The Writer's Garret

Inner Moonlight - Tarfia Faizullah
2022-12-14 19:30 - 21:30 (America/Chicago) | The Wild Detectives, 314 W 8th St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry series for the Wild Detectives! RSVP to meet us in the backyard at 7:30pm on Wednesday December 14th for a live reading from one featured writer, with a brief open mic to follow. Don’t worry, podcast fans! We will record the live show and release it as a podcast episode for y’all. This month we are excited to feature poet Tarfia Faizullah!

Tarfia Faizullah is the author of two poetry collections, Seam (SIU 2014) and Registers of Illuminated Villages (Graywolf 2018). Her poems have appeared widely both here and abroad, and have been translated into several languages. In 2016, Tarfia was recognized by Harvard Law School as one of 50 Women Inspiring Change.
Inner Moonlight is presented by The Writer’s Garret on the second Wednesday of every month. Mark your calendar and we’ll see you there!
“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
—Allen Ginsberg, from On Being a Writer

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Inner Moonlight - Laura Neal
2023-01-11 19:30 - 21:30 | The Wild Detectives, 314 W 8th St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry series for the Wild Detectives! RSVP to meet us in the backyard at 7:30pm on Wednesday January 11th for a live reading from one featured writer, with a brief open mic to follow. Don’t worry, podcast fans! We will record the live show and release it as a podcast episode for y’all. This month we are excited to feature poet Laura Neal!
Laura Neal is a poet, greatly influenced by social and environmental narratives. She earned an MFA from the University of Maryland College Park and a BA from Bowie State University. Her work is published in Academy of American Poets and Birmingham Poetry Review, among others. She has received fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center, CALLALOO, and the Juanita Craft Artist-in-Residence Program. Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and finalist for the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Texas at Dallas and is a contributing writer for Southwest Contemporary magazine and BURNAWAY magazine. She is also co-member of the artist collaborative, CALCIUM.
Inner Moonlight is presented by The Writer’s Garret on the second Wednesday of every month. Mark your calendar and we’ll see you there!
“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
—Allen Ginsberg, from On Being a Writer

Lyceum Series RSVP - Apr

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Inner Moonlight - Jenny Bhatt
2023-02-08 19:30 - 21:30 | The Wild Detectives, 314 W 8th St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry series for the Wild Detectives! RSVP to meet us in the backyard at 7:30pm on Wednesday February 8th for a live reading from one featured writer, with a brief open mic to follow. Don’t worry, podcast fans! We will record the live show and release it as a podcast episode for y’all. This month we are excited to feature Jenny Bhatt!

Jenny Bhatt is a writer, literary translator, book critic, and the founder of Desi Books, a global forum that showcases South Asian literature from the world over. She teaches creative writing at Writing Workshops Dallas and the PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship Program. She resides in the Dallas, Texas area. Find her at https://jennybhattwriter.com.

Inner Moonlight is presented by The Writer’s Garret on the second Wednesday of every month. Mark your calendar and we’ll see you there!

“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
—Allen Ginsberg, from On Being a Writer

Lyceum Series RSVP - Apr

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Inner Moonlight: Lauren Brazeal Garza
2023-03-08 19:30 - 21:30 | The Wild Detectives, 314 W 8th St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry series for the Wild Detectives! RSVP to meet us in the backyard at 7:30pm on Wednesday March 8th for a live reading from one featured writer, with a brief open mic to follow. Don’t worry, podcast fans! We will record the live show and release it as a podcast episode for y’all. This month we are excited to feature poet Lauren Brazeal Garza!

Lauren Brazeal Garza is a disabled writer and Ph.D. candidate in literature at the University of Texas at Dallas. Her published poetry collections include Gutter (YesYes Books, 2018), which chronicles her homelessness as a teenager. She has also published three chapbooks, including Santa Muerte, Santa Muerte: I was Here Release Me (Tram Editions, 2023), which is a series of fictional interviews with ghosts and is inspired by her experiences as a translator and collector of oral histories. Her work has appeared in Poetry Northwest, Waxwing, and Verse Daily among many other journals. She can be found haunting her website at www.lbrazealgarza.com

Inner Moonlight is presented by The Writer’s Garret on the second Wednesday of every month. Mark your calendar and we’ll see you there!

“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
—Allen Ginsberg, from On Being a Writer

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The Poetry of Rumi: A Guided Discussion with Joan Canby
2023-03-18 10:00 - 12:00 | The Writer’s Garret, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Rumi’s poetry is some of the most widely read and translated in history. Spiritual and profound, the universality of his writing remains immensely popular today. Join Joan Canby for a discussion of his works, including major themes and inspirations, as well as the situational context in which he lived, worshipped and wrote.
Joan Canby has her degrees (BA, MA) in Comparative Literature with an emphasis on the Renaissance (French, Italian, English, Spanish and Latin literature). She has her MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Poetry. She has been widely published, to include: Frogpond, Modern Haiku, Poetry South, Forage, Place Journal, Cape Rock, Comstock Review, Broken Plate, Main Street Rag, and Presence. Her chapbook Metaxe was published in 2010. Her chapbook Cascades was published spring 2022 by Assure Press.

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LitTalk: An Author Panel Series
2023-03-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Whose Books, 512 W. Davis, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Join Writing Workshops Dallas & The Writer’s Garret for LitTalk: A DFW Author Panel Series at Whose Books on Wednesday, March 22nd at 7 pm. Novelist & series creator/moderator Alex Temblador will lead a panel addressing the challenges and rewards of creative risk in writing. Panelists include Patrice Caldwell, Will Clarke, and Lori Ann Stephens.

Alex Temblador is the creator and host of LitTalk.
Alex Temblador is the award-winning author of Half Outlaw and Secrets of the Casa Rosada. St. Martin’s Essentials acquired Alex’s first non-fiction book, Writing an Identity Not Your Own, in 2022. Her creative work has appeared in PALABRITAS and D Magazine, as well as anthologies like Living Beyond Borders: Growing Up Mexican in America and Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology. In addition to teaching creative writing classes and seminars, Alex is an award-winning journalist published in the likes of Travel + Leisure, Outside, Conde Nast Traveler, among many others.

Patrice Caldwell is a graduate of Wellesley College and the editor of two anthologies published by Penguin Random House: A Phoenix First Must Burn: 16 stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope and Eternally Yours, a Paranormal Romance anthology. Her debut novel, Where Shadows Reign—the first in a YA fantasy duology—is out in 2024 from Macmillan.
Though she started her career as a children’s book editor at two major publishing houses, she’s now a literary agent. For her work in the book publishing industry—as the founder of People of Color in Publishing, a grassroots organization dedicated to supporting, empowering, and uplifting racially and ethnically marginalized members of the industry—she’s been named to to Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list, a Publishers Weekly Star Watch honoree, and featured on Bustle’s inaugural “Lit List” as one of ten women changing the book world. Visit Patrice online at patricecaldwell.com.

Will Clarke is the author of several works of fiction, including the novels, Marigold and The Neon Palm of Madame Melancon. Will holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and was named The New York Times Editors’ Choice and Rolling Stone’s “Hot Pop Prophet.” He lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife and family.

Lori Ann Stephens is the author of Blue Running (published in the UK, 2021), Some Act of Vision (winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award), Pierre François: 5th Grade Mishaps, Novalee and the Spider Secret, and other novels. Her award-winning short stories have also been published in The Chicago Tribune, Glimmer Train Stories, among other literary journals. She was shocked to win the English National Opera’s Miniopera Contest, judged by Neil Gaiman, and has since seen her libretti performed in London, Minneapolis, and Dallas. She loves listening to operas, remodeling her house with reckless optimism, and holding anyone’s babies. She lives just north of Dallas and teaches writing at Southern Methodist University.

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Writing In Nature with Lisa Huffaker
2023-03-25 09:00 - 12:00 | The Writer’s Garret, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Teaching Artist in Residence Lisa Huffaker leads an immersive writing trek showcasing a pocket of wilderness tucked away in central Dallas, designed to illuminate the possibilities inherent in the beauty of our natural landscape. Whether you write poetry, prose, or just enjoy the delights of the outdoors, good walking shoes and an a sense of adventure are all you need for this workshop. The first half of the workshop will take place outdoors; then we’ll return to The Garret to write and share.
Note: the location of this workshop will be emailed following sign up.
Lisa Huffaker creates poetry, collage, and assemblage. A finalist for Dallas’ Poet Laureate, she is a frequent visiting artist at the Nasher Sculpture Center, a recent C3 Visiting Artist at the Dallas Museum of Art, and creator of White Rock Zine Machine, a micropublishing project offering artist’s books through sculptural vending machines. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in 32 Poems, Diode, Spillway, THRUSH, Tupelo Quarterly, and elsewhere. Her multimedia installation, Code Room, is currently on view at Ro2 Art. Her book in progress, a collage/erasure transformation of an antifeminist marriage manual written in 1963, was recently featured at TU Delft and Cornell Tech’s 3rd Workshop on Obfuscation.

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Inner Moonlight - Graham Barnhart
2023-04-12 19:30 - 21:00 | The Wild Detectives, 314 W 8th St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry series for the Wild Detectives! RSVP to meet us in the backyard at 7:30pm on Wednesday April 12th for a live reading from one featured writer, with a brief open mic to follow. Don’t worry, podcast fans! We will record the live show and release it as a podcast episode for y’all. This month we are excited to feature poet Graham Barnhart!

Graham Barnhart is a US Army veteran, and author of the poetry collection The War Makes Everyone Lonely. His poetry has been recognized with a Pushcart Prize, The Jeff Sharlet Memorial Award for Veterans, and a Wallace Stegner Fellowship. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at The University of North Texas and lives in Denton.

Inner Moonlight is presented by The Writer’s Garret on the second Wednesday of every month. Mark your calendar and we’ll see you there!
“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
–Allen Ginsberg, from On Being A Writer

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Cavafy: A Guided Discussion with Gregg Thompson
2023-04-22 14:00 - 16:00 | The Writer’s Garret, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
The works of C. F. Cavafy, since his death in 1933, have garnered his legacy increasing attention and acclaim as the most distinguished Greek poet of the 20th century. Observing and commenting on matters sacred and sensual, his poetry uniquely invites conversations spanning topics as diverse as historical civilizations, anxiety, homosexual desire, and spiritual curiosity. Join us as Gregg Thompson leads a 2-part discussion of Cavafy’s writing and how they continue in enduring relevance.
Note: The discussions of Cavafy’s works will take on 2 consecutive Saturdays, April 22nd and 29th.
Gregg Thompson makes his living as a real estate investor, having previously worked in investment banking and the printing industry. He has a BA in History from one land grant college and a MA in Literature from another. He is currently completing another MA in Philosophy at the University of Dallas. He writes poetry, some of which has been published, and has been engaged with The Writer’s Garret in one capacity or other over several years. Gregg is a father of three grown children.

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Inner Moonlight 5th Anniversary Celebration
2023-05-10 19:30 - 21:30 | The Wild Detectives, 314 W 8th St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Every second Wednesday since 2018 (ish, minus a few months during the black hole of pandemic time), Logen Cure has hosted the Inner Moonlight, a monthly poetry reading and open mic. Since December 2020, the reading has also been a podcast.
Now, as the kickoff event for the first ever Dallas Is Lit! literary festival, Inner Moonlight is celebrating 5 years of presenting Dallas with some of the best local (and a few not-so-local) poets around. With encore performances by an incredible lineup of previously featured poets, this is an anniversary party you won’t want to miss.
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Inner Moonlight is presented by The Writer’s Garret on the second Wednesday of every month. Mark your calendar and we’ll see you there!
“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
—Allen Ginsberg, from On Being a Writer

LitTalk: DFW Writers Talk Creative Writing
2023-05-11 19:00 - 20:30 | Whose Books, 512 W. Davis, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Join Writing Workshops Dallas & The Writer’s Garret for LitTalk: A DFW Author Panel Series at Whose Books on Wednesday, May 11th at 7 pm. Novelist & series creator Alex Temblador will moderate a panel featuring Lauren Brazeal Garza, Jill Talbot, and LaToya Watkins in a discussion taking the topic of “creative writing” as a starting point for a conversation about the craft, process and business of writing.

Alex Temblador is the creator and host of LitTalk.
Alex Temblador is the award-winning author of Half Outlaw and Secrets of the Casa Rosada. St. Martin’s Essentials acquired Alex’s first non-fiction book, Writing an Identity Not Your Own, in 2022. Her creative work has appeared in PALABRITAS and D Magazine, as well as anthologies like Living Beyond Borders: Growing Up Mexican in America and Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology. In addition to teaching creative writing classes and seminars, Alex is an award-winning journalist published in the likes of Travel + Leisure, Outside, Conde Nast Traveler, among many others.

Lauren Brazeal Garza received her M.F.A in poetry from Bennington College, and is completing her Ph.D. in literature from UT Dallas, where she is also a creative writing instructor. She is the author of the full-length collection Gutter (Yes Yes Books, 2018), a memoir-in-verse about her homelessness as a teenager. She has also published three chapbooks of poetry, most recently, Santa Muerte, Santa Muerte: I Was Here, Release Me (Tram Editions, 2023), a series of fictional interviews with ghosts. Her poetry, lyric essays, and fiction have appeared in Poetry Northwest, Waxwing, and Verse Daily among many other journals.

Jill Talbot is the author of The Way We Weren’t: A Memoir and Loaded: Women and Addiction, a collection of personal essays. A Distant Town: Stories, won the 2021 Jeanne Leiby Chapbook Contest and was published by The Florida Review. She is the editor of Metawritings: Toward a Theory of Nonfiction and the forthcoming The Essay Form(s) from Columbia University Press. Her essays have appeared in AGNI, Brevity, Gulf Coast, Hotel Amerika, LitMag, River Teeth, Southwest Review, and The Paris Review Daily, among others. She is Associate Professor of Creative Writing and University Distinguished Teaching Professor at University of North Texas.

LaToya Watkins is the author of Perish. Her writing has appeared in A Public Space, The Sun, Kweli Journal, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Kenyon Review, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, and elsewhere. She is a Kimibilo fellow and has received support from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, MacDowell, OMI: Arts, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and the Camargo Foundation. Her first story collection, Holler, Child, will be published in 2023.

The Return of First Draughts
2023-05-11 21:00 - 22:30 | The Wild Detectives, 314 W 8th St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
First Draughts literary mixer is back! Held monthly(ish) at The Wild Detectives and hosted by Writing Workshops Dallas and The Writer’s Garret, First Draughts is a great place to meet other DFW writers, talk shop, and connect.
Join us for LitTalk at Whose Books in their new location on Davis at 7pm, then stroll over to Wild Detectives for a beverage afterwards for First Draughts! We’ll raffle off gift certificates to Wild Detectives, enjoy drink specials, and talk reading, writing, and everything in between. We’d love for you to be part of the thriving literary community at one of our favorite bookstores in town.
Our mission is to bring writers out of the wilderness and into community. In fact, we were founded on the basis that having a literary community is essential to the life of any creative writer. Finding a community is an important step that leads most writers to take their work and craft more seriously. Both The Writer’s Garret and Writing Workshops Dallas are proud to be part of the thriving literary scene in Dallas, and we hope to see you at First Draughts!

