WORKSHOPS & STUDY GROUPS

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS:

No workshops planned at the moment. Please check back.

I envision a second “Ecstatic Observation” workshop either this spring or fall.

CURRENT & PAST WORKSHOPS:

February 17, 2024

for The Little Books Collective:

BUILDING A COMMUNITY

OF CREATIVITY & COLLABORATION

Noon-3pm at the Lunenburg Academy

A three-hour workshop to launch the Little Books Collective 2024 cohort.

The Little Books Collective is an initiative of Berdene Owen of alivelihood.me and Spot of Poetry.

Jan/Feb 2024

READING MAGDA SZABÓ’s THE DOOR

Via Zoom and Soapstone in Portland, Oregon, USA

Six Saturday mornings:

10am-noon (Pacific standard time). That’s 1-3pm Eastern; 2-4pm Atlantic… (Everyone else, please count out the hours. We’re happy to have participants from many time zones!)

Jan. 6, 13, 20, 27; Feb. 3, 10, 2024

via Zoom

$75, scholarships available (check with Soapstone)

Limited to 16 participants

Magda Szabó’s novel, THE DOOR (translated from the Hungarian by Len Rix), set in the late 1950s in Hungary, explores the balance of love and power between two very different women, one a highly educated writer, Magda (the novel runs, as Szabó herself has said, close to her own personal history), and the other an uneducated but fiercely opinionated and capable servant, Emerance. This exploration is carried out in close quarters, mostly in or near Magda’s apartment, in domestic scenes taut as a psychological thriller’s.

Writer and New York Times reviewer Claire Messud said the novel “altered the way I understand my own life,” and The New Yorker’s Cynthia Zarin called it a “bone-shaking book.” I agree; this book elicits deep reflection on love, power, class, friendship, the slipperiness of history, the aftermath of war and genocide, and what we are capable of as humans.

The door of the title is a real door: Emerance’s, which she opens to no one. And it is a metaphorical blurring technique, obfuscating both Emerance’s mysterious past, Hungary’s dark and complicated history, and the borders between humans who live together. (Also in the mix are a husband who exerts his own dominion as master in the house, and a highly intelligent, extraordinary dog, Viola, who provides both comic and heart-rending notes.)

According to “3%” (a resource for international literature at the University of Rochester), only about 3% of books published in the United States are translations. This one, and the New York Review of Books, together deserve celebration. Szabó (1917-2007) is Hungary’s most translated writer, with books in 42 countries and 30 languages. THE DOOR is her most translated novel and was awarded a prestigious Prix Femina étranger in 2003, France’s annual award for best foreign-language literary work.

In this study group we’ll look at all the ways Szabó has elevated a domestic story into a tense intrigue. We’ll look at the history woven into the book’s events, how she structures it, and her direct, searingly honest language and style. And we’ll see if the book causes us to see our own lives, values, and capacities in a new light.

Texts: The Door, copyright 1987 by Magda Szabó (and translated from the Hungarian by Len Rix), 262 pages, published by the New York Review of Books in 2015 as part of its Classics series, available in bookstores and online. Can be ordered directly from the New York Review of Books and will arrive promptly!

Registration: To register and confirm that there is space still available, send an email to soapstonewriting@gmail.com. Upon confirmation of a space, send a check made out to Soapstone, to 622 SE 29th Avenue, Portland, OR 97214.

Fall 2023 WRITER’S SESSION:

ECSTATIC OBSERVATION (& a few of your favourite things)

6 sessions: Wed Oct 11 then Mondays: Oct 16, 23, 30, Nov 6, 13

1 – 2:30 pm (Atlantic time)

noon – 1:30 pm (Eastern standard time)

9 – 10:30 am (Pacific time)

a 90-minute, online session to:

—sharpen your skills of observation & your unique voice/descriptive capabilities

—stimulate your writing practice and advance your specific writing goals

—provide a friendly, collegial, supportive community

Suitable for prose or poetry writers. We’ll look at objects as if we’ve never seen them before, drilling down deep to observe every ecstatic detail. We’ll do this because observation is vital to making art of all kinds. We’ll look at examples of artists of all kinds, observing. I’ll suggest ways to get your words to the page, and then we’ll write in silent companionship. You can generate new writing or advance an ongoing project. No prep required; just arrive as you are. We’ll have time at the end for brief (entirely voluntary) sharing of the session’s experiences or some lines from what you wrote.

