadelphia.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group but encourage connecting with other participants to do so on your own!

This event is free and open to all.

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

In a world of short attention spans, authors must employ a variety of techniques to keep the reader engaged. In this free, hour-long workshop, we'll experiment with alluring openings, suspenseful scenes, and punchy endings to form the building blocks of your next short story. Expect multiple writing prompts and illustrative examples from film and literature.

A first-generation, Latinx/POC writer, Ernest Langston is the author of two novels, Born from Ashes and Beyond Everyday Secrets. His short fiction has appeared in Litro Magazine, The Plentitudes Journal, Oyster River Pages, and other publications. He holds a BA in English and a certificate in Professional and Technical Communications from San Jose State University, a certificate in Writing from University of Washington, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College. For more information, please visit: ernestlangston.com; Instagram: Ernestlangstonmedia.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom or in-person at CultureWorks in Philadelphia.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group but encourage connecting with other participants to do so on your own!

This event is free and open to all.

Friday, April 4th is the last day to register for Beyond the Page: Performance Skills for Poets, a 3 week class with Dimitri Reyes. Details below:

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

Technical writing — the art of translating complex information into simple terms — can be a lucrative skill. But breaking into the field is easier said than done. Many existing resources fail to offer practical advice, or assume that the aspiring technical writer has no writing experience at all. In this free and interactive hour-long session, technical writer Lisa DellaPorta will explain the different types of technical writing jobs, demonstrate a few industry best practices for software and hardware writing, and share resources for continued learning.

Lisa is a former high school teacher with a decade and a half of documentation and knowledge management for a variety of startup companies. She lives in Philadelphia. Her work, both personal and professional, can be found here.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom or in-person at CultureWorks in Philadelphia.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group but encourage connecting with other participants to do so on your own!

This event is free and open to all.

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

As an adult, writing for young people can be challenging. But tapping into our own adolescent experiences can help. In this free hour-long session, middle grade novelist Eric Bell will provide several prompts designed to help you see the world from a younger POV. There will be time to write, optional sharing, and an inside look at Eric's Kidlit Playground writing group.

Eric Bell (he/him) is the author of ALAN COLE IS NOT A COWARD (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins) and ALAN COLE DOESN’T DANCE (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins), two middle grade novels about a gay seventh grade boy dealing with bullies, crushes, the power of art, and coming out. The first book was nominated to the Rainbow Book List for LGBTQ Books for Children and Teens. The books have also been translated into multiple languages. Eric is also featured in the queer middle grade short story anthology THIS IS OUR RAINBOW: 16 STORIES OF HER, HIM, THEM, AND US (Knopf). Eric has taught courses on writing middle grade and young adult novels. He is a packet exchange instructor at Drexel University’s Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing program. Eric has also run numerous virtual workshops and writing groups, including the Kidlit Playground, a group geared toward writers working on children’s books.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom or in-person at CultureWorks in Philadelphia.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group but encourage connecting with other participants to do so on your own!

This event is free and open to all.

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

In this free hour-long workshop, we'll study the components of poetic spells (e.g. repetition, invoking powerful forces, spoken delivery) and practice writing our own. We'll start with source texts like June Jordan's "Intifada Incantation: Poem #8 for b.b.L." then gather materials to generate (and optionally share) our own incantations. We'll close with strategies for giving our incantations power, asking ourselves: What physical form could the words take? What happens when you sing it to the air, paint it on a banner, or write it on a stone and throw it in the ocean?

Miriam Saperstein (they/them) is a poet, mixed-media artist, and arts educator. Miriam engages history, ritual, and art to teach practical skills for sustaining communities, which is all we’ve got at the end of the day. They know our struggles are interconnected, from Lenapehoking to Palestine, and thus they strive to teach, create, and strategize accordingly.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Monday, March 17th is the last day to register for The Queer Art of Friendship, a 3 week class with Kurt David. Details below:

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

From LiveJournal to Substack, blogs have come a long way. In this free, hour-long workshop, we'll explore strategies for writing online personal essays, options for free self-publishing platforms, and tips for establishing a posting routine. Expect a generative writing prompt and group discussion, as well as a Q&A, if time permits.

Natalie Crystal is an essayist documenting the little things in life that spark inspiration (and spiraling) over at her digital journal, sky mind, on Substack.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

Writing a book may be a solitary process, but it takes a team to prepare it for publication. In this free hour-long workshop, professional book coach and editor Dayna M. Reidenouer will provide an overview of the publishing process, with a focus on the multiple types of editing in traditional and independent publishing, how to find editors, and what to do with editorial feedback.

Dayna M. Reidenouer (they/she) is Your Publishing BFF, a line/copy editor and book coach specializing in inclusive romance, cozy mysteries, and children's books. They’ve also been known to ghostwrite, turning the frameworks of stories into fleshed-out novels readers return to again and again. When Dayna’s not polishing a manuscript, reading another MM romance, or tinkering with their website, they can be found in a professional development class or volunteering. Dayna chaired the 2024 Contemporary Romance Writers virtual writing conference and is in their second term as an elected member of the Editorial Freelancers Association board of directors. Your Publishing BFF is a partner member of the Alliance of Independent Authors. Learn more about Dayna’s editing, coaching, and writing services at www.YourPublishingBFF.com, and follow them at www.instagram.com/yourpublishingbff and @YourPublishingBFF on Threads.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Friday, February 28th is the last day to register for Writing the Wounded Character, a 3 week class with Emily Jon Tobias. Details below:

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

This free, hour-long session takes its inspiration from the Paolo Freire quote, "Reading the world thus precedes reading the word and wríting a new text must be seen as one means of transforming the world." Participants will read short excerpts from writers like Kao Kalia Yang and Audre Lorde, examining their use of narrative to explore power dynamics. Through discussion and generative writing prompts, we'll work to narrativize our own experiences in "reading the world."