Hear Me, See Me | Escúchame, Mírame
2023-05-12 19:00 - 20:30 | Texas Theatre, 231 Jefferson Blvd., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Have you ever felt trapped inside yourself, like no one understands what you’re trying to
express? Hear Me, See Me offers a moving multilingual affirmation the audience will
hear, see, and feel. The performance combines American Sign Language (ASL), English,
and Spanish, and includes music, rhythm, and movement in an exploration of the
possibilities of self-expression, the power of poetry, and the truth of shared experience
that unites us all.
Hear Me, See Me will be interpreted in ASL in full.
Tickets available now; visit TicketDFW.com to purchase.
¿Te has sentido alguna vez atrapado en ti mismo, como si nadie entendiera lo que quieras expresar?
Escúchame, Mírame ofrece una conmovedora afirmación multilingüe que el público podrá oir, ver y sentir. Ésta presentación combina el lenguaje de signos americano (ASL), inglés y español, e incluye música, ritmo y movimiento en una exploración de las posibilidades de autoexpresión, el poder de la poesía y la verdad de la experiencia compartida que nos une a todos.
Escúchame, Mírame se interpretará por completo en ASL.
Eric Brown is a native of New Orleans. In 1994 at the age of 16, he was wrongfully convicted of murder and armed robbery and sentenced to life without parole plus 30 years. His incarceration lasted 9,125 days, or 25 year. He has received training as a paralegal and CPR Instructor, served as president of President Of Toastmasters International, and was recognized as best speaker of both Toastmasters International and Jaycees Club. Eric currently mentors youth through Excellent Children Entrepreneurs and Leaders (E.X.C.E.L.) and Children of Incarcerated Parents Still Succeed (CH.I.P.S.S.). His book Crime Is 4 Dummies is forthcoming. Find him online: @esolid365

Lyrik Hunter (Author/Poet/Artist/Speaker), resident of Dallas and native of Midland, TX, has been performing actively since 2020, as a poetic expressive artist. Her work has been described as “vivid,” “inspiring,” and “breathtaking.” Lyrik is CEO/Owner of The Brown Sugah Lounge, a Dallas-based poetry group, which provides a safe, non-judgmental, monthly open-mic poetry platform, while partnering with community organizations who promote positive environments for healing, mental health awareness, and conscious growth.

Melania Luisa Marte is a writer, poet, and musician from New York living between the Dominican Republic and Texas. Her viral poem “Afro-Latina” was featured by Instagram on their IG TV for National Poetry Month and has garnered over nine million views. Marte’s debut collection of poetry, PLANTAINS AND OUR BECOMING will be published by Tiny Reparations, an imprint of Plume and Penguin Random House Summer 2023. You can follow her journey on social media: @MelaTocaTierra.

Maria Ramirez is the founder of Piezas de mi alma. Born in Zimapán Hidalgo, México, Maria has participated in several poetry and cultural events and activities, contributing to events at the State Fair of Texas (2017- 2018), Latino Cultural Center (2017), Texas Southmost College in Brownsville (2018), Paragraphs Library at South Padre Island (2019), Nova Pangea in Together in Harmony in Dallas (2020-2022), and events at Pleasant Grove Library in (2019 – 2021). She has contributed to several international anthologies, has served as an editor for a Dallas-based anthology in 2017, and earned a certification in Sophisticated Literary Creativity in Peru 2021-2022. She has served as a panelist, interviewer and coordinator on a number of international cultural programs.
Priscilla Rice is a Pleasant-Grove based storyteller, radio host and community activist. She is a member of the Da Grove Cohort: Un Taller For Dreaming and Tejana Cósmica poetry collective. Her first book We Are What We Are, a collaboration with poet/author Lopamudra Banerjee, was published in fall 2022. She currently serves on the Park and Recreation Board.

Carlos Salas is a multi-discipline artist, former bookstore owner, and co-host of the Poets on X+ reading series held at Mighty Fine Arts Gallery here in Oak Cliff, Texas. He first started reading/reciting poetry at The Dogstar in Fort Worth and has been published in various chapbooks and anthologies. He has performed at the first annual New Orleans Poetry Festival of 2016, broadcast to Blackwater Poetry Festival in the County of Cork, Ireland, performed at The Latino Cultural Festival in Austin. Carlos lives with his love and fellow poet Opalina Salas with their three cats in Oak Cliff.

Daymond Sands was born and raised in Dallas, TX. He is a freelance photographer with 15 years of experience, an event planner, and owner of the television show of Click Click Crop which has aired on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. He loves to share his creativity with the world through his expressions and the content he creates, welcoming viewers to see the world through his eyes.

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark: Ghost Stories To Dement And Delight
2023-05-12 22:00 - 23:30 | Texas Theatre, 231 Jefferson Blvd., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
For centuries, we’ve delighted in mysterious, spooky and downright scary tales of the
supernatural and the darker side of human nature. Join us at the historic Texas Theatre
late night gathering will find local storytellers and performers spinning stories that will
send a shiver up and down your spine. Who knows? You might even have an encounter
yourself.
Born and raised in Pakistan, Baig’s many credits include writing and directing Ban the Tal through Project X Dallas, a multimedia performance about the birth, rise and ideology of the Taliban; BeXchanged at UT Dallas, a performance documenting the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan; and one-act play Jo Chaho Tum (Whatever You Want), which received productions at Bishop Arts Theatre, Mountainview College and The Drama Club. As an actor, she has appeared as the Fool in King Lear at Shakespeare Dallas, as Frida with Cara Mia Theatre; as Clio for the world premiere of On the Eve at Theatre 3 Dallas, and is the voice of Jerez in Dragon Ball Super.

