Nothing to Write About: Finding Inspiration in Writer’s Block with Hila Ratzabi (via Zoom)
Every writer, even the most prolific, experiences writer’s block at some point. Regardless of why we have become stuck in our writing, it is possible to return to the simple joy of putting words on the page. We can even invite our demons to the table, by using writer’s block as a source of inspiration. In this workshop, open to writers of all genres, we will examine our writing struggles, looking at ideas from writer/psychotherapist Dennis Palumbo and designer Alex Churnell, to help us reframe and engage with writer’s block in a productive way. We will read poetry and prose selections by Lucia Perillo, Tatyana Tolstaya, Édouard Levé, and Jane Wong that will shake us up to get the creative juices flowing. Then we will engage in writing exercises that churn our resistance into something we can work and play with. We will share our rough drafts, laugh at our fumbles, and find renewed vitality in the act of putting pen to page.
NB: This class will be taught on Zoom (Sunday, June 30, 12:30-2:30 PM ET) and will be capped at 15 students. Registrants will receive the Zoom link to the email address they use to register. It will arrive immediately after registration so please check your spam folder if you do not receive it. It will also be sent the day before class as a reminder. Please review the course policies page before registering for any classes. Please email [email protected] with any questions.
Hila Ratzabi is the author of There Are Still Woods (June Road Press, 2022), winner of a gold Nautilus Book Award and finalist for a National Indie Excellence Award. Her poetry has been published in Narrative, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Adroit Journal, and other journals, and in The Bloomsbury Anthology of Contemporary Jewish American Poetry and Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology. Ratzabi regularly offers poetry readings and workshops and presents panels at AWP and other conferences. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Sarah Lawrence College and lives outside Chicago.