Note: This session will not be recorded.

Sakae Kikuchi is a writer and organizer based in Philadelphia. They have over a decade of labor and community organizing experience and hold an MFA in creative writing from Rutgers Camden.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Wednesday, February 26th is the last day to register for Through the Back Door: Writing the Hybrid Memoir, a 6 week class with Kristen Martin. Details below:

Friday, February 21st is the last day to register for The Tipping Point: Writing Choice as Scene, a 3 hour, single session class with Sam Heaps. Details below:

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

This free hour-long workshop explores how writing depictions of play — sports, games, make-believe, and other cooperative and competitive activities — can produce compelling scenes, characters, and dynamics. We'll analyze examples from film, prose, and poetry; respond to writing prompts; and discuss our goals and inspirations.

C.P. Jude (Colin Bonini) is a writer from San Jose, California. His work appears in The Under Review, The Michigan Quarterly Review, Wig-Wag, The Masters Review, The Chicago Review of Books, The 2024 Driftwood Anthology, The Adroit Journal, and elsewhere. He is a graduate of Gonzaga University and earned his MFA from Arizona State University. He currently lives, writes, and teaches in Philadelphia, PA, and is eternally heartbroken about the A’s leaving Oakland.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

Friday, February 14th is the last day to register for Between Music & Language: Black Acoustemologies, a 3 hour, single session class with Hiwot Adilow. Details below:

Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.

This free hour-long workshop uses reflective exercises and poetry to explore how sexual and non-sexual pleasure can be a pathway to personal and collective liberation. Grounded in the teachings of Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and Adrienne Maree Brown, we'll use poetic expression to reclaim our right to sensuality and to challenge systems of oppression. The workshop encourages participants to embrace pleasure and poetry as tools for self-awareness, self-care, and resilience. Expect writing prompts, intentional reflection, and open conversation.

Amir Methvin is a poet, social worker, sex educator, and aspiring sex therapist with a passion for using writing as a medium for healing and liberation. She writes about love, people, pleasure, and pretty sunsets. With a background in psychology and gender studies from Temple University, Amir has spent over six years facilitating poetic spaces that center joy, pleasure, and self-discovery. Their work draws on the teachings of bell hooks and Audre Lorde, with a particular focus on the intersection of pleasure, identity, and liberation. Through workshops like Poetry as Pleasure, Amir empowers participants to explore the intimate connections between body, mind, and spirit through creative writing and reflection. As a Black, queer facilitator, Amir prioritizes creating inclusive, affirming spaces where participants can safely engage with pleasure as a liberatory practice. In addition to writing, Amir advocates for pleasure-centered sex education and consults with nonprofits and social service agencies to help incorporate sex-positive, inclusive frameworks into their work.

Drop-in, creative co-working with peers over Zoom.

Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. You can use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life.

We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, and accomplishments. Mics will stay off during the silent working portion of the event (3:40-5:20 pm ET).

Note: we do not workshop or read our work aloud to the group.

This event is free and open to all.

This event is hosted by the Authors Guild, and co-sponsored by Blue Stoop. Please contact the Authors Guild with any questions.

Do you want to learn from an experienced mentor—or give back to the writing community by mentoring an emerging writer? Drawing on personal experience with writing mentorship programs and community organizations, our panelists will address what curious writers should know about becoming either a mentor or mentee.

Author mentorships can take many shapes: formal or informal, free or paid, craft-focused or career-oriented. We’ll discuss:

• How to select the right mentorship program for you

• What makes a great author mentor

• How writer mentees can best benefit from the experience

• Engaging in a writing community for ongoing support

Special thanks to the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Blue Stoop, and Las Musas for collaborating on this event.

A Q&A will follow the presentation; you can pre-submit a question when registering for the event. A recording will be made available for those who cannot attend live.

The event will take place via Zoom with automatic closed captioning. To request any other accessibility features, please email support@authorsguild.org and we will make every effort to accommodate.

Presenters

Crystal Hana Kim is the author of the critically acclaimed novels The Stone Home (2024), a finalist for the Maya Angelou Book Prize and current longlist for the Joyce Carol Oates Award, and If You Leave Me (2018), which was named a best book of 2018 by over a dozen publications. Kim is the recipient of the 2022 National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Award and the winner of a 2017 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family.

M. García Peña / Mia García (she/her) was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She got her MFA at The New School and is the author of Even If the Sky Falls, The Resolutions, a contributor in the YA monster anthology Our Shadows Have Claws, and the picture book When We Find Her forthcoming from Viking Books for Young Readers. She is a founding member of the artist collective Las Musas Books and splits her time between Puerto Rico and New York.

Moderator: Julian Shendelman is a writer, editor, and organizer based in the greater Philadelphia area. When he’s not co-directing the literary arts organization Blue Stoop, he’s working on a novel about haunted houses, capitalism, and queer community. Learn more at www.shendelman.com.