Currently, Baig serves as Director of Marketing & Special Events at Human Rights Initiative of North Texas and teaches Theatre at UTDallas.

Ariana Cook is a bi-racial actress, director, and playwright. Ariana received her Master’s Degree in Drama from Texas Woman’s University and her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Musical Theatre from Sam Houston State University. She co-wrote the world premiere of WHERE EARTH MEETS THE SKY with Edyka Chilomé and Vanessa Mercado Taylor and recently adapted a new translation of ELECTRA by Sophocles. Ariana’s selected regional acting credits include: Agave in CITY DIONYSIA, Abeni in world premiere of WHERE EARTH MEETS THE SKY, Abby in the world premiere of PORT TWILIGHT OR THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE, Pianist in the regional premiere of THE BLACK MONK, Michelle in UNIT COHESION, Dove in CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS, and the title role in EBONY SCROOGE. Selected Regional Directing credits include: ELECTRA, COLOR STRUCK, SACRIFICE, ASSISTANCE, THE BALLAD OF GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, and ZOOT SUIT. Ariana is an alumnus of the Lincoln Directors Lab in New York and the inaugural ArtEquity Cohort that convened at Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015.

John M. Flores is an Actor/Director/Designer/Playwright/Composer/Musician in DFW. John is a Company Member of Kitchen Dog Theater and has worked extensively with Theatre Three, Second Thought Theatre, Shakespeare Dallas, Dallas Theater Center, Trinity Rep Theater, Cry Havoc Theater, Echo Theater, Teatro Dallas, Cara Mia Theatre, Stage West, Our Endeavors Theater Collective and The Drama Club. John has a BA in Liberal Arts from Texas A&M University and experiments sonically with Jim Kuenzer as JIM/JOHN MAKE NOISE.

Tickets available through TicketDFW.com; click here to purchase.

Rail Writers Family Ride
2023-05-13 10:00 - 14:00 | TX
All aboard! Rail Writers, The Writer’s Garret’s favorite summer program, takes to the DART light rail for a 4 hour family excursion of writing, sharing, and exploration. Families will meet with a Garret teaching artist at Tyler St. Station, board the light rail and journey into the heart of the Arts District to explore. Guided by their teaching artists, writers young and old will reflect on what they experience, and then be encouraged to share. After lunch at Klyde Warren Park, everyone will re-board the light rail and return back to Tyler St. Station.
Rail Writers moves (literally!), so all participants should plan to wear footwear that is comfortable and will allow boarding and exiting the light rail, and a moderate amount of walking on paved surfaces.
Because Rail Writers is intended as a family activity, all parties must include at least 1 adult and 1 child. Due to group size limitations, parties may not exceed 4 people total, regardless of age. Rail Writers is designed to best engage young writers in grades 4-8.
Rail Writers is a free program (The Writer’s Garret covers DART passes and supplies) but the cost of lunch is not included. Access to food trucks will be available at Klyde Warren Park, or families may elect to pack a lunch.

Book Fair
2023-05-13 12:00 - 16:00 | Turner House, 401 N Rosemont Ave., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
We love a book fair! We’ve got bookstores, art printers, maker suppliers, and other members of the literary community from around the neighborhood and beyond joining us on the Turner House lawn on Saturday from noon til 4pm. We’ll also have live music, food trucks and who knows what else? So bring your book fair money and we’ll see you on the lawn!
RAIN OR SHINE, WE’LL SEE YOU AT TURNER HOUSE! In the case of rain, we’ll move the book fair inside.
Vendors include:
– 826 Dallas Project https://826dallasproject.org/
– Typewriter Troubadour (12p-2p) https://www.typewritertroubadour.com/
– Mad Swirl https://madswirl.com/
– Awesome Comics https://awesomecomicsonline.com/home
– The First Line Literary Journal https://www.thefirstline.com/
– The Writer’s Garret – Book Swap! (Bring your books and drop them off or trade them for new ones, or buy some deeply discounted donated books!)
– Whose Books https://www.whosebooks.shop/
– Deep Vellum Book Store and Publishing Co. http://deepvellum.com/
– Poetry Smash/In the Words of a Sistah https://www.facebook.com/thepoetrysmash/
– Talking Animals Books https://www.talkinganimalsbooks.com/
– Motina Books https://www.motinabooks.com/
– Writer’s League of Texas https://writersleague.org/home/
– Dallas Public Library https://dallaslibrary2.org/
– The Book Doctor https://www.thebookdr.com/
– Assure Press Publishing & Consulting https://assurepress.org/
– Writers Block Inc. https://www.facebook.com/wbidallas/
– Teen Writers Project https://www.teenwritersproject.org/#/
Live Music by Tauvy Thompson https://www.facebook.com/TauvyT
Food Vendors
– SerenDIPity Ice Cream Parlor on Wheels https://www.serendipityic.com/
– Sin Eats https://www.facebook.com/sineats/
– Statis Catering https://www.facebook.com/StatisCatering/

Drag Story Time
2023-05-13 14:00 - 15:00 | TX
Story time can only be more fun when drag is involved! Join local drag icon Jada Pinkett Fox as she reads stories that will inspire all of us to be our true, authentic selves, then share a cupcake and grab a photo.
This event is open to all ages. RSVP is required.

