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About

Select Literary Awards, Fellowships, Publications, and Readings

• Five-time Pushcart Prize nominee (2013, twice in 2017, 2018, 2020).

• Winner, River Heron Poetry Prize, 2020.

• Winner, Iowa Sweet Corn Prize in Poetry, 2017.

• Winner, Paper Nautilus Debut Series chapbook competition, 2017, for Postcards from the New World.

• Awardee, 4Culture artist grant for project Making Space, focused on raising voices of writers of color in Seattle, 2017.

• Kundiman Fellow, nation’s premier fellowship focused on Asian-American writers, 2016.

• Kundiman Northwest Co-Chair, 2017-present.

• Made at Hugo House Fellow, developing works around themes of race, technology, and mythology, 2016-17.

• Jack Straw Writers Fellow, 2018-19.

• Frequent featured reader at city- and statewide events, including Seattle LitCrawl, Open Books, Hugo House, WordsWest, Jack Straw Writers, Cascadia Poetry Festival, Seattle Public Library, Seattle Central College, Inland Poetry Prowl, Duvall Poetry Series, EasySpeak, and elsewhere.

• Featured at readings focusing on issues impacting disempowered communities, including multiple readings for Race—Under Our Skin issue of Raven Chronicles, Kundiman reading at Seattle LitCrawl 2016 focused on communities of color, and Resistance and Immigration for WordsWest in March 2017.

short bio

Shankar Narayan explores identity, power, mythology, and technology in a world where the body is flung across borders yet possesses unrivaled power to transcend them. Shankar is a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the winner of prizes and fellowships from Kundiman, Hugo House, Jack Straw, Flyway, and River Heron. He is a 4Culture grant recipient for Claiming Space, a project to lift the voices of writers of color, and his chapbook, Postcards From the New World, won the Paper Nautilus Debut Series chapbook prize. Shankar draws strength from his global upbringing and from his work at the intersection of civil rights and technology. In Seattle, he awakens to the wonders of Cascadia every day, but his heart yearns east to his other hometown, Delhi. Connect with him at shankarnarayan.net.

media AND UPDATES

AWP Conference Happenings, March 8-9, 2023: For those not in the category of hardcore writing geeks, AWP is the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, and they’re having their annual conference here in Seattle next week.  Amazingly, I’ve actually never been, but this time around, I’m participating in or connected to several events.  I imagine you all will be busy with many events, but I hope you can make it to some of these, and say hi!

•  Race to Machine: Asian-Americans Write Tech, Colonialism, and Dystopia (Thursday March 9th, 12:10 PM): I’m super-excited to be moderating and participating in this panel of Asian-American writers writing about tech and its impact!  With Betsy Aoki, Franny Choi, Margaret Rhee, and Neil Aitken, I’ll have a wide-ranging, intersectional chat about the challenges and joys of writing in this complicated space.

•  They Rise Like a Wave: A Night of Asian-American Poetry (AWP Offsite; Thursday March 9th, 5:30 PM, Zeitgeist Café):  A group of Pacific Northwest Kundiman fellows is organizing this reading celebrating a new anthology of Asian American women poets.  In addition to the reading itself, there will be time to mingle with Kundiman fellows from all over the country!

•  Defining Cascadia: A Cultural Celebration (AWP Offsite; Thursday March 9th, 6 PM, Town Hall):  A reading in celebration of the aforementioned Cascadia anthology.  I’m not reading, but I’m honored to have poems in this anthology celebrating the giant Pacific octopus (enteroctopus dofleini, in case you were curious) and the Douglas-fir (pseudotsuga menziesii), two of my favorite species.  Incidentally, I’ve got my copy of the book, and it’s beautiful!  Even if you can’t make the reading, the book is highly recommended for anyone who loves nature and/or Cascadia. 

