We welcome M. Soledad Caballero and Catherina Coenen to The Notebooks Collective to read from their new books. In addition, there will be a lively conversation about the thematic connections in their books including illness and the body as well as the commitment to female lineages, in particular around ideas of memory and storytelling. More […]
Frederico Garcia Lorca said “a poet must be a professor of the five senses and must open doors among them.” And what better to way to be a teacher of the senses than by looking at food as a source of inspiration? Marianne and Traci have both baked lines full of flavor and memory into […]
Two poets who have crossed paths in readings and at conferences and have found that they are writing about something that shows up differently for each of them -- maternal estrangement. This conversation will cover how our work evolves as we age and how writing such a viscerally personal experience can also be universal. Lisa […]
Gabrielle Calvocoressi and Sasha Waters: A Handsome Life In this conversation poet Gabrielle Calvocoressi and filmmaker Sasha Waters will discuss Sasha's American Masters documentary about Mary Oliver (forthcoming Spring 2026) as a means of entering into the good deep work of figuring what one might mean by "a handsome life": a phrase that Oliver coined […]
Join us as we bring together two poets and artists from Texas, Katherine D. Oldmixon and Octavio Quintanilla
We are excited to host Keith S. Wilson & Callie Siskel in conversation about their recent books: Keith's Games for Children and Callie's Two Minds. Books that center absence and reimaginings. Keith S. Wilson Keith S. Wilson is a poet, game designer, and multimedia artist living in Chicago. He is an Affrilachian Poet and a […]
In Honor & Memory of Jennifer Martelli On June 24, on the 4-year anniversary of the Supreme Court Dobbs v Jackson decision, we will gather to honor late poet Jennifer Martelli in a reading to support abortion access. Jennifer was a fierce advocate for women's rights and in particular, the right to have an abortion. […]
The Notebooks Collective was honored to be selected to nominate the Solstice MFA's Spotlight Poet. Established as a re-visioning of Solstice's longstanding Cave Canem Partner Poet Program, the Spotlight program expands their mission to celebrate voices from underrepresented communities, as well as uplift the work of emerging writers who have at most two full-length books. […]
Exploring Form in Poetry and Prose In this two-hour generative workshop, we’ll explore form as a practical and imaginative tool for writers of poetry, prose, and hybrid work. We’ll spend some time discussing how a piece’s shape changes what becomes possible on the page as well as work with prompts that approach form as a […]
Dorsía Smith Silva (In Inheritance of Drowning, CavanKerry, 2024) and Vincent Toro (Hivestruck, Penguin 2024) will explore why their writing in these precarious times is essential, especially as their writing embodies protest poetry. They will discuss protest writing as a transformative experience and means to address US colonialism, Latinx identity, and the intersections between Puerto […]
How to Return to a Draft with Curiosity Revision can sometimes feel like correction, judgment, or pressure to make a piece “work.” In this two-hour workshop, we’ll reframe revision as a practice of listening: a way of returning to a draft with curiosity about what is already alive within it. Through brief craft discussion, guided […]
As poets, essayists, and teachers, both Nicky and Catherine embrace a practice of play. Far from being frivolous, or antithetical to serious and complex work, play can be an essential part of the creative process. In this conversation, Nicky and Catherine (or Katie)—longtime friends from their grad school days more than twenty years ago—will talk […]