Anatomy of a Book, or Deconstruct & Reconstruct the Most Important Human Invention of All Time
2023-05-13 15:00 - 17:00 | Oil & Cotton, 2313 Beatrice St Suite #100, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
The book is, arguably, the most important human invention of all time (so much so we put it in the title of this workshop). On Saturday May 13th, join Oil & Cotton’s Shannon Driscoll and The Garret’s Teaching Artist in Residence Lisa Huffaker–whose collaboration began in 2012, when they designed and taught ambitious workshops for teens and preteens, combining writing, art, and bookmaking into a dynamic Zine Camp (garnering a Best of Dallas award from the Dallas Observer)–for an afternoon exploring and meditating on this singular, species-defining object.
Dissect vintage volumes, and learn about the amazing history and structure of this object we call the book. Reconstruct the dissected parts into one-of-a-kind artist’s books, to anchor that history in material form. Each participant will leave with a unique artist’s book built from the pages of old books, as well as samples of materials (Papyrus! Vellum! Linen thread waxed with beeswax!) important to the history of books. Participants will also leave this workshop with the ability to build their own books, and share the astonishing (but often overlooked) history and nature of this familiar, yet world-changing object.

Shannnon Driscoll (Oil & Cotton) received her Masters Degree from the Kilgarlin Center for the Preservation of the Cultural Record at the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied book and paper conservation. She continued conservation training through internships and professional experience while at the Northeast Document Conservation Center, Andover; Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Widener Library, Harvard College Libraries, Cambridge, the Pinos Y Serriera Archives, Vilassar de Dalt, Spain before opening a private conservation practice in Dallas. Twelve years ago she stepped away from conservation to create Oil and Cotton, a creative space for art education, exhibition, performance and exchange between the public and the art community in Dallas, Texas. Oil and Cotton offers workshops and classes ranging from painting to fiber based arts taught by artists from Texas and beyond.

Lisa Huffaker creates poetry, collage, assemblage, artist’s books, and many combinations of these. Her poetry appears in Diode, THRUSH, Michigan Quarterly Review, CTRL+V, 32 Poems, DIAGRAM, Cincinnati Review, Phoebe, and many other publications. Her art has lately been seen at Bath House Cultural Center and Ro2 Art. She was recently a finalist for Dallas Poet Laureate, and leads community writing projects as the Writer’s Garret’s Teaching Artist in Residence. She has taught text-and-image projects at the Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, and The Dallas Contemporary. Her award-winning project, White Rock Zine Machine, offers tiny books of poetry and art through sculptural vending machines. She is currently working on a book of visual poetry, transforming a anti-feminist “self help” book from 1963 through collage and poetic erasure. The manuscript-in-progress was exhibited internationally as part of TU Delft and Cornell Tech’s 3rd Workshop on Obfuscation.
Oil and Cotton is an art studio and artist supply shop located near downtown Dallas. We provide classes and workshops for people of all ages and skill levels. Our hands-on classes are taught by professionals with knowledge ranging from traditional craft to contemporary art practices. We provide creative space for education, exhibition, performance and exchange between the public and the art community.

Anniversary Reception
2023-05-13 17:30 - 19:00 | Turner House, 401 N Rosemont Ave., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
We’ve come a long way, y’all! In 28 years, we’ve connected thousands of writers and readers, ignited the imaginations of tens of thousands of students, and reached over 2 million audience members in person, across the airwaves and over the internet. If that’s not something worth celebrating, we’re not sure what is!
Join us Saturday evening for a reception at Turner House celebrating the successes of the past year, then stay for the Common Language Project reading (separate RSVP required). We’ll have refreshments and charcuterie by Grazing Dallas, and of course, anniversary cake.

Common Language Project: Networks Reading
2023-05-13 19:30 - 20:30 | Turner House, 401 N Rosemont Ave., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
This year, we invite you to connect into networks, analog and digital, microscopic and macro-engineered. From the cells in our bodies to the smart phones in our hands, networks fill our lives with meaning, richness and beauty. Chain letters and congregations share secrets; the weave of textiles can bear witness to the tapestries of our families. Show us the truths of fractals, find the hidden meanings of street maps, trace the untold stories of spiderwebs.
After a record-setting number of entries, we’re thrilled to bring you poems from this year’s Common Language Project: Networks poetry contest. Join us to hear the poems read by the poets who composed them, lifting the language from the page and into the shared space of Turner House’s ballroom.

Eat, Drink & Be Literary (Like Literally) Rom Com Brunch
2023-05-14 11:00 - 13:00 | Taco y Vino, 213 W Eighth St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
***TEXAS WEATHER IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS. DUE TO EXPECTED RAIN, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED.***

The only thing better than brunch with your besties is brunch with your besties while watching several of your favorite literary couples in the middle of lovers’ quarrels! Enjoy tasty tacos, delicious wine and entertaining scenes enacted in front of you (or maybe next to you) by talented local actors from some of the best romantic comedies ever written.
This brunch on the back patio at Taco y Vino will be serving mimosas, break ups, make ups and general big feels mayhem about our favorite four letter word. And YES, we know it’s Mother’s Day, aka the biggest brunch day of the year, so please bring your lit-loving-moms to celebrate with us.
We love bébés, but love is sometimes a complicated game, so this brunch is appropriate for BFFs ages 13 and up.

