The Writer's Garret

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark: Ghost Stories To Dement And Delight
2023-05-12 22:00 - 23:30 (America/Chicago) | 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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Inner Moonlight - Courtney LeBlanc
2023-11-08 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 November 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 proud to present poet Courtney LeBlanc!
Courtney LeBlanc is the author of the full-length collections Her Whole Bright Life; Exquisite Bloody, Beating Heart; and Beautiful & Full of Monsters. She is the Arlington County Poet Laureate, a Virginia Center for Creative Arts fellow, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Riot in Your Throat, an independent poetry press. She loves nail polish, tattoos, and a soy latte each morning. Find her online at www.courtneyleblanc.com.

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

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LitTalk: A DFW Author Panel Series - Poetry
2023-11-09 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 Thursday, November 9th at 7 pm. Novelist & series creator Alex Temblador will moderate a panel featuring James Davis, Luisa Melania Marte and Laura Neal as they discuss the craft and business of writing, publishing, and performing poetry.

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.

James Davis is the author of the poetry collection Club Q, which Edward Hirsch selected for the Anthony Hecht Prize. His poetry has been featured on NBC News and CBC Radio and anthologized in two installments of Best New Poets: 2011, selected by D. A. Powell; and 2019, selected by Cate Marvin. Recent work has appeared in The Sewanee Review, DIAGRAM, swamp pink, The Gettysburg Review, and the Bennington Review. He is a PhD candidate in creative writing at the University of North Texas, where he is finishing his second book and serving as Editor-in-Chief of American Literary Review.

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.

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.

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T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land with Gregg Thompson
2023-11-11 14:00 - 2023-11-18 16:00 | The Writer’s Garret, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
One of the most iconic works of 20th century literature, T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land remains a widely discussed and studied text to this day. Across two afternoons, Gregg Thompson will lead a discussion regarding the poet behind the text, interpretations of what it offers readers, and the controversy surrounding the editing process that lead to the poem that was ultimately published.
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.
Note: This discussion group will meet on two consecutive Saturdays, November 11 and 18.
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Egyptian Poetry with Joan Canby
2023-12-02 10:00 - 12:00 | The Writer’s Garret, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
The poetic tradition in Egypt stretches back thousands of years, tracing the rise and fall of kingdoms, and the eternal rhythms of the life-sustaining river Nile. Join poet Joan Canby for a morning of reading and discussion centering the works of poets who have lived and written along its famous banks across the centuries.
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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Inner Moonlight - Maya Golden
2023-12-13 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 December 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. This month, we are proud to present Maya Golden!
Maya Golden is an Associated Press winning and Emmy-nominated freelance journalist from Garland, Texas. Maya currently lives in Tyler where her foundation, 1 in 3 Foundation, serves survivors of sexual trauma living in East Texas. Her memoir, The Return Trip, releases November 14 from Rising Action Publishing Co. Her first novel, a political thriller, The Senator, will release in April 2025 also through RAPC. Maya has written for Newsweek, Salon, Insider and Black Girl Nerds.com.
“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
—Allen Ginsberg, from On Being a Writer

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Inner Moonlight - Lisa Huffaker
2024-01-10 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 10th 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 Lisa Huffaker!
Lisa Huffaker integrates poetry, collage, book arts, and assemblage in many hybrid forms, from sculptural vending machines to a book of visual poetry created from a misogynist “self improvement” manual. Her writing is published or forthcoming in The Georgia Review, Gulf Coast, Pleiades, Cincinnati Review, Diagram, Sixth Finch, Thrush, 32 Poems, and many other journals. Her visual poetry manuscript in progress was exhibited internationally as part of TU Delft and Cornell Tech’s 3rd Workshop on Obfuscation. She is Teaching Artist in Residence for the Writer’s Garret, and a fine arts instructor at Oil and Cotton Creative Exchange. Find her online at lisahuffaker.com
“Follow your inner moonlight, don’t hide the madness.”
—Allen Ginsberg, from On Being a Writer

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Lyceum Series: Crafting Lines, Shaping Spaces with Matthew Baker
2024-02-17 10:00 - 12:00 | The Writer’s Garret, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Welcome to the lyceum.
These free, monthly workshops are held on the third Saturday of the month, and offer writers of every genre and skill level an opportunity to learn, experiment and develop their craft. We hope you’ll join us!

“Crafting Lines, Shaping Spaces,” led by Matthew Baker, will be the first workshop of the series, held on February 17, 2024.
A hallmark of written poems is the impression they create on the page. In this workshop, we will explore the power of poetic lines to shape time, rhythm, and space in our poems. We’ll discover how decisions we make within a poem’s physical space affect the sound, texture, and overall experience of language. What spaces do we want to create within our poetry? Where will those lines send us?
Matthew Baker is a poet and teacher pursuing his Ph. D. in Literature from the University of Texas at Dallas. He received his MFA from the University of Nevada, Reno, and is the author of Undoing the Hide’s Taut Musculature (FLP, 2019). His poems have appeared in Muzzle Magazine, The Southern Review, The Atlanta Review, and Booth Journal, among others.