• Informal Happy Hour with Current/Former Students (Thursday March 9th, 8 PM, Noi’s Thai outdoor space):  If you’re one of my current or former students and happen to be in town (or even if you live in Seattle!), please join me for an informal happy hour at the outdoor space at Noi’s Thai downtown, within walking distance of the Convention Center.  I’ll be hanging out there starting at 8 PM, and would love to see you in person!

• Hand to Stone: Fujitaro Kubota and James W. Washington Jr. in Poetry and Prose (Room 337, Friday, March 10th, 10:30 AM):  This reading honors master landscaper Kubota and noted sculptor Washington by bringing together contributors to celebrate the fusion of spiritual beliefs with natural landscapes.  I’ll be reading a couple of poems, including the one that appears in the Spirited Stone anthology.

Exhibit: Spirited Stone Exhibit at the UW College of Built Environments:  Events around the wonderful Spirited Stone book, commemorating Kubota Garden, continue.  For a limited time, you can catch an exhibit about the book at the UW College of Built Environment’s Gould Hall.  The exhibit includes multimedia elements, photos, and the garden’s Rainforest Bell—and as a bonus, you can see me as a virtual talking head, discussing the project and reading a poem.  No registration required—just drop in any time between noon and 5 on a weekday.

Exhibit: Wild‖Life Exhibit at Collins Memorial Library:  For another enchanting, limited-time exhibit, head down to Collins Memorial Library at the University of Puget Sound, where you can view Wild‖Life, a national exhibition by the Guild of Book Workers.  Happily for me, Bonnie Thompson Norman, the talented book artist who created this broadside of one of my poems, submitted it for inclusion, and it was accepted!  So the poem has been traveling the country, and is currently (until April 21st) on its only local stop.  I attended a related Zoom event recently in which every artist represented spoke about their work, and it was a wonderful immersion in the intricacy and beauty of the book arts world.  Highly recommended—no registration required for this one, either.

Book Review: Antiman, by Rajiv Mohabir: Looking for a good book to read this fall? You’re in luck! (Although my opinion is, of course, biased.) Rajiv Mohabir, a queer poet of the South Asian diaspora, has long written beautiful poetry that includes meldings of language, theology, mythology, sexuality, identity, and ecology—not coincidentally, many of the same themes that often emerge in my own writing. Now, this favorite poet of mine has a new memoir out—and it’s a shattering one. Mohabir documents his long struggle for identity and acceptance—as a South Asian, queer, writer, and activist—in a uniquely written book that seamlessly interweaves disparate histories and tongues. My review, written for Raven Chronicles, is here. Enjoy!

Equitable Change at Hugo House: Many of you are likely aware of the work of WOCA, or the Writers of Color Alliance—a group of five writers, including Anastacia-Renee, Claudia Castro Luna, Dujie Tahat, Harold Taw, and me. Over the past year, we have been working to bring change to Hugo House, ensuring it becomes a welcoming, inclusive, and equitable institution for all writers in our community. I won’t recap the history of that struggle here—the South Seattle Emerald’s excellent article on the subject is a good place to catch up. You’ll recall WOCA’s asks of Hugo House leadership and board—a collaborative community power sharing agreement with Hugo House (the G9) that would allow community power over the hiring of a new ED and DEI consultant, as well as a roadmap toward greater equity. In service of those goals, WOCA proposed a leadership committee of WOCA, Board, staff, and Hugo House DEI Committee members that could advance transparency and community power-sharing. After a period of silence, that ask was rejected by the Board via email to us in March. Instead, the Board determined it would move forward with its own committee, in which we were not invited to participate. In the more than six months since that communication, we have heard nothing further. As always, I (or another WOCA member) can provide further details if you’re interested in knowing more.

Pictures of Poets Project:  Photographer Dean Davis took some portraits and recordings of me to include in his wonderful project, Pictures of Poets.  I love this project, particularly the landing page, where the many familiar faces juxtaposed with one another so strikingly remind me of the richness of our writing community.  My own page on the project features several portraits as well as audio of me reading from an as-yet-unpublished series, Black Box.  Thanks to Dean for this amazing labor of love that documents our precious writing community.

