Geneva Writers Group upcoming events

Ekphrastic Workshop at Gallery Brulhart (26 Sep 2026)

Sat, 26 Sep 2026 12:15:00 GMT

Ekphrastic Workshop at Gallery Brulhart

with GWG SteerCo member Julianne DiNenna.

Have you ever found yourself staring at modern art and wondering what it means ? Want to learn more about ekphrastic writing ? Come join our ekphrastic poetry and flash fiction workshop at Gallery Brulhart on 26th September in Eaux -Vives where you will have opportunity to explore the wondrous comtemporary art of African women and kick start your autumn writing using prompts based on their paintings.

Gallery Brulhart has been known for revigorating ideas and traveling through art. We’ll discover ekphrastic writing in this workshop so you can create ekphrastic poems or flash fiction pieces. Places are limited so please sign up right away!

Time and Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026, 14:15 – 16:15

Fees: CHF 15 (Members) | CHF 20 (Non-Members). Most of the fees will contribute to the Foundation for Contemporary African Women Artists.

Location: Gallery Brulhart, Rue des Vollandes 21, 1207 Genève (Eaux-Vives)

Refreshments for celebrating autumn writing will follow the workshop.

Snippets - OCTOBER (06 Oct 2026)

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Snippets

Monthly in-person writing sessions

Poetic Forms: A Virtual Four Week Poetry Workshop with Tresha Faye Haefner (06 Oct 2026)

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMT

Poetic Forms: A Virtual Four Week Poetry Workshop with Tresha Faye Haefner

Ever wonder what makes the repeating lines of a villanelle stay with you all day? What makes a ghazal both a love poem and a poem of longing? Why has the sonnet endured for centuries? And how can a pantoum use repetition to keep looking back while still moving forward?

Join Tresha Faye Haefner (pronounced Tree-sha) for a four-week mini-series exploring four of poetry’s most enduring forms: the villanelle, ghazal, sonnet, and pantoum.

Offering a glimpse into what a mini-MFA in poetic form might feel like, each class will explore what makes a particular form distinctive, why it has lasted across centuries and cultures, and how poets can make its constraints work for them. Along the way, participants will sharpen their craft by exploring structure, repetition, rhyme, the volta or “turn,” and the element of surprise.

Each 90-minute online session will combine close reading and discussion of poems with practical writing exercises, giving participants the opportunity to experiment with the form and begin poems of their own.

Come for the full four-week series, or sign up for the individual sessions that interest you most. All poets and writers curious about poetic form are welcome.

SYLLABUS

The Volta and the Sonnet:

What is most essential in structuring a poem?

October 6, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

This session will explore the fourteen-line sonnet. The Poetry Foundation explains: "A 14-line poem with a variable rhyme scheme originating in Italy and brought to England in the 16th century. Literally a “little song,” the sonnet traditionally reflects upon a single sentiment, with a clarification or “turn” of thought in its concluding lines.” Participants will practice rhyme schemes and writing sonnets of their own.

The Villanelle: How to keep a poem circling

October 13, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

This session will explore the structure of the villanelle. The Poetry Foundation defines this form as, "French verse form consisting of five three-line stanzas and a final quatrain, with the first and third lines of the first stanza repeating alternately in the following stanzas. These two refrain lines form the final couplet in the quatrain.” Participants will discuss what makes an effective villanelle and practice writing one.

The Ghazal: The more things change, the more they stay the same

October 20th, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

This session will explore the structure and components of the ghazal. The Poetry Foundation explains the ghazal:

"originally an Arabic verse form dealing with loss and romantic love… consisting of syntactically and grammatically complete couplets, the form also has an intricate rhyme scheme. Each couplet ends on the same word or phrase (the radif), and is preceded by the couplet ’s rhyming word (the qafia, which appears twice in the first couplet). The last couplet includes a proper name, often of the poet ’s.”

Participants will explore the rhyme scheme and components of the ghazal and will practice writing one.

The Pantoum: How to look back and reflect while still moving forward

October 27, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

This session will explore the structure of the pantoum poetic form. The Poetry Foundation explains the pantoum as: "A Malaysian verse form adapted by French poets and occasionally imitated in English. It comprises a series of quatrains, with the second and fourth lines of each quatrain repeated as the first and third lines of the next. The second and fourth lines of the final stanza repeat the first and third lines of the first stanza.”

Participants will explore and practice writing a pantoum.

