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Virtual Writing Classes

Poetry Manuscripts 101 flyer

Poetry Manuscripts 101

Thursdays 7:00pm-9:00pm CT

Sundays 2:00pm-3:30pm CT

Sep 14-Oct 15

$150-300

Poetry Manuscripts 101 is a supportive 10-session virtual class designed to help you understand how to put together a dynamic poetry manuscript. If you've ever wondered how poets choose the order of their poems, weave research and emotion into their storytelling, or build an overall narrative with their work, this class is for you.  Building on Afrofuturism and Black women's poetics, Ariana's teaching incorporates historical awareness and collaborative approaches to meaning making. This is a study-focused class with homework, writing prompts, lectures, and small group discussions. This class does not provide feedback on your individual manuscript, but focuses instead on deep study of one dynamic poetry book as a way to build the skills necessary to evaluate and structure your own work. Because the best way to learn to structure your own manuscript is to study what others have done! 


Thursday class sessions will focus on lecture & small group discussions of the text. Sunday class sessions will emphasize writing prompts and strategies followed by sharing.

 Deadline to sign up is Sep 13!

Teaching Philosophy

My name is Alexa Young

Ariana Brown (she/they) is a queer Black Mexican American poet from San Antonio, TX. She holds a BA in African Diaspora Studies and Mexican American Studies, an MFA in Poetry, and an MS in Library and Information Science. Ariana is a 2014 national collegiate poetry slam champion. She is the author of We Are Owed. (Grieveland, 2021) and Sana Sana (Game Over Books, 2020). She has been writing, performing, and teaching poetry for 14 years. 

As a teacher, Ariana believes there is no wrong way to write a poem. She encourages discovery by asking participants to identify what excites them or what they notice most about poems. Ariana is skilled in teaching writers of all levels, creating opportunities for everyone’s thoughts and experiences to live harmoniously in the classroom. She teaches from a queer Black feminist approach, meaning she invites participants to safely engage in vulnerability and mutual support, as she works to craft a comfortable and challenging learning environment for all.

Headshot of Ariana Brown, a light skinned Black person leaning against a tree with a green lawn behind it. She is smiling at the viewer, wearing a black and white checkered button down, with the sun softly hitting her face.

What Students Say

"I loved the focus on POC and queer poets. I've taken other poetry courses before that were great, but did not explicitly touch on many of the topics around identity and lived experiences that did come up in this course. Ariana's teaching was also lovely, thoughtful, deep, and overall such a great learning experience."

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