Sorry to Podcast This Episode:  Back when we could still engage in person rather than virtually, my poetry friend Danielle Holland hosted me on her podcast, Sorry to Podcast This.  While most of the episode concerns tech and surveillance policy, some does relate to creative writing.  You can listen to it here.

Geekwire Profile: This profile mixes mentions of my professional and creative work.

Interview in Moss, Volume 3: I was fortunate to be interviewed by my friend Dujie Tahat in this wide-ranging discussion!

KVRU Interview: I was happy to be interviewed in July by Jim Cantu for his long-running program on KVRU, Hearts and Soul. Jim is a fixture in our literary and broadcasting community, with a wonderfully compassionate style of interviewing. The interview can be found at the Hearts and Soul website.

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Below is the current slate of classes on offer for the fall 2024— but please check back again as more classes are added. Also note that the classes are in reverse chronological order, so classes that start the soonest will be further down:

December 7 to December 21, 2024: Into the Bedazzling Invisible: Working with Line Breaks and Empty Space in Poetry (3 weeks, Saturdays 10 AM-2 PM PT, offered via Hugo House (December 7, 14, 21)): Line breaks and empty space are critical poets’ tools, offering myriad possibilities and impacts based on the same set of words.  These tools can take the reader’s breath away or give them new breath; make them float or sink; snakecharm and mesmerize them; and ultimately, leave them transformed.  Conventional wisdom blesses and outlaws many moves in this space—but is it right?  In this three-session intensive, we’ll take a deep dive into the philosophies and practicalities of line breaks and empty space, examining and deconstructing conventional wisdom around them, and building a new palette of moves for poets to play with.  We’ll be there not so much to determine the right way to use these tools—there isn’t one—but to reimagine together the many choices poets have in deploying them.  Writers will leave with an expanded sense of creative possibilities and the twisted shards of a few exploded writing myths.  Bring two existing pieces and an open mind.  Sign up here via the Hugo House website.

October 30 to December 18, 2024: With Kin We Share Our Breath: Writing with the More-Than-Human Universe (8 weeks, Wednesdays 5:15 PM–7:15 PM PT, offered independently (October 30; November 6, 13, 20, 27; December 4, 11, 18)): As climate change, pandemic threats, and technological dystopia loom ever larger in our consciousness, there is renewed interest in worldviews that emphasize beings, systems, and relationships that go beyond the human sphere.  In fact, until the advent of colonialism and its associated ethic of exploitation, such other-than-human worldviews were widespread.  Many animist cultures have long traditions of spirituality that recognize the personhood of animals, plants, landforms, water bodies, and even planets and stars, sometimes envisioning them as spirit beings with the power to create new relationships and connections in the living world.  The marginalization of these traditions has shrunk both our worldviews and our imaginations—and conversely, exploring these traditions can help us find new ways to move forward through our interconnected crises.  In this eight-week, part-generative, part-analytic class, we’ll engage with myths, poems, songs, and commentaries drawn from a wide range of traditions—from Hinduism to Islam, from various Indigenous traditions to Buddhism, from old Russian paganism to ancient African religions, and many more.  With a sweeping scope to match this class’s electrifying charge, we’ll trace histories through colonialism and the climate crisis, and the traditional countercurrents that have pushed back.  And we’ll consider how those traditions can help create new visions of an ethical future that finds power in the interconnected web of creation.  Throughout, we’ll have time to create vibrant new work infused with the energy of those traditions, to share with and inspire one another.  Join me in this journey as we become our own shamans of the future!  Class tuition will be $350.  This independently-offered class is confirmed to run, and slots still remain—if interested, please email me directly using the contact link below.