Till then, please enjoy:

Tresha Faye Haefner is author of When the Moon Had Antlers (Pine Row Press, 2023) and founder of The Poetry Salon and Odd Pocket Press. Her work appears, or is forthcoming in several journals and magazines, most notably Blood Lotus, Blue Mesa Review, The Cincinnati Review, Ecclectica, Five South, Hunger Mountain, Mid-America Review, Pirene’s Fountain, Poet Lore, Prairie Schooner, Radar, Rattle, TinderBox and Up the Staircase Quarterly. Her work has won the Robert and Adele Schiff Poetry Prize, Pangea Prize and been a finalist for the Glass Lyre Poetry Prize. Find her at www.thepoetrysalonstack.substack.com.

Poetic Forms: A Virtual Four Week Poetry Workshop with Tresha Faye Haefner (13 Oct 2026)

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMT

Poetic Forms: A Virtual Four Week Poetry Workshop with Tresha Faye Haefner

Join Tresha Faye Haefner (pronounced Tree-sha) for a four-week mini-series exploring four of poetry’s most enduring forms: the villanelle, ghazal, sonnet, and pantoum.

Come for the full four-week series, or sign up for the individual sessions that interest you most. All poets and writers curious about poetic form are welcome.

SYLLABUS

The Volta and the Sonnet:

What is most essential in structuring a poem?

October 6, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

The Villanelle: How to keep a poem circling

October 13, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

The Ghazal: The more things change, the more they stay the same

October 20th, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

This session will explore the structure and components of the ghazal. The Poetry Foundation explains the ghazal:

Participants will explore the rhyme scheme and components of the ghazal and will practice writing one.

The Pantoum: How to look back and reflect while still moving forward

October 27, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

Participants will explore and practice writing a pantoum.

Till then, please enjoy:

Poetic Forms: A Virtual Four Week Poetry Workshop with Tresha Faye Haefner (20 Oct 2026)

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMT

Poetic Forms: A Virtual Four Week Poetry Workshop with Tresha Faye Haefner

Join Tresha Faye Haefner (pronounced Tree-sha) for a four-week mini-series exploring four of poetry’s most enduring forms: the villanelle, ghazal, sonnet, and pantoum.

Come for the full four-week series, or sign up for the individual sessions that interest you most. All poets and writers curious about poetic form are welcome.

SYLLABUS

The Volta and the Sonnet:

What is most essential in structuring a poem?

October 6, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

The Villanelle: How to keep a poem circling

October 13, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

The Ghazal: The more things change, the more they stay the same

October 20th, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

This session will explore the structure and components of the ghazal. The Poetry Foundation explains the ghazal:

Participants will explore the rhyme scheme and components of the ghazal and will practice writing one.

The Pantoum: How to look back and reflect while still moving forward

October 27, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

Participants will explore and practice writing a pantoum.

Till then, please enjoy:

Stories of Our Lives: A Memoir Writing Workshop with Carmen Bugan (22 Oct 2026)

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:30:00 GMT

STORIES OF OUR LIVES: A MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP WITH CARMEN BUGAN

In this workshop participants will deepen their technical skills in writing about life experiences. The practice-based course comprises nine two-hour sessions, each focused on a major aspect of composing a story based on true life events. We discuss carefully curated examples from memoirs and work with timed writing exercises. The material produced will help generate memoir chapters, personal essays, or letters. A suggested bibliography is provided at the onset of the course. However, we start by reading an interview with Isabel Allende writing in the wake of losing her daughter.

Session 1: October 22

Timelines: Our lives are full of stories but one of them will become the backbone of a book. Where does this story fit within the timeline of one’s life? Where does it fit within the timeline of one’s community, and the larger world? And how do we work out a sense of time inside of this story? Timelines help the writer gain a larger perspective on their stories. In this initial workshop we create three timelines: the timeline of your life with its chronology; the timeline of your story as it fits into your life; and a timeline of major world events that have left a mark on you. We will think of both Chronos (the ticking clock that makes every day accountable) and Kairos (that fortuitous or disastrous moment when everything converges into an inevitable change) as we formulate a sense of time/ and timing in our stories.

Session 2: October 29

A sense of place and displacement: There is hardly a story without a place: at some point we think of childhood as “another country”, the country of birth becomes “a country of the mind” (as Heaney has said of his), a house becomes a museum, a tree becomes a hiding hole, memory becomes a trapdoor. In this session we explore various places in our lives from two perspectives: places of safety and connections, where the world within fits harmoniously with the outside world; and places of disconnection and threat. All these places have prominent parts in our life stories and a logic of their own as we search for meaning.

