Events Calendar
Explore family friendly events, theatres, galleries, concerts, nightlife, things to do, and more in the Greenville, SC and Upstate areas.
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For so many of us, our family story is what defines our lives—what we run from or toward in the decades after leaving home. In this course, we will dive into family narratives together. The events we hope to discuss can include those that seem to haunt family struggles: trauma, abuse, neglect. Yet those blessed with stable families have plenty of stories to tell, too—a glorious summer road trip that reveals the love between siblings, or a tender reckoning with a parent’s humanity. As guidance for methods of writing on experiences with family, we will read poetry of Ai, Aria Aber, Catullus, Victoria Chang, Lucille Clifton, Natalie Diaz, Tarfia Fiazullah, Joy Harjo, Robin Coste Lewis, Vi Khi Nao, Sylvia Plath, Carmen Giménez Smith, and others. In order to consider different approaches to the idea of “family histories,” the assigned work will roughly fall in one of the following topics: parents and guardians, siblings and those of our youth, ancestors, and continuing the cycle. These are delineated by the familial figures the authors address in their works, leading up to the writers’ own enactment of parenthood.
In each class, we will discuss the methods the authors have employed, and their methods of engagement with their creative production. In addition, we will consider the effects assigned texts have on you as a reader and, just as important, how you think the writer accomplishes these effects. You will create your own works with these methods in mind. Beyond merely creating new work, we will also revise with help from the discussions.
This four-part course will take place on Mondays, October 2, 9, 16, & 23 from 5:30 – 7:30 PM ET.
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Diana Arterian is the author of the forthcoming poetry collection Agrippina the Younger (Northwestern University Press/Curbstone, 2025). Her first book, Playing Monster :: Seiche (1913 Press), received a starred review in Publishers Weekly and was a Poetry Foundation Staff Pick. A Poetry Editor at Noemi Press, Diana’s creative work has been recognized with fellowships from the Banff Centre, Caldera, Millay Arts, Vermont Studio Center, and Yaddo. Her poetry, nonfiction, criticism, co-translations, and conversations have been featured in BOMB, Brooklyn Rail, Denver Quarterly, Los Angeles Review of Books, NPR, The New York Times Book Review, and The Poetry Foundation website, among others. She curates and writes “The Annotated Nightstand” column at LitHub. Diana holds a PhD in Literature & Creative Writing from the University of Southern California, and she splits her time between Cambridge and Los Angeles.
Join us for a celebration of all things pen-related during the 12th Annual Fountain Pen Day. We will offer special deals and in-store promotions. Drop in to learn the joy of writing with a fountain pen!
“Looking Back, Looking Forward” is perfect for the holiday time of year. This is the season when many of us consider the events of the past year and look forward to what a new year might bring. In this writing workshop, we will use this transitional time as a focus for creating a new piece of writing which will allow us to set 2023 aside and move forward toward 2024. For writers at all levels. The workshop is led by Rick Mulkey, author of six books and director of Creative Writing at Converse University. Hosted by Truphae and Converse Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing.
This event is FREE and open to the public – just bring pen and paper! Seating is limited to only 18. Please sign up on our website.
Writing is a solitary task and many writers benefit from having peers to get feedback and support. Join us for the monthly meeting of our writers group and the chance to meet other writers.
Writers of all genres, formats, and skill levels are welcome to attend the writing group. Those who attend may share and discuss their work with others, participate in writing exercises, and access helpful writing resources.
Darren Todd, will lead a virtual writing workshop titled “What if you fly? Weaving speculative elements into fiction.”
The term speculative fiction has grown in usage, but what does it mean? Simply, it’s fiction that speculates or forecasts what might happen. The “if” in that scenario is up to the writer. Spec-fic (as it’s often called) isn’t beholden to a single genre. Certainly, dystopian novels fall under this category, but so could alternate history, science fiction, horror, or even drama. Many ideas can greatly benefit from introducing speculative elements, which give readers a heightened sense of curiosity, wonder, and even engages them to be a part of how the writer’s “what if” develops. Humans are natural problem solvers, and few things kick off that need to find answers like a solid “what if.”
For this workshop, we’ll delve into the rise of spec-fic, how it crosses genre, as well as flexing our speculative muscles with breakout exercises to be reviewed during the workshop.
This workshop is open to writers of all skill levels and is a fun way to find inspiration from a new prompt or revise current work. It is hosted by the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara and will use Microsoft Teams for the virtual connection. Sign up to attend the workshop here!
Darren is a freelance book editor for Evolved Publications, and his short fiction has appeared in fifty publications over the years, including Chilling Tales for Dark Nights, Cosmic Horror Monthly, and The Stoneslide Corrective. His short story collection, The Ugly Mug and Other Stories, launched on Amazon and Audible in 2023.
While some of his works fall under the literary umbrella, he often returns to speculative and horror fiction. His style and preferences tend toward the psychological, as he enjoys stories that linger in the imagination long after he’s closed the book on them.
He lives in Hendersonville, NC with his son and girlfriend. See what he’s up to at darrentodd.net.
Everyone is welcome to attend the Riverside Writers meetings. We will complete writing activities, writing sprints, work in pairs/groups to discuss each other’s writing, and share our work with the group as a whole.
Join us for an informal writing workshop.
Registration required. Call 864-963-9031.
Would you like to be a writer but worry about the word count? Join us as we discuss and write short fiction. We’ll read short-short stories that will inspire our own short stories and we’ll follow prompts to feed our imaginations. Call to reserve your place.
Join writers and poets from across the country each month for a virtual writing workshop. A link will be added to their name when more details and sign-up information becomes available. These workshops are geared towards amateur writers, ages 16 and older recommended. Follow us on Facebook for notifications too.
2024 Virtual Writers Workshops
February 26 – Ruba Ahmed
March – Amber Rose Crowtree
2023 Workshop Writers : Angela Evans, Tom Tenbrunsel, Robert Edward Miss, Kenneth Chamblee, Yasmin Mays, Shannon Yong, Jennifer McGaha, Erica Reid, Raymond McNally, Jane Waldrop, Francis Pearce, Eric Nelson, Darren Todd.
Each year, the Southern Author Expo offers the chance to meet and greet selected regional authors as well as listen to special featured speakers as they share information on their latest books, their writing process, and other literary themes.
Are you a local author interested in submitting your work for consideration for the next Southern Author Expo? See submission guidelines below and submit your application by August 25.
This workshop focuses on the basics of navigating literary journal submissions.
Publishing short stories, poems, creative nonfiction, and art in literary journals and magazines can feel like a byzantine process. There exist many rules, expectations, and guidelines, some of them explicit and others unspoken, that frame how and when to submit your work. This workshop focuses on the basics of navigating literary journal submissions, practical tips on formatting submissions, strategies for submissions, and more. Participants will come away with a knowledge of how to research literary journals, how to strategically submit to get their work published, how to write a professional cover letter, how to compose a professional bio, and more. Workshop instructor Evelyn Berry is happy to answer any questions you might have about the bewildering journey between a finished draft and a published piece.
Evelyn Berry is a trans, Southern writer, editor, and educator. She’s the author of Grief Slut (Sundress Publications, 2024) and Buggery (Bateau Press, 2020), winner of the BOOM Chapbook Prize. She’s a recipient of a 2023 National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship, 2022 Dr. Linda Veldheer Memorial Prize, 2019 Broad River Prize for Prose, and 2018 Emrys Poetry Prize, among other honors. Her work has appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, South Carolina Review, Gigantic Sequins, Raleigh Review, Taco Bell Quarterly, and elsewhere. She lives in Columbia, South Carolina with her partner and their pets, working as a library communications strategist.
Join writers and poets from across the country each month for a virtual writing workshop. A link will be added to their name when more details and sign-up information becomes available. These workshops are geared towards amateur writers, ages 16 and older recommended. Follow us on Facebook for notifications too.
2024 Virtual Writers Workshops
February 26 – Ruba Ahmed
March – Amber Rose Crowtree
2023 Workshop Writers : Angela Evans, Tom Tenbrunsel, Robert Edward Miss, Kenneth Chamblee, Yasmin Mays, Shannon Yong, Jennifer McGaha, Erica Reid, Raymond McNally, Jane Waldrop, Francis Pearce, Eric Nelson, Darren Todd.
This National Poetry Month, turn your sparks of inspiration into beautiful poetry in an all-new poetry workshop led by Greenville Poet Laureate Glenis Redmond. Whether you’re just dipping your toes into the world of poetry or you’ve been penning verses for a while, this workshop is tailor-made for you. From brainstorming ideas to crafting captivating lines, Glenis will guide you every step of the way. Unleash your inner wordsmith and explore the magic of poetry with a true master.
The $125 registration fee is for admission to the three-part workshop taking place at 6:00 PM on April 11, 18 and 25. Please bring paper and your preferred writing tool with you. The workshop culminates in a reading during the final session where participants can invite a guest to enjoy their poetry progress.