Fee: CAN$110 or US$85. Interac or Zelle to tricia@triciasnell.com. Paypal to @triciasnellcanada

Advance Registration Required: Pls email/text me at Tricia@TriciaSnell.com / 902-514-8722 with questions or to register. After that an e-transfer or Paypal payment secures your spot.

Once you are registered, you will receive a Zoom link. Please also see: www.triciasnell.com/workshop-policies.

Spring 2023

READING LAUREN GROFF’S MATRIX

Via Zoom and Soapstone in Portland, Oregon, USA

Apr. 15, 22, 29, May 6, 13, 20, 2023

Six Saturday mornings:

10am – noon (Pacific / Portland OR or Vancouver BC time)

1pm-3pm (Eastern / Toronto or NYC time)

2pm-4pm (Atlantic / Halifax NS time)

$75 (USD), registration through Soapstone (see below); scholarships available

Limited to 16 participants

One senses that Groff doesn’t struggle to create her vision but is borne aloft on it, which is the page-by-page pleasure as we soar with her.

—Kathryn Harrison, from The New York Times review, “In Lauren Groff’s New Novel, Nothing–and Everything–is Sacred,” Aug. 31, 2021

Lauren Groff’s bold 2021 novel imagines the life of an enigmatic historical figure who was the earliest known, French female poet and a nun in late 12^th Century England. Though very little is known about her, Marie de France left behind a series of short story-poems, still in print, called lais, based on old Breton tales about romantic love.

Groff invents a biography of Marie that explains why a nun would be writing such tales and shows us how female power and ingenuity could operate—no, dominate, sometimes terrorize!—in the middle of the extreme patriarchy of England in that century (and arguably, all the centuries since). All of this makes for a lusty ride of a novel, one that also exhibits a razor-sharp intelligence, a feminist perspective, and an exquisite use of language.

Among other awards, Matrix was long-listed for the Booker prize and short-listed for the National Book Award for Fiction. It was one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of 2021, and it made it onto The Washington Post’s “10 Best Books of 2021.”

In this study group we’ll look at the ways Groff has created the world of Matrix, particularly its earthy language and its provocative story. We’ll look at why the novel made it onto so many award lists, while also sparking criticism from historians specializing in medieval women’s religious communities. And we’ll examine the conversation Matrix may be having with our own times.

Texts: Matrix by Lauren Groff (2021, Riverhead Books-Penguin Random House LLC) available in bookstores and online.

Registration: The fee is $75 (USD); scholarships are available. The group is limited to 16. To register and confirm that there is space still available, send an email to soapstonewriting@gmail.com. Once you receive a reply saying there is room in the group, Soapstone will ask for payment through Zelle, or if you prefer, you may send a check to Soapstone, 622 SE 29th Avenue, Portland, OR 97214. NOTE: People of all genders and identities are welcome, and Soapstone offers a program of eight study groups each year.

March 4, 2023, for The Little Books Collective:

REVISING THE WORDS

YOU LOVE (AND THOSE YOU DON’T)

10am-noon at the Lunenburg Academy

A two-hour workshop for the Little Books Collective 2023 cohort, to:

explore editing techniques for revising your own poems & other short-form works,
cultivate practices for giving & receiving generous & helpful feedback to others, and
check your perspective & assess cultural appropriateness

Registration through the The Little Books Collective, an initiative of Berdene Owen of alivelihood.me and Spot of Poetry.

Winter 2023 WRITER’S SESSION:

WRITING FROM TALES & MYTHS

Mondays Jan 23 to Feb 27, 2023

1 – 2:30 pm (Atlantic time)

noon – 1:30 pm (Eastern standard time)

9 – 10:30 am (Pacific time)

a 90-minute, online session to:

—surprise you, spark curiosity, stimulate your writing practice

—advance your specific writing goals

—provide a friendly, collegial, supportive community

Suitable for prose or poetry writers. We’ll look at a different tale or myth each session, consider its relevance to our lives, investigate writing possibilities (including looking at examples from fine writers), then we’ll simply write in silent companionship. You are free to generate new writing or use the prompt to advance an ongoing project. No prep required by you; just arrive as you are. We’ll have time at the end for a brief (entirely voluntary) sharing of the session’s experiences or some lines from what you wrote.