Session 3: November 5

Memorable characters: Coincidences, accidents, speech mannerisms, and self-contradictions are a few of the things that make a character memorable. But a character in memoir is “self-reporting”—so what are the challenges of writing about oneself to the wider public? Who are the powerful people in our lives and how did they shape us? What are some of the public characters (politicians, artists, writers) that have come to mark you as a person? We discuss how to approach writing about people we know and the ethics of writing about family.

Session 4: November 12

The author, the narrator, and the writing voice: Who is the ideal reader of memoir and how does the notion of readership shape the notion of authorship? In this workshop we look at perception and self-perception in writing and talk about the various ways in which we use our personal stories to talk publicly about things that affect the larger communities. We also talk about memoir writing as a personal and private act: the writing for oneself, rather than writing for publication. We tackle the thorny issue of self-exposure, especially as we write about our close relationships. Can memoir be a sort of public confession, like St Augustine’s Confessions about his faith? Or can it be a series of letters to the people who have shaped our lives? Isabell Allende worked out the relationship with her reader like this: “When I sit down and write while thinking about someone, the writing is much easier.” Is it?

Session 5: November 19

Plots: In this session we play around with plots: trial, journey, moments-in-time, siege narratives, and the classic Aristotelian plot line. What is an inevitable action and what is an inevitable consequence? Climax, turning point, and the Major Dramatic Question, as well as the question about dramatic irony are discussed. Do our stories fall into timeless kinds of stories, such a “life journeys” or “quests”? How do we shape the incoherence of our days into a story? The writing exercises in this session will revolve around verbs and action.

Session 6: November 26

Description: The art of description--sensory, emotional, intellectual—takes practice and sensitivity. The description of a setting can create a feeling, the portrait of a person can lead to a portrait of a mind, and so forth. In this session we discuss ways in which we can invite and truly transport the reader into the worlds that have shaped us. We practice writing with figurative language to make the language more vibrant and evocative.

Session 7: December 3

Theme: So, what is memoir writing really about? Does it explore the larger themes that shape families and generations, such as resilience, anger, grief, passion, hardship? Usually, the themes rise to the surface unbidden, but it’s good to think about them at the outset too. Is your story dealing with political themes and how do you plan on handling those? Editors, publishers, booksellers, and librarians love themes and they usually request keywords from authors, to help them categorize the books for their readers. Are there certain keywords that help you decide on the thematic language in your story?

Session 8: December 10

Memories and dreams: In this session we discuss and write about insistent memories, about ways to recall events with the help from objects, photographs, and imagined conversations with people who are no longer a part of our lives. We also write about recurring dreams and the way they color the waking times. We explore the more subtle thematic aspects of writing that emerges from dreams. We also write about the otherworldliness of everyday, about those moments that are so beautiful, they feel extraordinary. We probe the life of the mind and the rhythm of the heart just below our waking life.

Session 9: December 17

Nature and wildlife encounters: Most often, when thinking about memoirs, we focus on major events, unusual relationships, or moments of great transitions. We focus on people. But there are gardens, walks in nature, the unusual birds that sometimes seem to land in our yards out of nowhere, or the creatures that we come face to face during a hike: a moose, a snake, a heron, a frog, or a squirrel. Or maybe we find ourselves having to wait out a massive fog on a mountain hike, and we literally experience walking with our “head in the clouds.” As the fog lifts, it uncovers breathtaking vistas. The natural world, the seasons, all give us fresh perspectives on the events, or even the course of our lives. We will be on Zoom for this workshop, but I will invite you to go over memories of windswept walking paths, storms on the beach, or an encounter with a fledgling that fell out of the nest. How do these encounters and experiences add texture to the writing?

Suggested reading:

Cloistered, by Catherine Coldstream, life in a monastery and the escape from it

Skybound, by Rebecca Loncraine, flying in gliders around the world after chemotherapy

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, by Laurie Lee, walking from the English countryside to the Southernmost point of Spain on the brink of the Civil War

What You Have Heard is True, by Carolyn Forche, innocent newly minted professor receives an unusual visit that changes her life

Where the Wild Winds Are, by Nick Hunt, chasing winds on foot around Europe

Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, walking up Everest and back and why we are drawn to the impossible

Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, by Doris Lessing, an important book of essays about the world outside that builds our inner worlds

And the technical texts:

Bell, J. and P. Magrs The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry. (London: Macmillan, 2001) [ISBN 9780333782255]

Cline, S. and C. Angier The Arvon Book of Life Writing: Writing Biography, Autobiography and Memoir. (London: Methuen Drama, 2010) [ISBN 9781408122716]

Karr, M. The Art of Memoir. (New York: Harper Perennial, 2016) [ISBN 978006222307]

Aspects of the Novel, by E.M. Forster, a wonderful series of lectures on writing fiction

Pricing

Sliding-Scale Member Rates

GWG offers a trust-based sliding scale to ensure equitable access. Participants are encouraged to select the pricing tier that best aligns with their financial circumstances.