Greg Lobas will lead a virtual writer’s workshop titled: “Writing Your Life into Poetry.”
“Write what you know” is one of the first and best maxims for the aspiring writer. But what if “what you know” is ordinary, even mundane? This workshop will look at ways to mine the gold that is in everyone’s life and turn it into poetry. It may take some digging. It may take a little change in perspective. But it is there, and it is material only you can use. We will focus on the narrative poem as a means of story-telling but will consider the lyric poem as well.
This workshop is open to writers of all skill levels and is a fun way to find inspiration from a new prompt or revise current work. It is hosted by the Friends of Carl Sandburg at Connemara and will Zoom for the virtual connection. Sign up to attend the workshop at workshop here:
Greg Lobas has been published extensively as both an outdoor writer and a poet. His debut book, Left of Center, won the 2022 Dogfish Head Poetry Prize, and placed second in the Delaware State Press Association awards. The book deals with his real life experiences as a fire captain and paramedic. His poems have been published in many journals. He is an experienced poetry workshop facilitator at Isothermal Community College.
Greg lives with his wife Meg and his dog Sophie in Polk County North Carolina.
Music, poetry, art, and dance collide for Carolina Muse: Arts Jam, a celebration of our multimedia literary & arts magazine’s published creators based in the Carolinas.
This intimate, immersive arts event features local musicians, dancers, writers, and visual artists all in one show. Shop art pieces & crafts made by local artists and enjoy performances & readings from talented creators of several styles & genres. We’re excited to build community with fellow artists & arts-lovers of several creative mediums.
– Music & dance performances
– Poetry readings
– Art & crafts for sale
– Raffle tickets!
📆 Saturday, May 25, 2024
🕰️ 1pm-4pm (art sale starts at 12pm)
📍 The Artistry Gallery, GVL, SC
💵 $15
How can a writer begin a story or get unstuck when they are in the middle of a draft? In this workshop, we will look specifically at (very short) stories to discover what captivates and arrests our attention and what resonates with a reader long after the last line is read. After we discuss examples in class you will be then given a series of writing prompts. Come ready to write and be inspired! Students will produce writing to start a new story or find fresh avenues into a work already in progress. You will receive in-class feedback from the instructor and your classmates. This class can work for fiction and non-fiction writers.
This virtual workshop will be held on Zoom on Wednesdays, June 5, 12, 19, & 26 at 6:00 ET.
Libby Flores‘s writing has appeared in One Story Magazine, The Kenyon Review, Gagosian Quarterly, American Short Fiction, Ploughshares, Post Road Magazine, McSweeney’s, Tin House /The Open Bar, The Guardian, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. She is the Associate Publisher at BOMB Magazine and the 2024 guest fiction editor of the Bennington Review. She has taught creative writing workshops for the Sackett Writing Workshop, Tin House, One Story, Hub City Writers Project, Bennington College, and PEN America. She is currently a visiting faculty member at Bennington College. She lives in Brooklyn, but will always be a Texan. Libby is represented by Sarah Bowlin at Aevitas Creative Management. You can find her at libbyflores.com.
Middle grade author Lis Anna-Langston leads a high-energy writing workshop for ages 9-14. Author’s books will be available for purchase. Registration required; opens May 25
Flash Fiction Writing Group meets the 3rd Friday of each month and examines, explores and uses the elements and techniques of short fiction writing.
When you write grant requests, event invitations, annual reports, and even humble emails, you want to move your readers to action. But too often jargon, lack of practice, and outdated rules from school can get in your way.
Power up your writing in this 90 minute workshop. You’ll leave equipped to:
- Tell stories that stick
- Write sentences that sing
- Keep your focus on your reader
- Find your voice
- Scrap what you’ve learned about writing that isn’t working
About the presenter:
Katy Pugh Smith is a seasoned facilitator and planner with significant experience in convening coalitions of community members, supporting them in identifying goals and action plans, and working with them to see those plans through to results.
Katy is executive director of Greater Good Greenville, which galvanizes nonprofit organizations, philanthropic funders, and mission-minded people for collaborative problem-solving and learning, advocacy, and joint investing to address our community’s challenges.
She earned her Master of Social Work degree in administration, planning, and community organizing from University of Georgia where she co-authored and published several journal articles. But before she took the path to a career in the social sector, Katy planned to be a writer, and she received her undergraduate degree at Wake Forest University with a scholarship for creative writing. She has always loved writing for work and updating her skills as styles and technology change.