Fee: CAN$90 or US$80. Interac or Zelle to tricia@triciasnell.com. Paypal to @triciasnellcanada

Advance Registration Required: Pls email/text me at Tricia@TriciaSnell.com / 902-514-8722 with questions or to ask to register. After that an e-transfer or Paypal payment secures your spot.

Once you are registered, you will receive a Zoom link.

Fall 2022 WRITER’S SESSION:

WRITING FROM MEDIA

Mondays Oct 24 to Nov 21, 2022

1 – 2:30 pm (Atlantic time)

noon – 1:30 pm (Eastern standard time)

9 – 10:30 am (Pacific time)

a 90-minute, online session to:

—surprise you, spark curiosity, stimulate your writing practice

—advance your specific writing goals

—provide a friendly, collegial, supportive community

Suitable for prose or poetry writers. I’ll present historical or current media pieces (cultural, news, photo, film, broadcasting), together we’ll consider writing possibilities, then we’ll simply write in silent companionship. You are free to generate new writing or use the prompt to advance an ongoing project. No prep required by you; just arrive as you are. We’ll have time at the end for a brief (entirely voluntary) sharing of the session’s experiences or a line or two of what you wrote.

Fee: CAN$75 or US$60. Interac or Zelle to tricia@triciasnell.com. Paypal to @triciasnellcanada

Once you are registered, you will receive a Zoom link.

September 11, 2022

“A HOMEMADE POETRY EXPERIENCE

FOR WRITERS & WORD LOVERS”

In collaboration with Catherine Walker

A day of writing at the Elizabeth Bishop House in Great Village, Nova Scotia

Winter 2022

READING MADELEINE THIEN’S

DO NOT SAY WE HAVE NOTHING

Via Zoom and Soapstone in Portland, Oregon, USA

Jan. 22, 29, Feb. 5, 12, 19, 26, 2022

Six Saturday mornings:

10am – noon (Pacific / Portland OR or Vancouver BC time)

1pm-3pm (Eastern / Toronto or NYC time)

2pm-4pm (Atlantic / Halifax NS time)

$75 (USD), registration through Soapstone (see below); scholarships available

Limited to 16 participants

via Zoom

“While his father sulked and his mother shouted, … [Sparrow] swayed at his desk, singing and singing again this exhilarating music in front of him, his audition piece for the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Every hair on his head seemed to flutter like wings. The score his father had given him to learn was Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor, arranged for the Chinese two-stringed violin, the erhu.” —from Do Not Say We Have Nothing, Madeleine Thien

What happens when listening to Bach or reading a novel become political crimes worthy of death? Madeleine Thien answers this terrible question in her tender, exquisitely researched and imagined, polyphonic, Giller-Prize-winning, Booker-longlisted, Governor-General-Award-winning, NYT Critics’ Top Book of 2016 novel, Do Not Say We Have Nothing.

Thien tells her story through the voices of three generations of two intertwined families who lived through China’s 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution and the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

While the words “well researched,” above, could imply dry and difficult, this book is written in simple, intimate prose. And while “polyphonic” could imply impenetrable, each of the voices in the novel is as clear and true as a row of piano notes. In this reading group we’ll discuss everything from language to structure to content, AND we’ll listen to the music that is woven throughout the book (especially Glenn Gould’s recordings of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, a favourite of one of the main characters, Sparrow). Our goal will be to discover, engage, and delight in all that the book offers.

Canadian writer Madeleine Thien is a bold and innovative writer of five works of fiction. She was born in 1974, the same year her parents immigrated to Vancouver, B.C. from Malaysia. She studied dance before deciding writing was the main thing. She has lived, written, and taught all over the world (she likes to write in cafés for weeks on end), and she is a prolific essay-writer and critic fascinated by music, human rights, feminism and female beauty, privacy, race, and the relationship between arts and politics. We may touch on many of these subjects!