October 7 to October 28, 2024: The Changeless in the Ever-Changing: Writing with the Vedas and Upanishads (4 weeks, Mondays 5:15 PM-7:15 PM PT, offered independently (October 7, 14, 21, 28)): The Vedas and the Upanishads are a universe in themselves—among the most thought-provoking poetry ever written.  These foundational texts of Hinduism have echoed down the millennia, documenting the movement of Hindu philosophy from ritual and sacrifice to deeper probings of cosmic reality and the relationship between the divine, the universe, and the body.  In resonant verse, these works approach fundamental human questions with curiosity and openness, wisdom and grace.  The result is a rich mix of scripture encompassing multiple truths and a variety of views about the nature of the universe.  In this four-week sampler, we’ll engage with some of the poetry and philosophy of these immensely influential works, creating stepping-stones through their basic questions and ideas.  And we’ll create our own inspired pieces in their company, sparking our creativity with some of the most basic and universal human questions.  Class tuition will be $175.  This independently-offered class is confirmed to run—if interested, please email me directly using the contact link below.

October 5 to October 19, 2024: What Will Be/Our Becoming? The Human, the Mind-Body, and Technology (3 weeks, Saturdays 10 AM-2 PM PT, offered via Hugo House (October 5, 12, 19)): We live in transformative times.  Advances in AI and robotics, along with the widespread datafication of human bodies, are resulting in cataclysmic upheavals to the ways in which we live, work, love, relate, and survive.  This, in turn, leads to fundamental questions—what is human, what is animal, what is robot, and what is divine?  This class—an updated installment of my popular Techwashed series—will provide readings, space, and inspiration to discuss and write alongside those cataclysmic changes.  We’ll move through this space with a particular focus on the relationship of the mind-body to technology, considering its impacts on creativity, labor, dis/ability, illness and disease, mind and awareness, exercise, consumption, sex, aging, and even death, putting current discourse into the context of broader philosophies of what the mind-body is and should be.  If technology sees the mind-body as a set of problems to be “solved,” how do we respond as a society?  And what makes us us, when AI is drawing closer to thinking as we do?  Throughout this three-session intensive, we’ll engage with a wide range of source materials—from novels to poetry, from non-fiction commentaries to news articles, from computer code to government forms, and much more.  And we’ll use all this inspiration to create and share our own inspired writing.  Sign up here via the Hugo House website.

July 13 to July 20, 2024: She Who Bodies the World: Writing with the Wisdom Goddesses (Hugo House, two 4-hour sessions, 7/13-7/20 (Saturdays), 10:00 AM-2 PM PT):  In Hindu mythology, the all-powerful Goddess is cause, effect, and manifestation of the entire universe.  Of the Goddess’s many forms, the ten Mahavidyas—or wisdom goddesses—are perhaps both the most shocking and the most enlightening.  These ten Tantric deities often embody qualities and imagery far outside of social norms—for example, one goddess decapitates herself and drinks her own blood; another sits on a horseless chariot with carrion crows for company; a third clubs thieves while pulling out their tongues; and a fourth is eternally sixteen years old, sitting on a throne borne by the corpses of Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, and Rudra.  The well-known goddesses Kali and Tara also form part of this revelatory group.  In this genre-free two-session intensive, we’ll make time and space to dig deeply into each of these ten intense visions of the divine feminine—reading ancient texts and myths and absorbing vibrant artwork, poetry, and film, we’ll create our own explosive writing in response.  Come ready to discuss, write, and transform!  This class can be taken regardless of whether or not you’ve previously taken my eight-week Goddess class—it provides an opportunity specifically to deep-dive into the fascinating mythology of the Mahavidyas.  Sign up here.