Accessible rates support those with limited means, standard rates cover core costs, and pay-it-forward rates help fund subsidized places for others in the community.

Full series:

Member – Pay It Forward: CHF 380
Member – Standard: CHF 340
Member – Accessible: CHF 300
Non-Member: CHF 400

Two-Session Package:

Member: CHF 65
Non-Member: CHF 80

Carmen Bugan, George Orwell Prize Fellow, is the author of six poetry collections, among which is Lilies from America (a PBS Special Commendation). Her memoir, Burying the Typewriter, winner of the Breadloaf Nonfiction Prize, finalist in the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the George Orwell Prize for Political Writing, was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, and is now out in the Picador Collection as a “modern classic.” Bugan's monograph on Seamus Heaney and East European Poetry in Translation has received wide recognition. Her book, Poetry and the Language of Oppression (Oxford University Press, 2021), was named “an essential book for writers” by Poets & Writers; her book of poems, Time Being, was praised by the Irish Times poetry editor for its "disciplined precision." In her latest poetry Collection, Tristia, “Bugan deliberately echoes the eruptive and epiphanic moment in Yeats.” Bugan was a Creative Arts Fellow in Literature at Wolfson College, Oxford University, a Hawthornden Fellow, and a recipient of Arts Council England Individual Artist Grant. She has a doctorate in English literature from Balliol College, Oxford, UK, and currently teaches at the Gotham Writers Workshop in Manhattan and at the Poetry School in London.

Poetic Forms: A Virtual Four Week Poetry Workshop with Tresha Faye Haefner (27 Oct 2026)

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 19:00:00 GMT

Poetic Forms: A Virtual Four Week Poetry Workshop with Tresha Faye Haefner

Join Tresha Faye Haefner (pronounced Tree-sha) for a four-week mini-series exploring four of poetry’s most enduring forms: the villanelle, ghazal, sonnet, and pantoum.

Come for the full four-week series, or sign up for the individual sessions that interest you most. All poets and writers curious about poetic form are welcome.

SYLLABUS

The Volta and the Sonnet:

What is most essential in structuring a poem?

October 6, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

The Villanelle: How to keep a poem circling

October 13, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

The Ghazal: The more things change, the more they stay the same

October 20th, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

This session will explore the structure and components of the ghazal. The Poetry Foundation explains the ghazal:

Participants will explore the rhyme scheme and components of the ghazal and will practice writing one.

The Pantoum: How to look back and reflect while still moving forward

October 27, 20.00 - 21.30 CET

Participants will explore and practice writing a pantoum.

Till then, please enjoy:

Stories of Our Lives: A Memoir Writing Workshop with Carmen Bugan (29 Oct 2026)

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 18:30:00 GMT

STORIES OF OUR LIVES: A MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP WITH CARMEN BUGAN

Session 1: October 22

Session 2: October 29

Session 3: November 5

Session 4: November 12

Session 5: November 19

Session 6: November 26

Session 7: December 3

Session 8: December 10

Session 9: December 17

Suggested reading:

Cloistered, by Catherine Coldstream, life in a monastery and the escape from it

Skybound, by Rebecca Loncraine, flying in gliders around the world after chemotherapy

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, by Laurie Lee, walking from the English countryside to the Southernmost point of Spain on the brink of the Civil War

What You Have Heard is True, by Carolyn Forche, innocent newly minted professor receives an unusual visit that changes her life

Where the Wild Winds Are, by Nick Hunt, chasing winds on foot around Europe

Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, walking up Everest and back and why we are drawn to the impossible

Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, by Doris Lessing, an important book of essays about the world outside that builds our inner worlds

And the technical texts:

Bell, J. and P. Magrs The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry. (London: Macmillan, 2001) [ISBN 9780333782255]

Cline, S. and C. Angier The Arvon Book of Life Writing: Writing Biography, Autobiography and Memoir. (London: Methuen Drama, 2010) [ISBN 9781408122716]

Karr, M. The Art of Memoir. (New York: Harper Perennial, 2016) [ISBN 978006222307]

Aspects of the Novel, by E.M. Forster, a wonderful series of lectures on writing fiction

Pricing

Sliding-Scale Member Rates

GWG offers a trust-based sliding scale to ensure equitable access. Participants are encouraged to select the pricing tier that best aligns with their financial circumstances.