I’m a writer (bio below) and a classically-trained flutist (who did my conservatory training, incidentally, in the same conservatory that Glenn Gould did). I am not a scholar of Chinese history nor of Chinese literature, nor an expert in the stories of Chinese-Canadian immigrants. I chose this novel because I love Thien’s writing style, storytelling, innovation, and her inclusion of music, and because, in our times, this particular story is one I think we all should know.

Required text: Do Not Say We Have Nothing, novel by Madeleine Thien, (2016, published by Vintage Canada, a division of Random House)

Registration: The fee is $75 (USD); scholarships are available. The group is limited to 16. To register and confirm that there is space still available, send an email to soapstonewriting@gmail.com. Once you receive a reply saying there is room in the group, Soapstone will ask for payment made out to Soapstone, 622 SE 29th Avenue, Portland, OR 97214. NOTE: People of all genders and identities are welcome.

Fall 2021 WRITER’S SESSION:

WRITING FROM MUSIC

Thursdays Oct 14 to Nov 18, 2021

Noon pm – 1:30 pm (Atlantic/Halifax NS time)

11 am – 12:30 pm (Eastern / Toronto/NYC time)

8:00 am – 9:30 am (Pacific / Portland, OR or Vancouver BC time)

Suitable for prose or poetry writers who want to sustain a writing practice. Gatherings will begin with music and related poem or prose passage, after which everyone will simply write together in silent companionship. I will facilitate and provide all prompts—though you write in whatever way you need to—no prep required by you. Gathering will end with some sharing but is never required.

Cost: CAN$90 or US$75 (Interac or Zelle to tricia@triciasnell.com. Paypal to @triciasnellcanada)

Advance Registration Required: Please email or text/call me (Tricia@TriciaSnell.com / 902-514-8722) with questions or to see if a space is available. Once I confirm your spot, your e-transfer or Paypal payment secures your spot, and thenI will email a Zoom link to you. Note: By registering in my writing session you agree to the cancellation policies posted at: www.triciasnell.com/time-to-write-workshop-policies.

Early Spring 2021 WRITER’S SESSION:

WRITING FROM VISUAL ART

Thursdays March 25 to April 29, 2021

Noon pm – 1:30 pm (Atlantic/Halifax NS time)

11 am – 12:30 pm (Eastern / Toronto/NYC time)

8:00 am – 9:30 am (Pacific / Portland, OR or Vancouver BC time)

Suitable for prose or poetry writers who want to sustain a writing practice. Gatherings will begin with a visual image and related poem or prose passage, after which everyone will simply write together in silent companionship. I will facilitate and provide all prompts—though you write in whatever way you need to—no prep required by you. Gathering will end with some sharing but is never required.

Cost: $90 for 6 weeks (U.S. participants: add $4 — this covers PayPal transaction fee)

Advance Registration Required: Please email or text/call me (Tricia@TriciaSnell.com / 902-514-8722) with questions or to see if a space is available. Once I confirm your spot, your email $ transfer (to Tricia@TriciaSnell.com) or Paypal payment (to paypal.me/triciasnellcanada) secures your spot. Once I receive that, your registration is complete, and I will email a Zoom link to you. Note: By registering in my writing session you agree to the cancellation policies posted at: www.triciasnell.com/time-to-write-workshop-policies.

READING BERNARDINE EVARISTO’S

GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER

Via Soapstone in Portland, Oregon, USA

Feb. 27 through Apr 10, 2021 (no class Mar 27)

Six Saturday mornings:

10am – noon (Pacific / Portland OR or Vancouver BC time)

1pm-3pm (Eastern / Toronto or NYC time)

2pm-4pm (Atlantic / Halifax NS time)

$75 (USD), registration through Soapstone (see below); scholarships available

Limited to 16 participants

via Zoom

Bernardine Evaristo is a literary star in the UK, though most of us in North America got acquainted with her in 2019 when she stood with Margaret Atwood holding her half of the International Booker Prize. The book she won for is her seventh novel, GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER, and her list of awards and accomplishments runs reams. Barack Obama named this his favorite book of the year, as did writer Roxanne Gay, but then maybe that’s because they are mentioned by Evaristo’s characters, a network of friends who discuss their identities, cultures, politics, race, sexuality, creative pursuits, and books with polyphonic passion and eloquence (much like we do in these Soapstone study groups!).

