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PJ Seminar: It’s Okay to Love This – A Master Class on Writing and Joy with Juan Martinez

$70.00 · September 11

In this workshop, we will return to the generative possibilities inherent in joy, and we’ll talk about strategies to help us return to that state when we’re feeling stressed out or worried about what we’re creating or where our words might end up.

Start Date

September 11

Day(s) of the Week

Monday

Class Times

7:00pm – 9:00pm CT

Sessions

1

Location

Zoom (online)

Instructor

Price

$70

In stock

Description

It’s not like writing should be easy or fun or joyous all the time, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be. We’ve all been happy writing, is what I’m saying—we’ve been deep into a project, happily typing away like that Typing Cat .gif—but when we’re not, when we’re deep in a hole or feeling lost or irritated with our words, we forget that joy is possible.
In this workshop, we will return to the generative possibilities inherent in joy, and we’ll talk about strategies to help us return to that state when we’re feeling stressed out or worried about what we’re creating or where our words might end up. I’ll also share some particularly joyful moments from fiction and talk about how they can lift and shift a narrative, how they can remind both readers and writers that joy is very much a possibility, on and off the page.

About Juan Martinez

Juan Martinez is the author of Best Worst American, a story collection published by Small Beer Press and the inaugural winner of the Neukom Institute Award for Debut Speculative Fiction. He lives in Chicago and is an assistant professor at Northwestern University. His work has appeared in many literary journals and anthologies, including Glimmer Train, McSweeney's, Ecotone, NPR's Selected Shorts, Mississippi Review and elsewhere, and is forthcoming in Shenandoah. His debut novel Extended Stay will be published January 2023. Visit and say hi at https://fulmerford.com