Mondays, February 12 & 19, 2024, 6:30-8:30pm CST, Hybrid (in-person at Gemini Ink and online via Zoom)
Instructor: Arrie Porter
Nonmember: $135; Member: $115; Student/Educator/Military $75

*EARN CPE’S

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE. 

Tupac Shakur, Toni Morrison, Nicki Giovanni, Richard Wright, and Maya Angelou. These gifted authors are all household names who have put African American literature on the map. However, so many Black writers outside of pop culture have contributed to the lexicon of settings, spaces, imagery, and poetics found in Black literature. Such authors include Henry Dumas, Rita Dove, Lucille Clifton, Christopher Gilbert, Yusef Komunyakaa, and others. Delving into their work is vital to gaining an expansive view of literature and our shared history as Americans. 

In this two-session workshop, participants will study the works of non-mainstream African American authors who have made valuable literary contributions. Participants will explore the narrative and lyrical license, devices, and history of these authors, while learning to craft our own dynamic works in poetry and fiction. Join us and get acquainted with these Black authors!

This course is open to writers of all genres and skill level, 18+. 

Students will leave this class with:

• A greater appreciation for lesser-known African American authors
• An understanding of these writers’ craft techniques
• A listing of anthologies where undiscovered writers may be found
• Several beginnings to new creative work 

Read Arrie’s Writer’s Desk Q&A!

Arrie Porter is a poet and fiction writer with publications in The Windward Review, Voices de la Luna, RiverSedge, The Thing Itself, and other noteworthy periodicals. She has reviewed books of fiction for Angelo State University and serves as a Gemini Ink Teaching Artist. She is the former host of the Coffee Loft Open Mic in Atlanta Georgia, and performs at various open mics. She is the creator of “Voices,” a DreamWeek San Antonio event, and creator and publisher of Nubian Notes, a magazine now maintained as a special collection at the John Peace Library, Institute of Texas Cultures. Her interviews and articles have appeared in the San Antonio Report and the San Antonio Express-News. Arrie has developed commentaries for Texas Public Radio, including “The George Floyd Protests in the Pandemic” and “Juneteenth–It’s Complicated.” She oversees the Poetry Ministry at Agape Christian Church and holds a MA/MFA degree in Literature, Creative Writing, and Social Justice. Arrie is a Professor of English at Our Lady of the Lake University.

Parking at Gemini Ink
Gemini Ink offers free parking along the back wall of our downtown offices. Please access this parking lot from Augusta St and first park in any of the 12 spots along the back wall. Only when these 12 spots are full do we ask that you park elsewhere in our lot. We now rent our offices from UTSA and are collaborating with them to create a secure and accessible parking lot for our community of writers and readers.