Hora de Cuentos
2023-05-14 13:00 - 15:00 | Whose Books, 512 W. Davis, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
¡Únase a nosotros para una tarde de cuentos y tradiciones! Cuentacuentos locales tejerán historias fantásticas en español que traerán a la vida la belleza de nuestra cultura y fortalecerán los lazos que nos unen.
Este evento es gratis.

Achieving Zen With Your Pen with Linda Jones
2023-05-20 14:00 - 16:00 | The Writer’s Garret, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
NEW DATE: MAY 20
In this 2 hour workshop with writing doula Linda Jones, participants will learn how the application of mindfulness and affirming writing practices can help reduce stress and achieve a sense of comfort and calm in daily life. This workshop is a welcoming place for individuals of every level of writing experience, and will be generative, so come prepared to write and share!
Linda Jones is an award-winning old school journalist who navigates new media, and she is a global citizen who celebrates diversity through advocacy. As a freelance writing consultant, and owner of Mane Lock Communications, LLC. She is known professionally as a “writing doula,” and specializes in writing that helps clients tell better stories, preserve legacy and promote emotional well-being and self-care. Linda’s has been a staff writer or freelance contributor for many publications, including the Detroit News, Daily Beast, BlackAmericanNews.com, Dallas Morning News, USA Today Weekend, People, Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, AOL News, and Agence France Press.
Writing about ordinary people making differences in underserved communities has been her most gratifying work, as well as writing culturally oriented stories with an African-centered and global reach. She has written about Jamaican Rastafarians, Trinidadian Calypsonians, Afro Germans in East Berlin, Black Hebrews in Israel, Afro Cubans in Havana and Haitian residents, refugees, and would-be revolutionaries. She covered the historic South Africa nonracial elections in 1994. As a young summer volunteer for Operation Crossroads Africa, Linda worked on agricultural and construction projects in Ghana, clearing farmland using machetes to making bricks for use in building a foundation for a village school.
As founder of A Nappy Hair Affair, Linda has encouraged self-appreciation and promotes the choice to wear natural and African-inspired hairstyles without discriminatory backlash. In her spare times Linda enjoys engaging in a more rhythmic form of communication – playing African drums.
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Inner Moonlight - Melania Luisa Marte
2023-06-14 19:30 - 21:30 | The Wild Detectives, 314 W 8th St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry series for the Wild Detectives! RSVP to meet us in the backyard at 7:30pm on Wednesday June 14th for a live reading from one featured writer, with a brief open mic to follow. As always, podcast fans, we will record the live show and release it as a podcast episode for y’all. This month we are excited to feature poet Melania Luisa Marte!
Melania Luisa Marte is an American writer, poet, and musician from New York living between the Dominican Republic and Texas. Marte´s debut collection of poetry, PLANTAINS AND OUR BECOMING will be published by Tiny Reparations, an imprint of Plume and Penguin Random House Summer 2023. You can follow her journey on social media: @MelaTocaTierra.
“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
—Allen Ginsberg, from On Being a Writer

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Inner Moonlight - Mag Gabbert
2023-07-12 19:30 - 21:30 | The Wild Detectives, 314 W 8th St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry series for the Wild Detectives! RSVP to meet us in the backyard at 7:30pm on Wednesday July 12th for a live reading from one featured writer, with a brief open mic to follow. Don’t worry, podcast fans! We will record the live show and release it as a podcast episode for y’all. This month we are excited to feature poet Mag Gabbert!
Mag Gabbert is the author of SEX DEPRESSION ANIMALS (Mad Creek Books, 2023), which was selected by Kathy Fagan as the winner of the 2021 Charles B. Wheeler Prize in Poetry; the chapbook The Breakup, which was selected by Kaveh Akbar as the winner of the 2022 Baltic Writing Residencies Chapbook Award; and the chapbook Minml Poems (Cooper Dillon Books, 2020). She’s the recipient of a 2021 Discovery Award from 92NY’s Unterberg Poetry Center as well as fellowships from the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, Idyllwild Arts, and Poetry at Round Top. Her work can be found in The American Poetry Review, The Paris Review Daily, Copper Nickel, Guernica, Poetry Daily, and elsewhere. Mag has an MFA from UC Riverside and a PhD from Texas Tech. She lives in Dallas, Texas and teaches at Southern Methodist University.
“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
—Allen Ginsberg, from On Being a Writer

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Unblocking Your Writing With Prompts: A Write-In Facilitated By Joe Milazzo
2023-07-15 12:00 - 14:00 | Full City Rooster, 1810 S. Akard St. #100, TX, 75208, United States
Join us for an afternoon of linguistic invention. Choose from a huge array of creative writing prompts supplied by facilitator Joe Milazzo and start writing. The prompts span multiple genres — poetry, fiction and nonfiction (essay) — and cover topics such as sound, figurative language, theme, character, setting, collaborative writing and even interdisciplinary approaches (ekphrasis, hybrid texts, etc.). Participants will have an opportunity to share their original work and receive feedback on it during this session.
Joe Milazzo is the author of the novel Crepuscule W/ Nellie, two volumes of poetry — The Habiliments and Of All Places In This Place Of All Places — and several chapbooks (most recently, homeopathy for the singularity). His work has appeared or will soon appear in Black Clock, Black Warrior Review, BOMB, Denver Quarterly, Fence, Prelude, Tammy, Texas Review, and elsewhere. He is an Associate Editor for Southwest Review and the Founder/Editor-In-Chief of Surveyor Books. Joe lives and works in Dallas, TX, and his virtual location is http://www.joe-milazzo.com.