Accessible rates support those with limited means, standard rates cover core costs, and pay-it-forward rates help fund subsidized places for others in the community.

Full series:

Member – Pay It Forward: CHF 380
Member – Standard: CHF 340
Member – Accessible: CHF 300
Non-Member: CHF 400

Two-Session Package:

Member: CHF 65
Non-Member: CHF 80

Stories of Our Lives: A Memoir Writing Workshop with Carmen Bugan (05 Nov 2026)

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:30:00 GMT

STORIES OF OUR LIVES: A MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP WITH CARMEN BUGAN

Session 1: October 22

Session 2: October 29

Session 3: November 5

Session 4: November 12

Session 5: November 19

Session 6: November 26

Session 7: December 3

Session 8: December 10

Session 9: December 17

Suggested reading:

Cloistered, by Catherine Coldstream, life in a monastery and the escape from it

Skybound, by Rebecca Loncraine, flying in gliders around the world after chemotherapy

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, by Laurie Lee, walking from the English countryside to the Southernmost point of Spain on the brink of the Civil War

What You Have Heard is True, by Carolyn Forche, innocent newly minted professor receives an unusual visit that changes her life

Where the Wild Winds Are, by Nick Hunt, chasing winds on foot around Europe

Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, walking up Everest and back and why we are drawn to the impossible

Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, by Doris Lessing, an important book of essays about the world outside that builds our inner worlds

And the technical texts:

Bell, J. and P. Magrs The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry. (London: Macmillan, 2001) [ISBN 9780333782255]

Cline, S. and C. Angier The Arvon Book of Life Writing: Writing Biography, Autobiography and Memoir. (London: Methuen Drama, 2010) [ISBN 9781408122716]

Karr, M. The Art of Memoir. (New York: Harper Perennial, 2016) [ISBN 978006222307]

Aspects of the Novel, by E.M. Forster, a wonderful series of lectures on writing fiction

Pricing

Sliding-Scale Member Rates

GWG offers a trust-based sliding scale to ensure equitable access. Participants are encouraged to select the pricing tier that best aligns with their financial circumstances.

Accessible rates support those with limited means, standard rates cover core costs, and pay-it-forward rates help fund subsidized places for others in the community.

Full series:

Member – Pay It Forward: CHF 380
Member – Standard: CHF 340
Member – Accessible: CHF 300
Non-Member: CHF 400

Two-Session Package:

Member: CHF 65
Non-Member: CHF 80

Snippets - NOVEMBER (10 Nov 2026)

Tue, 10 Nov 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Snippets

Monthly in-person writing sessions

Stories of Our Lives: A Memoir Writing Workshop with Carmen Bugan (12 Nov 2026)

Thu, 12 Nov 2026 18:30:00 GMT

STORIES OF OUR LIVES: A MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP WITH CARMEN BUGAN

Session 1: October 22

Session 2: October 29

Session 3: November 5

Session 4: November 12

Session 5: November 19

Session 6: November 26

Session 7: December 3

Session 8: December 10

Session 9: December 17

Suggested reading:

Cloistered, by Catherine Coldstream, life in a monastery and the escape from it

Skybound, by Rebecca Loncraine, flying in gliders around the world after chemotherapy

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, by Laurie Lee, walking from the English countryside to the Southernmost point of Spain on the brink of the Civil War

What You Have Heard is True, by Carolyn Forche, innocent newly minted professor receives an unusual visit that changes her life

Where the Wild Winds Are, by Nick Hunt, chasing winds on foot around Europe

Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, walking up Everest and back and why we are drawn to the impossible

Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, by Doris Lessing, an important book of essays about the world outside that builds our inner worlds

And the technical texts:

Bell, J. and P. Magrs The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry. (London: Macmillan, 2001) [ISBN 9780333782255]

Cline, S. and C. Angier The Arvon Book of Life Writing: Writing Biography, Autobiography and Memoir. (London: Methuen Drama, 2010) [ISBN 9781408122716]

Karr, M. The Art of Memoir. (New York: Harper Perennial, 2016) [ISBN 978006222307]

Aspects of the Novel, by E.M. Forster, a wonderful series of lectures on writing fiction

Pricing

Sliding-Scale Member Rates

GWG offers a trust-based sliding scale to ensure equitable access. Participants are encouraged to select the pricing tier that best aligns with their financial circumstances.

Accessible rates support those with limited means, standard rates cover core costs, and pay-it-forward rates help fund subsidized places for others in the community.

Full series:

Member – Pay It Forward: CHF 380
Member – Standard: CHF 340
Member – Accessible: CHF 300
Non-Member: CHF 400

Two-Session Package:

Member: CHF 65
Non-Member: CHF 80

Exploring the Art of Prose Poetry: A Virtual Workshop with Jose Hernandez Diaz (18 Nov 2026)

Wed, 18 Nov 2026 18:00:00 GMT

Exploring the Art of Prose Poetry

A Virtual Workshop with Jose Hernandez Diaz

This course will consist of close readings in the art of prose poetry, group discussion, and responding to generative prompts. The course will diligently emphasize both the art of duende or inspiration as well as consider craft and literary technique. Participants can expect to gain understanding on what makes this innovative, subversive form stand out in contemporary literature as well as discovering how it operates as a hybrid form of literature. We will read a diverse range of contemporary prose poetry masters, including: Shivani Mehta, James Tate, Harryette Mullen, Marosa di Giorgio, Jorge Luis Borges.

Where: Online via Zoom

Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2026

Time: 19:00-21:00 CEST

Fees: CHF 30 (Members) | CHF 45 (Non-Members)

Jose Hernandez Diaz is a poet and prose‑poem writer from Southern California. His work has appeared in Poetry, The Nation, The Yale Review, The Southern Review, The London Magazine, Poetry Wales, and Denver Quarterly. He is the author of Bad Mexican, Bad American and The Lighthouse Tattoo, with Split/Mezcla: New and Selected Poems forthcoming in 2029. A 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow, he teaches contemporary poetry and workshops nationally.

Stories of Our Lives: A Memoir Writing Workshop with Carmen Bugan (19 Nov 2026)

Thu, 19 Nov 2026 18:30:00 GMT

STORIES OF OUR LIVES: A MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP WITH CARMEN BUGAN

Session 1: October 22

Session 2: October 29

Session 3: November 5

Session 4: November 12

Session 5: November 19

Session 6: November 26

Session 7: December 3

Session 8: December 10

Session 9: December 17

Suggested reading:

Cloistered, by Catherine Coldstream, life in a monastery and the escape from it

Skybound, by Rebecca Loncraine, flying in gliders around the world after chemotherapy

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, by Laurie Lee, walking from the English countryside to the Southernmost point of Spain on the brink of the Civil War

What You Have Heard is True, by Carolyn Forche, innocent newly minted professor receives an unusual visit that changes her life

Where the Wild Winds Are, by Nick Hunt, chasing winds on foot around Europe

Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, walking up Everest and back and why we are drawn to the impossible

Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, by Doris Lessing, an important book of essays about the world outside that builds our inner worlds

And the technical texts:

Bell, J. and P. Magrs The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry. (London: Macmillan, 2001) [ISBN 9780333782255]

Cline, S. and C. Angier The Arvon Book of Life Writing: Writing Biography, Autobiography and Memoir. (London: Methuen Drama, 2010) [ISBN 9781408122716]

Karr, M. The Art of Memoir. (New York: Harper Perennial, 2016) [ISBN 978006222307]

Aspects of the Novel, by E.M. Forster, a wonderful series of lectures on writing fiction

Pricing

Sliding-Scale Member Rates

GWG offers a trust-based sliding scale to ensure equitable access. Participants are encouraged to select the pricing tier that best aligns with their financial circumstances.

Accessible rates support those with limited means, standard rates cover core costs, and pay-it-forward rates help fund subsidized places for others in the community.

Full series:

Member – Pay It Forward: CHF 380
Member – Standard: CHF 340
Member – Accessible: CHF 300
Non-Member: CHF 400

Two-Session Package:

Member: CHF 65
Non-Member: CHF 80

Stories of Our Lives: A Memoir Writing Workshop with Carmen Bugan (26 Nov 2026)

Thu, 26 Nov 2026 18:30:00 GMT

STORIES OF OUR LIVES: A MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP WITH CARMEN BUGAN

Session 1: October 22

Session 2: October 29

Session 3: November 5

Session 4: November 12

Session 5: November 19

Session 6: November 26

Session 7: December 3

Session 8: December 10

Session 9: December 17

Suggested reading:

Cloistered, by Catherine Coldstream, life in a monastery and the escape from it

Skybound, by Rebecca Loncraine, flying in gliders around the world after chemotherapy

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, by Laurie Lee, walking from the English countryside to the Southernmost point of Spain on the brink of the Civil War

What You Have Heard is True, by Carolyn Forche, innocent newly minted professor receives an unusual visit that changes her life

Where the Wild Winds Are, by Nick Hunt, chasing winds on foot around Europe

Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, walking up Everest and back and why we are drawn to the impossible

Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, by Doris Lessing, an important book of essays about the world outside that builds our inner worlds

And the technical texts:

Bell, J. and P. Magrs The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry. (London: Macmillan, 2001) [ISBN 9780333782255]

Cline, S. and C. Angier The Arvon Book of Life Writing: Writing Biography, Autobiography and Memoir. (London: Methuen Drama, 2010) [ISBN 9781408122716]

Karr, M. The Art of Memoir. (New York: Harper Perennial, 2016) [ISBN 978006222307]

Aspects of the Novel, by E.M. Forster, a wonderful series of lectures on writing fiction

Pricing

Sliding-Scale Member Rates

GWG offers a trust-based sliding scale to ensure equitable access. Participants are encouraged to select the pricing tier that best aligns with their financial circumstances.

Accessible rates support those with limited means, standard rates cover core costs, and pay-it-forward rates help fund subsidized places for others in the community.

Full series:

Member – Pay It Forward: CHF 380
Member – Standard: CHF 340
Member – Accessible: CHF 300
Non-Member: CHF 400

Two-Session Package:

Member: CHF 65
Non-Member: CHF 80

Stories of Our Lives: A Memoir Writing Workshop with Carmen Bugan (03 Dec 2026)

Thu, 03 Dec 2026 18:30:00 GMT

STORIES OF OUR LIVES: A MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP WITH CARMEN BUGAN

Session 1: October 22

Session 2: October 29

Session 3: November 5

Session 4: November 12

Session 5: November 19

Session 6: November 26

Session 7: December 3

Session 8: December 10

Session 9: December 17

Suggested reading:

Cloistered, by Catherine Coldstream, life in a monastery and the escape from it

Skybound, by Rebecca Loncraine, flying in gliders around the world after chemotherapy

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, by Laurie Lee, walking from the English countryside to the Southernmost point of Spain on the brink of the Civil War

What You Have Heard is True, by Carolyn Forche, innocent newly minted professor receives an unusual visit that changes her life

Where the Wild Winds Are, by Nick Hunt, chasing winds on foot around Europe

Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, walking up Everest and back and why we are drawn to the impossible

Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, by Doris Lessing, an important book of essays about the world outside that builds our inner worlds

And the technical texts:

Bell, J. and P. Magrs The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry. (London: Macmillan, 2001) [ISBN 9780333782255]

Cline, S. and C. Angier The Arvon Book of Life Writing: Writing Biography, Autobiography and Memoir. (London: Methuen Drama, 2010) [ISBN 9781408122716]

Karr, M. The Art of Memoir. (New York: Harper Perennial, 2016) [ISBN 978006222307]

Aspects of the Novel, by E.M. Forster, a wonderful series of lectures on writing fiction

Pricing

Sliding-Scale Member Rates

GWG offers a trust-based sliding scale to ensure equitable access. Participants are encouraged to select the pricing tier that best aligns with their financial circumstances.

Accessible rates support those with limited means, standard rates cover core costs, and pay-it-forward rates help fund subsidized places for others in the community.

Full series:

Member – Pay It Forward: CHF 380
Member – Standard: CHF 340
Member – Accessible: CHF 300
Non-Member: CHF 400

Two-Session Package:

Member: CHF 65
Non-Member: CHF 80

Snippets - DECEMBER (08 Dec 2026)

Tue, 08 Dec 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Snippets

Monthly in-person writing sessions

Stories of Our Lives: A Memoir Writing Workshop with Carmen Bugan (10 Dec 2026)

Thu, 10 Dec 2026 18:30:00 GMT

STORIES OF OUR LIVES: A MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP WITH CARMEN BUGAN

Session 1: October 22

Session 2: October 29

Session 3: November 5

Session 4: November 12

Session 5: November 19

Session 6: November 26

Session 7: December 3

Session 8: December 10

Session 9: December 17

Suggested reading:

Cloistered, by Catherine Coldstream, life in a monastery and the escape from it

Skybound, by Rebecca Loncraine, flying in gliders around the world after chemotherapy

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, by Laurie Lee, walking from the English countryside to the Southernmost point of Spain on the brink of the Civil War

What You Have Heard is True, by Carolyn Forche, innocent newly minted professor receives an unusual visit that changes her life