Some literary critics feel Evaristo should not have had to share the Booker (she is the first Black woman to receive this award); others feel the image of Evaristo and Atwood standing together reflects something wonderful. Dwight Garner of the New York Times said that “these novels [GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER and THE TESTAMENTS] are linked for posterity now, like conjoined twins.”

This study group will first and foremost revel in the wild romp of GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER’s huge cast of characters and lively intersection of ideas. It will take a look at Evaristo’s innovative style and her fresh and intimate approach to telling the stories of women—particularly black women—in the UK. We’ll spend some time thinking about her literary ancestors and the UK/world context for her stories. And for those who’ve read Atwood’s THE TESTAMENTS, we’ll attempt to answer for ourselves why the Booker judges made the unprecedented decision to award these two particular, brilliant women writers in the same year.

I’m a Canadian who grew up literally and literarily in Atwood territory, and I have lived half of my life in the US, half in Canada. I’ve visited the UK since I was a child, because my mother is from there and I still have a brother and a network of cousins there. I believe in the power of art not only for the sheer bliss of experiencing it, but for its ability to open our minds to a variety of identities, to new ideas, and to new language. I’m looking forward to celebrating all of this through discussion of this novel!

Texts include Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, available in bookstores everywhere and online. Other relevant materials will be provided digitally. (Note: Reading THE HANDMAID’S TALE and THE TESTAMENTS by Margaret Atwood is not required. Know that some participants of this group have been in prior discussion groups with me discussing those texts, though. So consider reading them or cramming through SparkNotes or somesuch.)

Winter 2021 WRITING SESSION, ONLINE WORKSHOP

Thursdays Dec. 10, 2020 until February 11, 2021

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm (Atlantic/Halifax NS time)

9:00 am – 10:30 am (Pacific / Portland, OR or Vancouver BC time)

12 noon – 1:30 pm (Eastern / Toronto/NYC time)

Suitable for prose or poetry writers who want to sustain a writing practice. Gatherings will begin with a brief, open-ended prompt after which everyone will simply write together in silent companionship. I will facilitate and provide all prompts—though you write in whatever way you need to—no prep required by you. Gathering will end with some sharing but is never required.

Cost: $100 for 10 week ($104 for U.S. participants, to cover PayPal transaction fee)

Questions/Registration: Please contact Tricia by email (Tricia@TriciaSnell.com) or phone (902-514-8722) to see if a space is available. Once Tricia has confirmed this, your email $ transfer (to Tricia@TriciaSnell.com) or Paypal payment (to paypal.me/triciasnellcanada) secures your spot, after which Tricia will email a Zoom link to you. (US participants please add $4 to fee to cover Paypal’s transaction costs.) Note: By registering in Tricia’s classes you agree to the cancellation policies posted at: www.triciasnell.com/time-to-write-workshop-policies.

FALL 2020 TIME TO WRITE, ONLINE WORKSHOP

(Contact Tricia if you would like to join this workshop mid-session. Sometimes that is possible.)

Thursdays: Nov 5, 12, 19, 25* (*Note: Nov’s last class moved to Wed)

1:30 – 2:30 pm (Atlantic/Halifax NS time)

9:30 – 10:30 am (Pacific / Portland, OR or Vancouver BC time)

12:30 – 1:30 pm (Eastern / Toronto/NYC time)

For anyone looking to:

~ fill their notebook with new ideas (for both prose & poetry, for both short and long forms),

~ develop and sustain a writing practice

~ connect with other writers within a friendly community.

Suitable for prose or poetry writers. Each class includes readings of exemplary writing to inspire you, brief discussion of an aspect of writing, and a quiet 20-30-minutes when we write together. Some sharing follows, as desired (never required). Tricia provides all materials in the class (no prep required by you beforehand). We’ll focus on writing that is meditative, funny, joyful, mindful, wise.

Cost: $60 for each month of 4 gatherings (discount: $110 for 2 mos; $155 for three mos)

Questions/Registration: Please contact Tricia by email (Tricia@TriciaSnell.com) or phone (902-514-8722) to register. After that, your payment of the fee secures your place, and a Zoom link will be emailed to you.

FALL 2020 TOOLS FOR WRITING A BOOK, ONLINE WORKSHOP

5 Thursdays on alternate weeks, noon-1pm Atlantic Time

(that’s 8-9am Pacific coast time; and

11am-noon Toronto/NYC time)

Oct 8 & 22, Nov 5 & 19, Dec 3

For anyone looking to:

~ learn about practical tools for launching the writing of a book-length project

~ make use of deadlines to advance a project

~ connect with other writers within a friendly community.

Suitable for fiction or creative nonfiction writers who are considering or have begun a longer work and want support and ideas for development. Each class includes the presentation of a specific tool or perspective to help you write your book, investigation of various elements of a longer work, and sharing/discussion of class members’ challenges, achievements, and progress.

The 2^nd to 5^th classes will include deadlines for various tools, sketches, or chapters/scenes, depending on stage of development. While class time does not permit “workshopping” these items, small parts of them may be shared and discussed. In addition, Tricia is available for individual coaching on chapters or scenes (through email outside of class time, at an additional charge of $46/hour). This coaching is mainly in the form of essential questions, not criticism or line editing, so as not to interfere with your first-draft creative process. Depending on length, this typically takes 30-60 min per chapter.

Cost: $75

TIME TO WRITE, ONLINE WORKSHOP

Four Thursdays, 1:30-2:pm, Atlantic Time: Sep 10, 17, 24, Oct 1/2020

Four Thursdays, 1:30-2:pm, Atlantic Time: Oct 8, 15, 22, 29/2020

Four Thursdays, 1:30-2:pm, Atlantic Time: Sept. 10 – Oct. 1/2020

Four Wednesdays, 10-11am, Atlantic Time: July 8-29/2020

For anyone looking to:

~ fill their notebook with new ideas (for both prose & poetry, for both short and long forms),

~ develop and sustain a writing practice

~ connect with other writers within a friendly community.

Each workshop is focused on a specific aspect of living or writing and includes exemplary readings to open our minds up, time to write, and a short sharing time (voluntary, never required) to close.

Cost: $60

Questions/Registration: Please contact Tricia by email (Tricia@TriciaSnell.com) or phone (902-514-8722). A Zoom link will be emailed to you once you are registered.

LET’S STAY CONNECTED / Online Time-to-Write Gatherings

March 18 – June 24/2020, 10-11am Atlantic Time.

For past participants of Tricia’s workshops only.

TIME-to-WRITE WORKSHOPS (Lunenburg, Nova Scotia – Winter 2020)

Wednesday Mornings, 10am-12noon, January 22 – March 11, 2020 (8 classes)

For writers of all genres and levels of experience, this workshop provides two designated hours every week where you:

- fill your notebook with new pieces / jump-start your writing,
- explore elements of writing (voice, pov, character, narrative, etc.),
- have the opportunity to read a freewrite aloud at end of class (optional),
- write with the support of others who share your interests.

Tricia will provide freewriting exercises, prompts, and examples of great writing to inspire. The group will write together for timed periods (length depending on needs of the group). Each class will be focused around various aspects of writing—voice, language, word choice, metaphor, character, dialogue, narrative, lyricism, rhythm and sound play, etc.—designed to stir up your writing mind, launch new pieces, find new directions, or simply keep on track for the longer haul. Most of the time and focus will be on discussion and writing, with some time at the end of the class for optional reading aloud of a piece written during that class.

CRITIQUE WORKSHOP (Lunenburg, Nova Scotia – Winter 2020)

Wednesday Afternoons, 12:30-2:30pm, January 22 – March 11, 2020 (8 classes)

For prose writers of all kinds: fiction, creative non-fiction, essayists, etc. Each participant will bring in pieces of writing (stories, essays, or chapters), with copies for everyone in the group. Each writer will:

- read their piece aloud to the other writers in the workshop,
- give and receive constructive feedback with Tricia’s facilitation,
- discuss elements of writing (voice, pov, character, narrative, etc.), and
- develop their writing with the support of other writers.

There will be time for 2-3 stories/essays/chapters per class; with 5-6 people in class, this means each writer has the opportunity to bring in material 3-4 times over the course of the 8 classes (less or more depending on the amount of material each writer has). The class may also include other writing activities on subjects that come up, as seems appropriate.

REGISTRATION for Time-to-Write and Critique Workshops in Lunenburg:

Advance booking required. Email/text/call Tricia to register: tricia@triciasnell.com / 902-514-8722.

Workshops are held at 56 Pelham St. (at Cornwallis, back door of blue house), Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Fee: $110 for 8 meetings

Class size: limited to 6 participants.

CLASS REFUND & LIABILITY POLICIES: With your registration, you are agreeing to class refund policies contained here. Your signature on a waiver of liability is also required (completed at beginning of class).

All workshops offer a supportive, grounded atmosphere of writerly companionship. We gather in Tricia’s library around a table; mugs of hot tea always available. Bring coffee or snacks if you would like to.

READING MARGARET ATWOOD’S THE TESTAMENTS (Portland, Oregon – Winter 2020)

Two Saturday Mornings, 10 to 1
January 11 & 18, 2020
ArtSpace Room, TaborSpace, 55th & SE Stark
$45, scholarships are available
Limited to 16 participants

The red gloves are lying on the bed. I pick them up, pull them onto my hands, finger by finger. Everything except the wings around my face is red: the color blood, which defines us. . . . The white wings are prescribed issue; they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen. — Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, 1985

Donning a red cloak and white bonnet, thanks to Margaret Atwood’s wild-yet-tethered-to-reality imagination, nowadays roars an instant protest: We resist the patriarchy! We demand our reproductive rights! We stand against the oppression of all women! Women have used this red protest all over the world, including Poland, Croatia, Argentina, and the U.K., but especially in the USA, protesting bills, protesting Trump, protesting Pence. A line of handmaids stood outside the courtroom of Brett Kavanaugh’s hearing.

The Handmaid’s Tale exploded into our consciousness in 1985—whether you wanted it to or not, and it’s ok to hate it AND attend this study group!—then blossomed into film, TV, fanfiction, and a worldwide political movement. Now, almost 35 years later, Atwood presents us with a sequel: The Testaments.

Did our narrator reach the outside world safely and build a new life for herself? Or was she discovered in her attic hiding place, arrested, sent to the Colonies or to Jezebel’s, or even executed? (Atwood, from ending of Handmaid’s).

We’ll find out! This study group will examine The Testaments from many angles. First of all, does Atwood pull this sequel off? If so, how did she do it? If not, why not? How has her writing style changed or stayed the same? Do any of her more recent poems foretell Testaments? What/how/why does her storytelling move us (whether we “like” it or not)? What is the nature of speculative fiction? How does the fate of Gilead—and the lives of Offred, Aunt Lydia, and others—reflect on our own lives? Will Testaments offer us guidance on what’s in store for us in our own politically fraught world? Is that an expectation that is even reasonable?

I promise, The Testaments has some humour in it too! Atwood still has that deliciously direct, cut-to-the-core, and often-dark-but-frequently-very-funny style. I look forward to revelling with you in the dark funny of Atwood’s dystopia!

I’m a Canadian who grew up in Atwood territory, literally in terms of geography, and literarily in terms of what I read as a young person. Atwood’s worldview resonates with me, with strong reverberations coming from the familial, tainted-love, power-structure dynamics of the Canada-U.S.A. relationship.

My hope is that excavating The Testaments together—will act as a launching pad for greater enjoyment of Atwood’s whole, vast body of work. Delight is the main goal. Along the way, I hope each of us as citizens of the Earth will gain insight into the sources of our own world views and voices.

All things come to she who waits. Time wounds all heels. Patience is a virtue. Vengeance is mine. – Margaret Atwood, The Testaments, 2019

Texts will include The Testaments (2019) and poems (to be sent out to participants prior to the seminar), with references to The Handmaid’s Tale as needed (I do advise reading Handmaid’s again prior to Testaments, for the fullest experience, but you could also find a good online cheat-sheet to refresh you on Handmaid’s story and characters.) I’ll also bring some video of Atwood to the seminar to enrich our discussions.

Registration: The fee is $45; scholarships are available. The group is limited to 16. To register, confirm that there is space still available, send an email to info@soapstone.org. Upon confirmation of a space, send a check made out to Soapstone, to 622 SE 29th Avenue, Portland, OR 97214. Click here for more information about Soapstone.

