At We Are Urban Haiku, we believe in the transformative power of storytelling.

We offer a wide range of workshops that foster and nurture the development of BIPOC/femme/marginalized writers through creating an access point to high quality training outside of the MFA system, including curated craft conversations with established and successful BIPOC writers and artists, a sense of community, and an affinity space; potent with the reclamation of our voices, our stories, and our worlds. 

You will find workshops featuring incredible special guests, different modes of storytelling, and opportunities to engage your voice and hone your craft.

For Bodies of Culture Craft Conversations

Join us in conversation with critically-acclaimed BIPOC writers from around the world as they discuss their process, reinventing forms, leaping across genre, creating under extraordinary circumstances, writing as a form of protest or reinvention, healing or metamorphosis, and navigating the various facets of the literary industry as an artist of color.

Workshops led by Anya Pearson

  • Date Announced Soon!

  • Date Announced Soon!

    WITH: Anya Pearson and Guest Artists Samiya Bashir, Dominique Christina, Mahogany L. Browne, and Patricia Smith.

    This world does not make space for black women to celebrate the totality of who we are.

    So THIS – this poetic place, these craft conversations, this shared space, this communal gathering is about interrogating THAT.

Writing Through Chronic Illness

We need to decolonize the industrial, capitalistic, ableist reactions to the liminalities of sickness, suffering, treatment and wellness to love our true selves better.

This virtual “sick bay” is for chronically ill people of mind and body. Together, we will resist band-aid, results-driven ways of loving ourselves and honor the divergent, brilliant ways our sick bodies and minds hold and tell story.

Workshops led by Anya Pearson and Ella deCastro Baron

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    Sunday Spoonies are our free community offerings which are more informal and open-ended. These are an emergent, drop-in space, every First (or Second) Sunday of the month for 1.5 hours-ish.

    They are held monthly in January, March, April, June, July, August, October, and November. 

  • Date Announced Soon!

    Flare workshops are structured workshops where Ella and Anya guide participants through writing exercises and specific activities geared toward helping participants generate new material.

    Flare workshops are three hours long and have a set start and end time and require registration and payment to attend.

    The Flare Workshops have a sliding scale cost from $50-150 are held seasonally in February, May, September, and December. 

StoryCraft Transform Your Story With RPG

There are many ways to talk story. Since the late 1970s, creatives have been using Table Top Role Playing Games (TTRPG) as a way to tell their stories - live their stories. Part game, part fantasy, part historical reenactment, part improv - RPGs like D&D have been transforming the world of story for decades. If you want to learn more about LitRPG or just want to level up your storytelling with new and exciting tools - this is the workshop for you!

Workshop led by Kenda Willie

  • Date Announced Soon!

  • Date Announced Soon!