It's back to school season! Time to hone those writing skills with a CityLit Write Here, Write Now workshop.

Poetry Cafe: Small Plates to Tempt Your Writing Palate

September 14, 2009 - November 2, 2009:: 7:00PM - 9:00PM
Dates: September 14, 21, 28, October 5, 12, 19, 26, November 2
Location: Howard County Center for the Arts (7-9pm)
Registration: $175

The Poetry Cafe is dishing out model poems and writing exercises for you to try. Your server is Laura Shovan, who's been published in several journals and anthologies.

Instructor: Laura Shovan's poetry has appeared in Lips, The Jewish Women's Literary Annual, Paterson Literary Review, The Little Patuxent Review, and in an upcoming anthology, Words & Images of Belonging. She also freelances for local publications, such as the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore magazine and Baltimore's Child. Her work for children has appeared in Highlights magazine. You can find her online at www.laurashovan.com .

Marketing for Writers

September 14, 2009 - October 5, 2009:: 7:00PM - 9:00PM
Dates: September 14, 21, 28, October 5
Location: Howard County Center for the Arts (7-9pm)
Registration: $100

Publishing is a business and as the economy gets tougher, publishers expect help selling books from their authors. With books out there offering 1001 ways to market your books, it's easy to become scattered or overwhelmed and to not do anything at all. Whether you aspire to a publishing contract or intend to self-publish, this class will prepare you for your role in marketing.

Instructor: Angela Render has designed and maintained web sites for over a decade. Her historical fiction, Forged By Lightning: A Novel of Hannibal and Scipio, was published in 2002 and she has a column in Writers' Journal called "Computer Business." Her work will appear in the Maryland Writers' Association's anthology, New Lines From the Old Line State: An Anthology of Maryland Writers. She regularly teaches writers about the Internet and marketing at The Writers' Center, speaks at writers' conferences, and teaches programming and graphics editing to at-risk middle-school girls in Montgomery County. Her companion workbook, Marketing for Writers: A Practical Workbook is now available. Her website is www.angelarender.com.

Guerilla Publishing and Distribution: Self-Publishing, DIY Ethics, and Material Repurposing

October 1, 2009 - November 19, 2009:: 6:30PM - 8:30PM
Dates: Thursdays, October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 November 5, 12, 19
Location: Towson Arts Collective (6:30-8:30pm)
Registration: $165

The claim that self-publishing is a self-indulgent trade fails to take into consideration the massive commoditization and privileging of popular literature by massive publishing houses. Ultimately, this myth has generated negative connotations for DIY (Do It Yourself) ethics. In this class, you will take steps to overcome these myths by discussing the relationship between purpose, aesthetic and economy; recycle used materials and repurpose them to suit your needs (both practical and aesthetic) ; learn layout design and editing techniques; learn how to prepare materials for pressing, publishing and binding; and learn practical and economic distribution techniques. At the end of the semester, you will have created at least one of each: a repurposed journal, a zine or chapbook (w/ content), a conceptual book.

Instructor: Christophe Casamassima is a founder of Towson ARTS Collective, where he is the Director of Literary & Performative Arts and editor of Furniture Press. He also teaches in the English department at Towson University. He has recently completed the Proteus Cycle, which includes The Proteus (Moria Books, 2008), Joys: A Catalogue of Disappointments (BlazeVOX, 2008), and Ore (twentythreebooks, 2009). His new books, UNTILTED and Being/Time, will be published by Moria Books and Xerolage in late 2009 and 2010, respectively. In his spare time he repurposes unwanted books and promotes creative literacy through poetry writing and bookmaking workshops. He lives and works in Baltimore.

Materials: Instructor will supply all paper. If students choose a particular kind of paper, then they must provide their own. Instructor will supply a paper cutter and saddle stapler. Student must supply the following: heavy-Duty Awl, wax thread, book-binding needles, bone folder, ruler, book-binder's glue, a small paintbrush, a medium paintbrush, scissors, a notebook (ruled or sketch), toolbox for materials, and optional X-acto knife.

Writing Workout with Jessica Anya Blau

October 8, 2009 - November 12, 2009:: 7:00PM - 9:00PM
Dates: October 8, 15, 22, 29, November 5, 12
Location: Creative Alliance (7-9pm)
Registration: $150 ($135 for CA members)

"Just Do It!" The tagline works for writing as well as exercising, but the hardest part of writing is often just doing it. Consider Jessica Anya Blau your personal trainer, with a different set of writing exercises each class to get you fit and toned in no time. "Writing Workout" is a class for beginner, advanced, and even published writers. This class will create the focus and structure that many people need to get started. Jessica will take you through writing exercises, motivating you in the same way as a personal trainer who coaches a workout. Each class will have a different set of intensive exercises that can be applied to fiction, nonfiction, and memoir writing. Subjects will range from creating vivid setting to exploring family stories, and everything in between.

Instructor: Jessica Anya Blau's novel, The Summer of Naked Swim Parties, was chosen as a Best Summer Book by the Today Show, the New York Post, and New York Magazine. The San Francisco Chronicle, along with other major newspapers, named The Summer of Naked Swim Parties as a Best Book of 2008. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins University where she attended The Writing Seminars.

Blogging for Writers

October 12, 2009 - November 2, 2009:: 7:00PM - 9:00PM
Dates: October 12, 19, 26, November 2
Location: Howard County Center for the Arts (7-9pm)
Registration: $100

You've heard the stories: editors telling their authors to blog for self-promotion and bloggers getting book deals or hired to write for newspapers and other publications. Blogging offers fast, cheap, easy access to a Web presence that even a technophobe can stomach. Learn the what, why, and how right here.

Instructor: Angela Render has designed and maintained web sites for over a decade. Her historical fiction, Forged By Lightning: A Novel of Hannibal and Scipio, was published in 2002 and she has a column in Writers' Journal called "Computer Business." Her work will appear in the Maryland Writers' Association's anthology, New Lines From the Old Line State: An Anthology of Maryland Writers. She regularly teaches writers about the Internet and marketing at The Writers' Center, speaks at writers' conferences, and teaches programming and graphics editing to at-risk middle-school girls in Montgomery County. Her companion workbook, Marketing for Writers: A Practical Workbook is now available. Her website is www.angelarender.com.