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Inner Moonlight - Afeefah Khazi-Syed
2023-08-09 19:30 - 21:30 | The Wild Detectives, 314 W 8th St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry series for the Wild Detectives! RSVP to meet us in the backyard at 7:30pm on Wednesday Aug 9th for a live reading from one featured writer, with a brief open mic to follow. Don’t worry, podcast fans! We will record the live show and release it as a podcast episode for y’all. This month we are excited to feature Afeefah Khazi-Syed!
Afeefah Khazi-Syed was born and raised in the DFW metroplex but has always called two places home: the suburbs of Texas and her grandparents’ homes in Southern India. Medical student at UT Southwestern by day, and writer by night – she published her first poetry collection Our Ancestors Did Not Breathe This Air in 2022. Written with her college friends, this anthology is a celebration of homeland, family and identity. Afeefah attributes her love for writing and storytelling to her grandparents’ bedtime stories and the many writing mentors she has found throughout her life, from high school English teachers to other writers of color. When she’s not studying or writing, Afeefah is out exploring all the great eateries and coffee shops Dallas has to offer.

“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
—Allen Ginsberg, from On Being a Writer

Lyceum Series RSVP - Apr

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Inner Moonlight - Christine Suggs
2023-09-13 19:30 - 21:30 | The Wild Detectives, 314 W 8th St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry series for the Wild Detectives! RSVP to meet us in the backyard at 7:30pm on Wednesday September 13th for a live reading from one featured writer, with a brief open mic to follow. Don’t worry, podcast fans! We will record the live show and release it as a podcast episode for y’all. We usually feature poets, but this month, we are proud to present graphic novelist Christine Suggs!

Christine Suggs is a comic artist and designer living in Dallas, TX with their wonderful partner, dog, and cat. Their debut book, ¡AY MIJA! is a YA graphic novel about spending their summers in Mexico as a teen and was released in spring 2023 from Little Brown Young Readers. Christine’s work explores the intersection of their identities, namely being a queer, fat, Latinx feminist who loves all things cute. Bonus facts: their day job is in app design, they are an avid Dungeons & Dragons player, and they’re quite obsessed with cats.

“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
—Allen Ginsberg, from On Being a Writer

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Inner Moonlight: Jen Wang
2023-10-11 19:30 - 21:30 | The Wild Detectives, 314 W 8th St, Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry series for the Wild Detectives! RSVP to meet us in the backyard at 7:30pm on Wednesday October 11th for a live reading from one featured writer, with a brief open mic to follow. Don’t worry, podcast fans! We will record the live show and release it as a podcast episode for y’all. This month, we are proud to present Jennifer Elise Wang!
Jennifer Elise Wang is a nonbinary femme in STEM living Dallas, Texas. She is a lab tech at UT Southwestern and a three-time winner in the Open Poetry division of the On My Own Time arts competition. Her work has been published in Exist Otherwise, FERAL, just femme and dandy, Ofic, and redrosethorns magazine. She is an occasional writer for the Japanese pop culture site J-Generation and enjoys drag, learning how to pole dance and snowboard, and volunteering at the animal shelter.

“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
—Allen Ginsberg, from On Being a Writer

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Preserving Your Story: Writing Heirlooms of Legacy witth Linda Jones
2023-10-24 19:00 - 2023-10-26 19:00 | The Writer’s Garret, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
NOTE: This workshop will take place over TWO EVENINGS, Tuesday, Oct. 24 and Thursday, Oct. 26, from 7 TO 9PM on both nights.
The written word is one of the most enduring forms of preservation when it comes to passing wisdom, history and family legacy from one generation to the next. Join the Writing Doula Linda Jones for this two-part workshop during which participants will craft wisdom letters and drafts of ‘living obituaries,’ documenting the vital and impactful stories of their experiences, leaving the workshop with tools to record and further share the narratives of their lives.

Linda Jones is an award-winning old school journalist who navigates new media, and she is a global citizen who celebrates diversity through advocacy. As a freelance writing consultant, and owner of Mane Lock Communications, LLC. She is known professionally as a “writing doula,” and specializes in writing that helps clients tell better stories, preserve legacy and promote emotional well-being and self-care. Linda’s has been a staff writer or freelance contributor for many publications, including the Detroit News, Daily Beast, BlackAmericanNews.com, Dallas Morning News, USA Today Weekend, People, Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, AOL News, and Agence France Press.
Writing about ordinary people making differences in underserved communities has been her most gratifying work, as well as writing culturally oriented stories with an African-centered and global reach. She has written about Jamaican Rastafarians, Trinidadian Calypsonians, Afro Germans in East Berlin, Black Hebrews in Israel, Afro Cubans in Havana and Haitian residents, refugees, and would-be revolutionaries. She covered the historic South Africa nonracial elections in 1994. As a young summer volunteer for Operation Crossroads Africa, Linda worked on agricultural and construction projects in Ghana, clearing farmland using machetes to making bricks for use in building a foundation for a village school.
As founder of A Nappy Hair Affair, Linda has encouraged self-appreciation and promotes the choice to wear natural and African-inspired hairstyles without discriminatory backlash. In her spare times Linda enjoys engaging in a more rhythmic form of communication – playing African drums.
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