Poetry and Personal Essays: Through the Darkness and into the Light

INSTRUCTOR: Sarah Gajkowski-Hill

TIME: Saturday, August 3, 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. CDT

PRICE: Early bird price: $45 for members, $60 for nonmembers. The deadline for early bird pricing is Sunday, July 28. After Sunday, July 28: $55 for members, $70 for nonmembers. Become a member here. Apply for a scholarship here.

LOCATION: Writespace, 1907 Sabine Street, #125, Houston, TX 77007 (map)

LEVEL: All levels

CAP: 15

“The writer who refuses to explore the darker regions of the heart will never be able to write convincingly about the wonder, the magic and the joy of love.” –Nick Cave

In a sometimes bleak and tragic post-pandemic world, it is more important than ever to write in order to heal ourselves—of anxieties, of illness, of pain. Only by confronting our darkest moments can we come out the other side.

Sarah Gajkowski-Hill will lead a workshop that unabashedly confronts the darkness in our own lives and moves us through suffering, resulting in beautiful, honest poetry and prose. We will look at some of history’s most unflinching dark works of literature, by authors such as Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, as well as explore darkly humorous pieces. Together we will read, write, share, and triumph over darkness.

Sarah is the author of The Job Poems, based on the Biblical Job. She is also anthologized in Connoisseurs of Suffering: Poetry on the Journey to Meaning.

This event is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. This project is generously funded by the Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and Mid-America Arts Alliance.

​This project is generously funded by Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas.