Here you will find information on upcoming meetings of the Munich Creative Writers group.  To join a writing workshop, please sign-up for membership and reserve your spot in the workshop.  Meetings 35 Euros per workshop.

International Write-a-Novel Month 2017 Writing Workshops
Sunday November 5, 12, 19, and December 3, 2017 * 14:00 – 17:00
Location: Café Clara, Isabellastraße 8, 80798 München

Join creative writing instructor Rita Banerjee for International Write a Novel Month 2017!  These workshops are for writers who are developing or working to complete a book-length manuscript. For our first workshop, writers are encouraged to bring in project proposals. Ideas for a book-length manuscript will be reviewed in class. We will also review texts that blur the line between fact and fiction and that can serve as a launching pad for building longer narratives. During subsequent workshop sessions, writers will work and receive feedback on their manuscripts. Light readings on writing craft and narrative structure will also be provided. Participation in all four workshops is recommended, but not required.  To register, send an email to John by November 3, 2017 at: store@themunichreadery.com. Workshop Fee: €35.

 

Character Development & The Law of Desire
Saturday July 22, 2017 * 9:00 – 12:00
The Munich Readery, Augustenstraße 104, 80798 München

Femme fatales, gumshoe detectives, star-crossed lovers, wicked stepmothers, wise fools, empathetic anti-heroes: dynamic and archetypal characters can be key to making a good story or lyrical piece tick and pulling in the reader deeper into your creative work. In this workshop, we will discuss how dynamic and archetypal characters can help structure stories, propel narratives forwards, and how each character’s desire provides interesting ethical dilemmas and emotional spectrums to narratives and verse. We will learn about the building blocks of creating strong, unforgettable characters, discuss the connection between desire and plot, and learn how playing with persona can help liberate nonfictional stories and lyrical poems. So if you’re currently working on a short story, novel, screenplay, theatre play, lyrical essay, memoir, or poem which has a strong and unique character at is heart, come stop by the Munich Readery on Saturday July 22 for our next creative writing workshop led by Rita Banerjee.  To register, send an email to John by July 15, 2017 at: store@themunichreadery.com. Workshop Fee: €35.

Revising, Pitching, and Publishing
Sunday July 9, 2017 * 13:00-16:00
The Munich Readery, Augustenstraße 104, 80798 München

While Allen Ginsberg and the Beats touted the philosophy of “First Thought, Best Thought,” and the merits of spontaneous writing, in this workshop, we’ll explore the role that revision plays in landing the perfect publication deal. We’ll take a look at what it takes to pitch to literary journals, and get that poem, short story, memoir, essay, or play published. We’ll discuss why writers should network, and when writers should look for literary agents, and we will demystify elements of the publishing and creative writing industry at large. In addition, we’ll have some fun with our writing and revisions as well! So if you’re currently working on a short story, novel, screenplay, theatre play, lyrical essay, memoir, or poem which you’d like to revise and published, come stop by the Munich Readery on Sunday July 9 for our next creative writing workshop led by Rita Banerjee.  To register, send an email to John by July 2, 2017 at: store@themunichreadery.com. Workshop Fee: €35.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Workshop – June 23, 18:00 – 21:00

“Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the lover and the poet
Are of imagination all compact:
One sees more devils than vast hell can hold,
That is, the madman: the lover, all as frantic,
Sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt:
The poet’s eye, in fine frenzy rolling,
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven;
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.”

On Friday June 23 at 6 pm, Rita Banerjee will be teaching a creative writing workshop for Munich Creative Writers inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  For more information on upcoming Munich Creative Writers workshops and meetings, please visit their Facebook Page here.

Emotion & Suspense in Theatre, Poetry, and (Non)Fiction [SOLD OUT]
Saturday June 25, 2016 * 9:00-12:00
The Munich Readery, Augustenstraße 104, 80798 München

Plato argues that human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.  And before staging Kalidasa’s The Recognition of Śākuntalā, the director challenges his actress-lover: “As though in a painting, the entire audience has had their emotion colored through your melody.  So now—what shall we perform to sustain the mood?”  In this class, we will explore how creating vivid emotional worlds between characters and within storylines can build suspense, sustain drama, and lure the reader deeper in. If you’re currently working on a short story, novel, screenplay, theatrical play, lyrical essay, memoir, or narrative poem which has a unique emotional landscape, come stop by the Munich Readery on Saturday June 25 for our next creative writing workshop led by Rita Banerjee.  To register, send an email to John by June 20 at: store@themunichreadery.com. Workshop Fee: €30.  This workshop is SOLD OUT.