April 4 to April 11, 2024: Iconoclast II: Reimagining Empty Space in Poetry (independently offered, two 4-hour sessions, April 4-April 11 (Saturdays), 10:00 AM-1 PM PT):  Like the line break, empty space is a critical poets’ tool, offering myriad possibilities and impacts based on the same set of words.  Empty space can take your breath away or give you new breath, make you float or sink, snakecharm and mesmerize you, and much more.  In this craft class we’ll take a deep dive into the philosophies and practicalities of empty space, examining and deconstructing convention wisdom around it, and building a new palette of moves for poets to play with.  Writers will leave with a sense of expanded creative possibilities.  This two-session intensive builds on my previously offered class on line breaks, but it’s not necessary to have taken that class to be a part of this one.  Bring two existing pieces and an open mind.  Class tuition will be $150.  This class will run only if it reaches critical mass—if interested, please email me directly using the contact link below.

April 11 to May 2, 2024: Blue Sphere, Imploding: Writing with Climate Emotions (Hugo House, four 2-hour sessions, April 11-May 2 (Thursday evenings), 5:00-7:00 PM PT):  Climate change’s impacts are undeniable, wreaking havoc on humans, non-human beings, and our planet’s rhythms.  As cycles of destruction and extinction unfurl, many react with a range of emotions, from deep grief and melancholy, to catharsis, to renewed energy to avert these consequences, and many more.  This class is a space to create with those feelings—drawing on rich source materials ranging from ancient philosophical and spiritual texts to scientific analyses, news articles, and contemporary poetry, we’ll dive down into and deconstruct what we are urgently feeling, as humans and as writers.  And we’ll create our own pieces suffused with the contradictory energies of living in this particular moment.  There’s no sign-up link yet, but I’ll let you know when one is available.

February 20 to April 9, 2024: Name Your Personal Gods: Writing with Contemporary South Asian English Poetry (independently offered, eight 2-hour sessions, Feb 20-April 9 (Tuesday evenings), 5:00-7:00 PM PT):  South Asian poetry written in English is unfamiliar to most North American readers, yet it contains a veritable universe of enthralling writers.  Far-reaching in their diversity, writers living in the Subcontinent are exploring legacies of colonialism and diaspora, ecology and violence, humanity and relationships, mythology and paradox, North and South, and much more.  These poets are witnessing contemporary struggles with courage and conviction in a geopolitical context where South Asia is transforming into hitherto unseen forms.  We’ll make ample space to discuss and be inspired by all this in this 8-week class, zooming into the micro of a poem about a single green bee-eater, zooming out to the macro of nuclear conflict, finding echoes in the work of disparate writers, and ultimately creating our own new work alongside these unflinching contemporary voices.  Class tuition will be $320.  This class is confirmed to run—if interested, please email me directly using the contact link below.

February 3 to February 10, 2024:  A Ghosting of Racoon Dogs: Writing with Spirit Beings (independently offered, two 4-hour sessions, Feb 3 and Feb 10 (Saturdays), 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM PT):  Spirit beings are common to cultures around the world, bringing good harvests, helping with domestic tasks, wreaking vengeance on wrongdoers, mourning the dead, lifting the spirits of protagonists, or simply injecting quirky mischief into the proceedings.  More profound systems of meaning underlie these beliefs in both animist and non-animist cultures, connecting to societies’ deepest fears, traumas, hopes, and dreams.  In this two-session intensive, we’ll examine this parade of spirits using pieces drawn from four cultures--Japanese, old Russian, Pacific Northwest Indigenous, and Hindu—diving into a parade of yokai, rusalkas, yakshas, chupacabras, and many more.  We’ll have fun connecting echoes across these disparate cultures, and use this inspiration (perhaps directly aided by a spirit being or two) to fuel our own rich writing.  Class tuition will be $150.  This class is confirmed to run—if interested, please email me directly using the contact link below.

January 23rd, 2024: Reading at Third Place Books:  The new year brings a rare in-person reading in support of the Cascadia Field Guide anthology, this one at the venerable Third Place Books .  An assortment of poets featured in the anthology, including me, will be reading a poem each at this excellent community institution.  The reading is at 7 PM on January 23rd.  I hope to see you there!

