Olympia, Washington 2019  You are a thirty five year old wife and mother of three, who just started a job teaching English language learners at a new school. Your husband tells you about a conference he has the opportunity to attend in the Pacific Northwest. In a rare moment of spontaneity, you say, “Let’s do it, let’s go.” You haven’t been on an airplane in five years, you just completed a master’s degree, and your youngest is right on the cusp of aging out of the free seat. Why not? Excited to be shown around the PNW by your husband, who attended college in Olympia, you request your day ..read more

Date: Saturday, June 8 Duration: 2 Hours | 11 AM – 1 PM EST Location: Online Cost: $125 10 seats available! Details Throughout history, Black women have resisted oppression. From colonization to the #metoo movement, Black women have done the labor of building community, seeking justice, and creating safe spaces for others. Letters For Revolution is a historical fiction writing course, where true historical stories of women who resisted oppression are combined with epistolary writing techniques. This story combines the best of history and fiction and gives you the tools to ground yourself in st ..read more

"Motherhood is about borrowing and adopting best practices and I look at the bravest writing mothers I know and try to walk in their steps ..read more

Here are a few titles that every Black birthing person and their families should have on their shelves ..read more

Dates: Sundays, June 9 – June 30 Duration: 1.5 Hours | 5 PM – 6:30 PM EST Location: Online Cost: $40 13 seats left! Details In this writing workshop, Tiffany B. Grantham will provide a space for creativity and learning. Workshop participants will explore their creativity through different mediums of instrumental music, art and material culture with inspired dialogue. How can a writer learn and express their creativity without fear of their voice being rejected? “The cure is to have it welcomed and affirmed.”–Pat Schneider Participants will have the option to share their work and receive verbal ..read more

Dates: May 18 Duration: 2 Hours | 2 PM – 4 PM PST (5 PM – 7 PM EST) Location: Online Cost: $75 17 seats left! Details How can writing about food open up evocative spaces of comfort, family, ancestral lineage, memory, shared rituals, and desires? How can writing through and about food strengthen our communities and open up our creative craft? Along with celebrating and exploring food writing by poets such Naomi Shihab Nye, Audre Lorde, Chen Chen, and Lucille Clifton, this class will offer numerous delicious writing prompts and opportunities for feedback, connection, and sharing. Click here for ..read more

What inspired you to tell this story? I’m a storyteller through and through—for most of my life, I’ve processed lived experience by writing fiction. In 2015, I had some time on my hands (this was before kids!) and a few story ideas I really wanted to get onto the page. After I’d written the first two pieces, I could already see the contours of a collection coming together (though I didn’t realize it right away). There were characters I wanted to explore further and questions I wanted to answer. Once the ball was rolling, I was excited to keep going! What did you edit out of this book? Honestly ..read more

This is Unfolding Inheritance, a column by Kristen Gentry exploring mother-daughter relationships, the impact of parental addiction, and the journey of finding and loving yourself through it all. * I’m building a new me. One step at a time. This is what I told myself as I stomped and spun through the dance routine my friend, Whitney, had choreographed to Raven-Symone’s “That’s What Little Girls Are Made Of.” Whitney, Erika, and I were practicing for drill team tryouts. I was excited about the possibility of being on the team, feeling firmly planted as part of something.  I moved to Louisv ..read more

Dates: May 1, May 3, May 5 Duration: 2.5 Hours | 7:30 PM – 10 PM EST (MAY 1 & 3); 12:30 PM – 3 PM EST (MAY 5) Location: Online Cost: $275 15 spaces available Details Explore the art of using writing as a powerful tool to navigate significant life transitions. Led by an experienced educator and writer, this course will delve into crafting compelling narratives inspired by personal experiences. Participants will learn how to harness the power of storytelling to find healing, transformation, and strength during times of change. Click here for more info and to register for WRITING THROUGH LIFE ..read more

Mama’s Writing is Raising Mothers’ monthly interview series, created by Deesha Philyaw. How has the experience of raising children shaped your own personal growth as a writer and as an individual? Being pregnant and having a very young child motivated me. I worked on a piece about the Black maternal health crisis while in my third trimester, and it was published in The Nation when my daughter was about six months old. That article became the basis of the first chapter of my book WE LIVE FOR THE WE, which was published in 2019 when she was nearly 3. It’s a book about parenting and it’s a m ..read more