Led by Dr. Erica Anzalone, author of the award-winning collection, Samsara. Erica holds an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a doctorate in English from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where she was awarded a Schaeffer fellowship. With over eighteen years of teaching experience at the college level, Erica's work has appeared or is forthcoming in Autofocus Literary Magazine, The Colorado Review, Hotel Amerika, Cream City Review, Juked, Pangyrus, Denver Quarterly, The Literary Review, The Offending Adam, Pleiades, Sentence, UCity Review, and elsewhere.

Read an Interview with Erica on Awakening Your Inner Word Witch.

In this creative writing workshop led by Dr. Erica Anzalone, we’ll explore the many powerful archetypes of the witch – whether that be vamp, crone, outsider, psychopomp, or any oppressed person seeking empowerment through enchantment.

We’ll explore themes such as magic, the moon, the underworld, and living deliciously. Classes will include discussion and generative writing prompts that may be sparked by Tarot or films like Dune, The Love Witch, Twin Peaks, and others.

Students will also have the opportunity to workshop one piece and receive feedback.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Generate lots of new work through in-class writing prompts.
• Opportunity to workshop one piece, and receive Dr. Erica Anzalone’s expert feedback, as well as insight from your peers.
• Experiment with creative portals like Tarot, unusual point of views (first person plural), and new forms (hermit crab).
• Harness the power of the erotic in your writing with Melissa Febos and Audre Lorde as our guides.
  

COURSE OUTLINE & READINGS:

WEEK 1: LITERARY WITCHES - Readings will include Foreword to “Literary Witches” by Pam Grossman, “Witch-Wife” by Edna St. Vincent Millay, “Witch Wife” by Kiki Petrosino, and “The Witch” by Elizabeth Willis.

WEEK 2: MAGIC AND THE MOON (PART ONE) - Readings will include “Like the Pack Like the Pack Like Everyone” by Julie Carr (Essay with rituals inspired by Octavia Butler’s soul and teacher Tarot cards), “Ask Baba Yaga” by Taisia Kitaiskaia, “Hag, Cunning Woman, Witch” by Kathryn Nuernburger.

WEEK 3: MAGIC AND THE MOON (PART TWO) - Student Workshops. Readings will include “Spell to Find Family” by Chen Chen, Moon poems by Yoko Ono, Selections from “salt is for curing” by Sonia Vatomsky

WEEK 4: THE UNDERWORLD (PART ONE) - Student Workshops. Readings will include “Help me Follow My Sister into the Land of the Dead” by Carmen Maria Machado, “Persephone Holds a Q and A on Zoom” by Jude Higgins, “The Dead Girls Speak in Unison” by Danielle Pafunda.

WEEK 5: THE UNDERWORLD (PART TWO) - Student workshops. Readings will include and excerpt from Amanda Yates Garcia’s Initiated: Memoir of a Witch, “Medusa” by Sylvia Plath, “Eurydice” by H.D..

WEEK 6: LIVE DELICIOUSLY (PART ONE) - Student workshops. Readings will include “An Account of the Land of the Witches” by Sofia Samatar, “When You Select the Daughter Card” by Aimee Nezhukumatahil.

WEEK 7: LIVE DELICIOUSLY (PART TWO) - Student workshops. Readings will include “Mind Fuck: Writing Better Sex” by Melissa Febos.

WEEK 8: LIVE DELICIOUSLY (PART THREE) - Readings will include “The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power” by Audre Lorde.

TESTIMONIALS:

“Thank you, Erica, for a fabulous class! I've learned so much about the writing process and relished the texts. Each class has helped awaken long-slumbering skills of analysis and muscles of creativity that I haven't exercised in some time. I'm especially grateful for the workshop portion, both for my own piece and for others. I've always been insecure about my writing style, but these classes have really boosted my confidence and filled my well of creativity. The workshop notes I received validated my process and helped magnify the paths to take next. I'm so grateful to Erica and the writing coven that is forming through these classes.” — Kristilyn Ink

“With Erica’s mentorship, I am now attending the MFA program of my choice and have published several of my poems. She saw potential where I did not, and she pushed me out of my comfort zone by encouraging me to write creative non-fiction. She taught me to trust in my own writing and the fact that my stories are valuable on their own. I fell in love with creative non-fiction because of her. Not only did Erica spend an ample amount of time with me (more than she had to!), she provided me with pages of written feedback that helped me revise and assist in the publication process. I am a much stronger, more confident writer since working with Erica, and am successfully pursuing a career in the field of creative writing.” — Kerri Vasilakos (Kerri’s poetry has appeared in Black Moon Magazine, The Ekphrastic Review, The Penman Review, and Crow and Cross Keys)

“Erica helped me with my applications to MFA programs in Creative Writing. With her assistance, I was accepted or waitlisted to every place I applied, and I'm now a student in my top-choice program. Throughout our work together, Erica was empathetic, challenging, and generous. She helped me to present myself with confidence and clarity. Her feedback was always specific and extensive, and I know the advice she gave me was critical to the success of my applications. I'm sure these skills transfer over to her classes together. I can't recommend working with Erica enough! — Lizzie Fox, Writer/Translator

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE: