Autumnal Generative Intensive with Karen Finley (via Zoom)

Witches Brew

Incantations, Spells and the Paranormal

In this pre-Halloween intensive workshop, we will explore all things related to Halloween to inspire our writing. The Hudson Valley Writers Center, located in historic Sleepy Hollow, can be an entry point to consider themes of this iconic setting for our creativity. Hauntings, the Old Cemetery, ghosts and goblins. We can deconstruct horror, manifest spirit portals and create our own monsters. Absurdity, benevolence and humor is certainly possible. Costumes gone amuck, trick or treat misadventures, pranks that lead to the profound and impossible. Our Witches Brew can be made up of various ingredients for unexplained enchantment that distills the sacred and the macabre. The sorceress consequence is here, rich in magical symbolism of our own invention. Finley will prepare a series of prompts that will guide us through an exploration of charms, hexes and the ghostly.

New writers and returning creatives encouraged. Introverts welcome.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom from 12:30pm-3:30pm EST and capped at 17. Link will be sent to email you use to register at the time of registration and again the day before the class. Please make sure to read our course policies page regarding workshop conduct and logistics before registering for any class at HVWC. Scholarship information will be available for this class in July and applications are due on August 15, 2022.

Karen Finley is an artist, performer, and author. She received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her raw and transgressive performances have brought debate and controversy. Finley was the named plaintiff for the Supreme Court case Finley v. NEA that challenged the decency provision in government grants to artists through the National Endowment for the Arts. Her performances and visual art have been presented internationally such as in The Barbican in London, Lincoln Center, New York City, the Bobino in Paris, amongst others. Finley is interested in freedom of expression concerns, social justice, visual culture, art education,, metaphysics and lectures, and gives workshops widely. Her most recent work is a collaborative participatory walk- Invocation: Retracing Seneca Village with Kimiyo Bremer. And she is developing a new project, COVID Anxiety Vortex Opera  Kaleidoscope Kitty Disco. Finley is the author of nine books, including her latest, Grabbing Pussy ( OR Books 2018) and the 25^th anniversary edition of Shock Treatment by City Lights. A recipient of many awards and grants, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, she is an arts professor in Art and Public Policy at New York University. Follow her on Instagram @the_yam_mam