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Robert Frost: A Guided Discussion With Gregg Thompson
2024-03-02 14:00 - 16:00 | The Writer’s Garret, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
A beloved icon of American poetry, Robert Frost composed some of the most recognizable works in the form. From “Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening” to “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and beyond, Frost’s body of work spanned nearly 50 years. Join us for an afternoon discussion led by Gregg Thompson, drawing from material both well known and slightly obscure, providing glimpses of moments throughout his prolific career.
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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Haiku & Senryu With Joan Canby
2024-03-09 10:00 - 12:00 | The Writer’s Garret, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Most of us are familiar with the Haiku poetic form–or at least we think we are.
Haiku are 3 lined short poems about nature with a serious theme and have a Japanese kigo (seasonal word) or a kireji (a cutting word). Senryu are 3 lined short poems about the human condition, often humorous or cynical that do not use kigo or kireji words. In this 2 hour workshop, we’ll divide the time roughly in half between reading and composition, with the opportunity to share before the end of the workshop.
Joan Canby is a member of the Haiku Society of America. Her haiku/senryu have been published in Modern Haiku, Frogpond and Ouachita Life. Her website is: joancanby.com.
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Writing From The Senses With Joe Milazzo
2024-03-10 11:00 - 14:00 | Full City Rooster, 1810 S. Akard St. #100, TX, 75208, United States
Powerful writing presents us with things to hear, see, touch, smell, and touch. In this workshop, participants will engage brief readings, discussion, and shared writing exercises, with a focus on:

How to get in touch with our senses.
How to translate sensory impressions into figurative language (or imagery).
How to use imagery to make our writing more concrete, vivid, and engaging.

Participants will have an opportunity to share their original work and receive feedback on it during this session.

*Weather permitting, some of these exercises involve outdoor activities.

Joe Milazzo is a writer, editor, educator, and designer. He 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, @p_roblem_s). His writings have appeared in Black Clock, Black Warrior Review, BOMB, Prelude, Tammy, Texas Review and elsewhere. He is an Associate Editor for Southwest Review and the proprietor of Imipolex Press. He lives online at joe-milazzo.com.

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Lyceum Series: Daniel DeVaughn - Writing Past Lives: Description At The Threshold
2024-03-16 10:00 - 12:00 | The Writer’s Garret, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
Welcome to the lyceum.
These free, monthly workshops are held on the third Saturday of the month, and offer writers of every genre and skill level an opportunity to learn, experiment and develop their craft. We hope you’ll join us!
“Writing Past Lives: Description At The Threshold,” led by Daniel DeVaughn, will be held on March 16, 2024.
In this course, instructor Daniel DeVaughn will guide participants through discussions of poems in which the poet, or speaker, looks back in memory to who they were and how this informs who they are in the “now” of the poem. In this way, the page becomes a still point, but also a passage from one way of being and seeing in the world to another that is often more expansive, inclusive, or generous. Participants will learn how to use concrete descriptive language, how to play with time and tense to create narrative movement, as well as some common poetic structures that can be useful in shaping our own lived experience.
Click here for syllabus

Daniel DeVaughn is a writer and teacher from Birmingham, Alabama. His poems appear or are forthcoming in Tupelo Quarterly, Poets.org, The Adroit Journal, Southern Humanities Review, The Nashville Review, Texas University Press’ Southern Poetry Anthology Vol. X: Alabama, and elsewhere. He is Reviews and Interviews Editor at the American Literary Review, as well as a Voertman-Ardoin Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas where he is pursuing a PhD in creative writing.
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Write To Heal Veterans Workshop
2024-04-04 19:00 - 21:00 | The Writer’s Garret, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
The Writer’s Garret is calling all Veterans to participate in our “Write to Heal” writer’s workshop. These twice monthly workshops are free for all U.S. Veterans and active duty military members. Regardless of what branch you served in, which era you wore the country’s cloth in, whether you saw combat or maintained the liberties of our free nation, we want to hear you sound off!
At each “Write to Heal” session you’ll be given a writing exercise that will help you tell your story. We’ll provide the creative tools necessary to explore your experiences. You will be presented with various writing techniques, ranging from poetry to prose, and you will be provided positive, constructive feedback from both the instructor and your fellow Vets participating in the workshop.
Contact facilitator Johnny Olson

Writing In Nature With Lisa Huffaker
2024-04-06 09:00 - 12:00 | Twelve Hills Nature Center, 817 Mary Cliff Rd., Dallas, TX, 75208, United States
The shift of seasons, year after year, means the natural landscape provides ever-changing inspiration for artistic expression. Whether honing the precision of observational description or threading the needle of metaphor, writers of every skill level and style can use nature writing as a practice for experimentation, development and pleasure. Join Teaching Artist in Residence Lisa Huffaker for a thoughtful morning of writing, sharing and reflection.
Note: Writing In Nature will include moving through areas that are sometimes minimally affected by the conditions of the weather, and uneven surfaces. The walk and workshop will take place rain or shine (severe weather excluded).
Lisa Huffaker creates poetry, collage, and assemblage. 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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