Poetry & What’s at Stake
Saturday June 4, 2016 * 9:00-12:00
The Munich Readery, Augustenstraße 104, 80798 München

What’s at stake” reveals how and why a poem is being told. What’s at Stake builds urgency, conflict, and pivotal turns within a lyrical or narrative poem, and drives engagement. It reveals what’s on the line for the speaker and the reader in terms of personal, emotional, psychological, physical, social, and political investments. In this class will read work by poets such as Gertrude Stein, Paul Celan, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Carolyn Forché, Yusef Komunyakaa, Patrick Rosal, Bianca Stone, and Ocean Vuong, and will explore how writers and readers become more invested in a poem, its performance, and its narrative by raising the stakes. If you’re currently working on narrative or lyrical poetry, or are interested in the commitments and stakes of modern world poetry, come stop by the Munich Readery on Saturday June 4 for our next creative writing workshop led by Rita Banerjee.  To register, send an email to John by June 1 at: store@themunichreadery.com. Workshop Fee: €30.

Creative Writing Workshop for “Science : Fiction – How to Build Literary Worlds”
Saturday May 28, 2016 * 9 am – 12 pm
Café Clara * Isabellastraße 8, 80798 München
(3-5 pages of creative writing due by May 23)

Creative Writing Workshop, for “Are You Afraid of the Dark? Writing What You Fear”
Saturday May 21, 2016 * 9 am – 12 pm
Café Clara * Isabellastraße 8, 80798 München
(3-5 pages of creative writing due by May 16)

Creative Writing Boot-camp
Saturday May 14, 2016 * 9 am – 12 pm
Café Clara * Isabellastraße 8, 80798 München

Science: Fiction – How to Build Literary Worlds [SOLD OUT]
Saturday April 30, 2016  * 9 am – 12 pm
Munich Readery * Augustenstr. 104, 80798 München

In this class, we will explore how the fabric and rules of literary worlds in realist and speculative fiction are created.  By examining the parameters of social and behavioral codes, human interactions and psychology, and the materiality of worlds, we’ll explore that volatile space where truth and lie meet, where conflicts crystallize, and where storytelling disturbs and delights. If you’re currently working on a short story, novel, screenplay, theatrical play, lyrical essay, memoir, or narrative poem which has a unique literary world at its heart, come stop by the Munich Readery on Saturday April 30 for our next creative writing workshop led by Rita Banerjee.  E-mail John at the Munich Readery to enroll at store@themunichreadery.com.  Registration will close once seats are filled.
* This workshop is SOLD OUT!

Are You Afraid of the Dark? Writing What You Fear
Saturday April 16, 2016  * 9 am – 12 pm
Munich Readery * Augustenstr. 104, 80798 München

In this workshop, writers will be invited to write about what they fear. We will begin by studying Lidia Yuknavitch’s personal essay, “Woven,” and will discuss how nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and theatre can grapple with uncomfortable subjects and situations to illuminate conflicts, heighten drama, create complex characters, and reveal the human condition. In this class, writers will be invited to push their speakers and protagonists to face obstacles that they’re rather like to avoid or are afraid to encounter. We’ll study what makes a story compelling based on psychological, physical, spiritual, and emotional stakes. If you’re currently working on a short story, novel, screenplay, theatrical play, lyrical essay, memoir, or narrative poem which has a unique dilemma at is heart, come stop by the Munich Readery on Saturday April 16 for our next creative writing workshop led by Rita Banerjee.  Participation in this workshop is limited to 15, and advance registration is required.  E-mail John at the Munich Readery to enroll at store@themunichreadery.com.  Registration will close once seats are filled.

Off-site Writing Workshop
Saturday February 27, 2016  * 10 am – 1 pm
Miss Lilly’s Cafe * Oefelestr. 12,  81543 München
* creative writing submissions due by Wed. Feb 17 at 5 pm

Off-site Writing Workshop
Saturday February 20, 2016  * 10 am – 1 pm
Miss Lilly’s Cafe * Oefelestr. 12,  81543 München
* creative writing submissions due by Wed. Feb 24 at 5 pm

* Please use the contact form below to receive information about our upcoming meetings for 2016-2017. *