Seeking Inspiration with Sarah Rodriguez
What inspires us? What makes us creative? Come explore these questions through poetry and visual art at Beyond Academia’s Kid’s Creative Writing Workshop. Students will discover what drives their own imagination and personal creativity while engaging in poetic writing prompts, arts & crafts, and peer-led discussion. Spanish/English, ages 7-13.

Poetry 101 with Clint Locks
Basic concepts such as rhythm and metaphor are the cornerstones of poetry, and this workshop gets in some practice, jumping around from usable tools such as assonance and enjambment, to more theoretical ideas akin to allegory and occultalalia. The exercise of each concept will be the primary writing task, with time to combine several into a poem at the end. Designed for novice and apprentice level poets, this course is suitable for writers from any genre.

Mountain Strong: Family Yoga & Storytelling Workshop with June Lucarotti
In this family yoga & storytelling workshop, families practice with their children to develop important social-emotional tools to de-stress, have fun, get creative, and sleep better. Kids and their adults come away with: self-compassion, practical tools for daily self-care practice, & the ability to focus on what is important to them. Spanish/English, ages 7-13.

BAFS “Second Sundays” Poetry Workshop with Marcus If
The Beyond Academia Free Skool (BAFS) is a writer’s collective that offers FREE public workshops every “Second Sunday” at 2pm, sponsored by the Boulder Public Library. Workshops related to our umbrella concept of Multidimensional Poetics are conducted in a Socratic Circle format, and begin with group discussion on a narrow topic within the field. In-class writing prompts are followed by sharing of the work generated and discussion of process. BAFS is a non-profit entity fiscally sponsored by the Boulder County Arts Alliance.

Page // Stage with Ellie Swensson
Page // Stage is an exploration of where and how words occupy space. There is a lot of talk in poetic circles around poems written for the page vs. poems written for performance, and that discussion often results in a false dichotomy between the two. But the relationship between page and stage can be much more fluid.
Taking a poem from the page to the stage is a process of embodied translation. Line breaks become breaths, syntax becomes sound, punctuation becomes percussion, and the geometry of form becomes the rhythm of movement.
This class embraces the root of poetics is performance. We’ve been bards for generations — in town squares, in royal courts, in market streets, in holy halls, in exile, in song, in prison, in solitude, in community. It’s where our craft began…now let’s learn some new tricks.

Direct Perception as Seed of Poetry with Reed Bye
This workshop will center on the experience and expression of direct perception as seed of poetic practice. We will work with taking chances with that which is seen and heard and felt in the moment of composing, whether written or spoken: how to creatively be with, rather than follow, what is happening. We’ll look at some examples, and then write from our naturally open, energetically engaged minds.

The Magic Circle: Writing as Game Design and the Lusory Attitude with Eric Fischman
How can a static text become a truly interactive system that responds to the reader? What is the difference between playing a poem as a game and solving a poem as a puzzle? How can we build worlds that encourage the reader to dive into the unfamiliar and learn to swim? In this class, we will examine some of the fundamental concepts of Game Studies as they apply to literature. We will look at Alice Notley, Fluxus, Dungeons and Dragons, and more. Ultimately, our goal will be to learn how to create work that engenders for the reader what game designers term “meaningful play.” So put your game faces on!

Gummy Bear Death Match with Brice Mauirro
An open conversation about publishing, poetry and an opportunity for critical feedback on poems. Students are encouraged to bring one or two poems to the course to be shared and reviewed with the class, if they’d like.

Concepts of Tarot with Seth Walker
Integrating occult understanding into your approach to poetry.
This class will explore methods for reading Tarot imagery and how those same methods can be applied to the reading and writing of poetry.
Bring your own tarot cards for this workshop to participate in our exercises in prophetry.

Of The Body with Jessica Rigney

Where do you
write from?

have a life
beyond you
writing it?

what makes it
live?

Of the Body begins fully seated in the body. Be ready to be—to drop in deep. Soon poetry will occur. Then a thematic, poetic erasure. Then perhaps you will be done or you may begin to add to your erasure. Then we will talk about the above questions.
Some implements will be provided. If you have favorite art implements of your own, please feel free to bring them.
Prior to class you may wish to peruse these:
maryruefle.com
Tom Phillips – A Humument
newspaper blackout poems
Becoming Invisible: An Interview with Mary Ruefle
Tree of Codes by Jonathan Safran Foer: Making Of

Synchro-Mythological Poetics with Marcus If
Poetry has the capacity to create synchro-mythologic event triggers without the need for a common mythology. A great poem will create its own internal mythology to draw the reader in, using perhaps a minimum of cultural triggers. “A Red Wheelbarrow” held no real cultural significance until the poem created a new mythology. In this workshop we will discuss how to create a mythology inside of a poem, and practice some spell-writing techniques.

Sourcery: Poetic Occultism -or- Occult Poetry with Seth Walker
The class will begin with a brief intro into occult symbolism, the concept of compound symbols, and the esoteric origin of inspired art. We will then have a group meditation followed by a series of writing prompts to ground, construct, and distill what we pulled from the ethers. The entire class should take approximately 2 to 2.5 hours. Closed minds need not apply.

When Fucks Fuck with Matt Clifford
When doves fuck hawks fuck the prince dies the king will live forever until he is fucked up it’s all fucked up now. How do you write about politics when you can’t make this shit up? Fuck it, I’m not the one to tell you. So this is a workshop on cussing in poetry. May contain explicit language.

Chakra Charged Lines 2: elemental currents with Roseanna Frechette
Chakra is a Sanskrit word that means “wheel” ~ as in spinning vortex. Humans are said to have seven primary chakras that align with the core of a physical being. These energy centers are streaming live with Kundalini, creative life force, when we open them to an inspired current– full with possibility, available to all. There are things to know about one’s chakras, all of which are valuable to the poet.
In this session we will go beyond basic understanding of what a chakra is into deeper energetic experience of particular elemental currents that relate to each chakra. Elements to be explored include earth, water, fire, air, sound, light, and ether. One or more can be chosen for a focus during free write, a time for spinning chakra energy into potential poems.
This session includes all-levels Hatha Yoga sequences and guided breathwork as well as walking meditation. These practices are intentionally structured to lead us to a subtle body awareness from which elemental currents may charge up and cause us to create. At the center of it all is a universal power that wants to take the shape of art.
This is a 3-hour workshop. Please dress in layers that allow you to move easily in sets of chakra-opening Hatha Yoga practice, and have foot wear that allows you to walk a gravel/dirt path. Bring water bottle, yoga mat, and writing tools. Be ready to roll your sleeves up.

Performing Your Creativity with Ira G. Liss
Go beyond your usual ways of writing, performing and expressing.
Let’s shake up our expectations on what it means for us to be creative – in a safe, fun, playful environment. I’ll bet we come out with more tools to work with, more material to draw upon, and maybe, an expanded sense of infinite selves.
Come out and play!
Let’s explore our creativity using a mix of activities – movement, storytelling, theater, improvisation, voice and more. Let’s experience our surprising, abundant spontaneity.
This workshop will be a series of playful exercises. Bring your opening heartand a willingness to discover a variety of foolish, fun activities that just might make you laugh as you learn.

Channeling Your Creativity with Eliza Beth Whittington
What if your writer’s block is trying to tell you something? Have you ever longed to express yourself creatively in some way but told yourself “you couldn’t?” If you have ever doubted your productivity or quality of work, wondered why you couldn’t “turn it on” this workshop will be offering you insights into how to create meaningful pieces frequently and to over-come self criticism. In this workshop we will delve into meditation, conversation about inspiration and multiple art mediums to challenge our preconceptions and stories about when we are inspired to create, and what our creations will look like. You are a creative channel for genius, and you are capable beyond comprehension.