TIME-TO-WRITE SATURDAY WORKSHOP (Lunenburg, Nova Scotia – Fall 2019)

Eight Saturday Afternoons, 1-3pm
Oct 19-Dec 7, 2019
56 Pelham St. at Cornwallis (blue house, back door w/rainboot knocker)
$110 for 8 classes ($15/class space permitting)
Limited to 5 participants

Two designated hours every week where you:

fill your notebook with new pieces,
gain fresh perspectives on old ideas,
learn new ways to jump-start your writing, and
write with the support of others who share your interests.

WHO’S IT FOR?: Writers of all genres and levels of experience are welcome. Small group (limited to 5) to ensure a focused time.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Tricia will provide freewriting exercises, prompts, and examples of great writing, and we will write together for timed periods (length depending on needs of the group). We will look at a variety of aspects of writing—voice, language, word choice, metaphor, character, dialogue, narrative, lyricism, rhythm and sound play, etc.—designed to stir up your writing mind, launch new pieces, find new directions, or simply keep on track for the longer haul. All within a supportive, grounded atmosphere of writerly companionship.

We’ll allow some time for reading work aloud (though sharing / reading aloud is optional, not required). Most of our time and focus will be on the writing.

We’ll gather in my library around a table. Mugs of hot tea always available! Bring coffee or snacks with you if you would like.

REGISTRATION: Advance booking required. Email/text/call Tricia to register: tricia@triciasnell.com / 902-514-8722.

READING MARGARET ATWOOD’S POETRY & SHORT FICTION (Portland, Oregon, Winter 2019)

A Soapstone Study Group in Portland, Oregon, led by Tricia Snell. Dates: Four Saturday mornings, January 12, 26 and February 2 and 9, 2019 Time: 10 am to 1 pm Location: ArtSpace Room, TaborSpace, 55th & SE Stark, Portland, Oregon. More Information/Registration/Description: www.soapstone.org

tell me

everything

just as it was

from the beginning. — Margaret Atwood, 1967

The parts of writers’ lives that are interesting

are usually the part before they become a well-known writer. — Margaret Atwood, 2017

Now I am a grownup

and literate

and I sit in my chair

as quietly as a fuse … — MargaretAtwood, 1968

At the women’s marches of January 2017, several signs pled “Make Margaret Atwood fiction again!” Indeed! Well, this study group will attempt to do that—and more—by focusing on her deliciously direct, cut-to-the-core, yes-often-dark-but-frequently-very-funny early poems and short fiction, before she was thought of as the oracle of dystopia. We’ll also read and discuss a few recent poems and stories to see what connections we might uncover.

Our quest will be to revel in, or at least turn a few cartwheels inside, this earlier voice, and perhaps see how it compares to her current voice. We’ll also explore the world-view that blossomed into her marvelously varied and vivid body of work (by my count, she’s written 71 books of all kinds, as well as umpteen talks and articles and reviews).

I’m a Canadian who grew up in Atwood territory, literally in terms of geography, and literarily (yes it’s a word!) in terms of what I read as a young person (besides Atwood and a handful of other Canadians such as Alice Munro and Margaret Laurence, that early reading included a lot of British gothic and European social novels, with some James, Hemingway and Fitzgerald thrown in). Atwood’s worldview resonates with me in Old World-New World ways, with strong reverberations coming from the familial, tainted-love, power-structure dynamics of the Canada-U.S.A. relationship.

My hope is that excavating the origins of Atwood’s voice—or her many voices—will act as a launching pad for greater enjoyment of Atwood’s whole, vast body of work. Delight is the main goal. Along the way, I hope each of us as citizens of the Earth will gain insight into the sources of our own world views and voices.

One day you will reach a bend in your life.

Time will curve like a wind

and after that the young

will no longer be afraid of you

the way they ought to be … — Atwood, 2007

Texts will include Eating Fire, Selected Poetry 1965-1995; selections from The Door (poems, 2007); and either Surfacing (a short novel, 1972) or Dancing Girls (short story collection, 1977). Confirmation of this will be sent out in good time prior to the first study group meeting. I’ll also show some early videos of Atwood reading her work.

Registration: The fee is $75; scholarships are available. The group is limited to 16. To register/check to see if spaces are still available, send an email to Ruth Gundle at info@soapstone.org, and send a check made out to Soapstone, to 622 SE 29th Avenue, Portland, OR 97214.

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