Where the Wild Winds Are, by Nick Hunt, chasing winds on foot around Europe

Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, walking up Everest and back and why we are drawn to the impossible

Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, by Doris Lessing, an important book of essays about the world outside that builds our inner worlds

And the technical texts:

Bell, J. and P. Magrs The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry. (London: Macmillan, 2001) [ISBN 9780333782255]

Cline, S. and C. Angier The Arvon Book of Life Writing: Writing Biography, Autobiography and Memoir. (London: Methuen Drama, 2010) [ISBN 9781408122716]

Karr, M. The Art of Memoir. (New York: Harper Perennial, 2016) [ISBN 978006222307]

Aspects of the Novel, by E.M. Forster, a wonderful series of lectures on writing fiction

Pricing

Sliding-Scale Member Rates

GWG offers a trust-based sliding scale to ensure equitable access. Participants are encouraged to select the pricing tier that best aligns with their financial circumstances.

Accessible rates support those with limited means, standard rates cover core costs, and pay-it-forward rates help fund subsidized places for others in the community.

Full series:

Member – Pay It Forward: CHF 380
Member – Standard: CHF 340
Member – Accessible: CHF 300
Non-Member: CHF 400

Two-Session Package:

Member: CHF 65
Non-Member: CHF 80

Stories of Our Lives: A Memoir Writing Workshop with Carmen Bugan (17 Dec 2026)

Thu, 17 Dec 2026 18:30:00 GMT

STORIES OF OUR LIVES: A MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP WITH CARMEN BUGAN

Session 1: October 22

Session 2: October 29

Session 3: November 5

Session 4: November 12

Session 5: November 19

Session 6: November 26

Session 7: December 3

Session 8: December 10

Session 9: December 17

Suggested reading:

Cloistered, by Catherine Coldstream, life in a monastery and the escape from it

Skybound, by Rebecca Loncraine, flying in gliders around the world after chemotherapy

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, by Laurie Lee, walking from the English countryside to the Southernmost point of Spain on the brink of the Civil War

What You Have Heard is True, by Carolyn Forche, innocent newly minted professor receives an unusual visit that changes her life

Where the Wild Winds Are, by Nick Hunt, chasing winds on foot around Europe

Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, walking up Everest and back and why we are drawn to the impossible

Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, by Doris Lessing, an important book of essays about the world outside that builds our inner worlds

And the technical texts:

Bell, J. and P. Magrs The Creative Writing Coursebook: Forty Authors Share Advice and Exercises for Fiction and Poetry. (London: Macmillan, 2001) [ISBN 9780333782255]

Cline, S. and C. Angier The Arvon Book of Life Writing: Writing Biography, Autobiography and Memoir. (London: Methuen Drama, 2010) [ISBN 9781408122716]

Karr, M. The Art of Memoir. (New York: Harper Perennial, 2016) [ISBN 978006222307]

Aspects of the Novel, by E.M. Forster, a wonderful series of lectures on writing fiction

Pricing

Sliding-Scale Member Rates

GWG offers a trust-based sliding scale to ensure equitable access. Participants are encouraged to select the pricing tier that best aligns with their financial circumstances.

Accessible rates support those with limited means, standard rates cover core costs, and pay-it-forward rates help fund subsidized places for others in the community.

Full series:

Member – Pay It Forward: CHF 380
Member – Standard: CHF 340
Member – Accessible: CHF 300
Non-Member: CHF 400

Two-Session Package:

Member: CHF 65
Non-Member: CHF 80

Snippets - JANUARY (12 Jan 2027)

Tue, 12 Jan 2027 09:00:00 GMT

Snippets

Monthly in-person writing sessions

Snippets - FEBRUARY (09 Feb 2027)

Tue, 09 Feb 2027 09:00:00 GMT

Snippets

Monthly in-person writing sessions

Snippets - MARCH (09 Mar 2027)

Tue, 09 Mar 2027 09:00:00 GMT

Snippets

Monthly in-person writing sessions

Snippets - APRIL (13 Apr 2027)

Tue, 13 Apr 2027 08:00:00 GMT

Snippets

Monthly in-person writing sessions

Snippets - MAY (11 May 2027)

Tue, 11 May 2027 08:00:00 GMT

Snippets

Monthly in-person writing sessions

Snippets - JUNE (08 Jun 2027)

Tue, 08 Jun 2027 08:00:00 GMT

Snippets

Monthly in-person writing sessions

Snippets - JULY (06 Jul 2027)

Tue, 06 Jul 2027 08:00:00 GMT

Snippets

Monthly in-person writing sessions