January 17 to February 21, 2024:  Boundary Breaker: Writing with Trickster Tales (Hugo House, six 2-hour sessions, Jan 17-Feb 21 (Wednesday evenings), 7:10-9:10 PM PT):  If you missed this returning favorite on its last go-around, now’s your chance!  Tricksters are often shapeshifters who disdain authority, defy social convention, and create space for growth and transformation.  South Asian and North American indigenous traditions, in particular, are rich in such stories—both traditions hold space for multiple truths, empowering paradoxes, and shifting morality.  In this part-analytic, part-generative course, we’ll draw on ancient South Asian source material such as the Panchatantra and Hitopadesa as well as epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and compare and contrast them with traditional tales from a variety of North American indigenous literatures.  We’ll consider what makes a trickster a trickster; how shapeshifting creates space for transformation; and how the role and relationship of animals to humans informs this mythology.  And along the way, we’ll take deep dives into these rich source materials and use them to fuel our own transformative pieces.  No experience required, and no specific genre—just come ready to discuss, play, and write.  Sign up here!

October 25 to December 20, 2023: The Fire that Does Not Burn: Writing with Shiva (independently offered, eight 2-hour sessions, 10/25-12/20 (Wednesday evenings, no class Thanksgiving week), 5-7 PM PT):  The Shiva class returns for another go-around, continuing the cycle of classes on the major South Asian deities.  Shiva, an ancient deity dating back to deep prehistory, straddles divides of engagement and disengagement, ascetic and householder, spiritualist and materialist, preserver and destroyer.  The relationship between Shiva and Shakti, the Goddess, is also the subject of a great deal of discourse.  As usual, in this class, we’ll turn to key texts and episodes from the mythology of this fascinating god, and use them to fuel our own burning (or not!) pieces.  There will also be plenty of new material not seen in the previous run of this class. 

This is an independently offered course, so please email me via the contact link at the bottom of this webpage if interested. About four weeks prior to the class start, I’ll formally open registrations, and the class will run if enrollment reaches a critical mass of 6 or more students. Independently offered courses are offered at a significantly lower price than those offered via other platforms.

September 30 to October 14, 2023: What Will Be/Our Becoming? The Human, the Mind-Body, and Technology (independently offered, three 4-hour sessions, 9/30-10/14 (Saturdays), 10 AM-2 PM PT):  Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that AI’s time has finally come, for better or worse.  This class will provide readings, space, and inspiration to discuss and write alongside those cataclysmic changes.  The class builds on my previous Techwashed class, but with a focus on the relationship of the mind-body to technology, and a new context of much broader awareness of AI and its impacts.  We’ll consider the impact of technology and AI on issues like creativity, labor, dis/ability, illness and disease, mind and awareness, exercise, consumption, sex, aging, and even death, putting current discourse into the context of broader philosophies of what the mind-body is and should be.  If technology sees the mind-body as a set of problems to be “solved,” how do we respond as a society?  And what makes us us, when AI is drawing closer to thinking as we do?

This is an independently offered course, so please email me via the contact link at the bottom of this webpage if interested. About four weeks prior to the class start, I’ll formally open registrations, and the class will run if enrollment reaches a critical mass of 6 or more students. Independently offered courses are offered at a significantly lower price than those offered via other platforms.

September 27 to November 15, 2023: The Sweep of the Universe: Writing with Millennia of South Asian Poetry (Hugo House, eight 2-hour sessions, 9/27-11/15 (Tuesday evenings), 5-7 PM PT):  This favorite returns after a two-year hiatus, with plenty of new content.  No single class, obviously, can do this subject justice—the breadth and reach of South Asian poetry is almost unimaginably vast, encompassing six major religions, hundreds of languages, diverse geographies, and millennia of time.  So instead, we’ll take a movement-based approach, looking at different bodies of South Asian poetry, including ancient Sanskrit texts, Urdu political resistance poetry, regional classics in various languages, contemporary poetry in translation, and much more.  (The class doesn’t include poetry written in English, whether in the subcontinent or the diaspora—that body of work will be the subject of its own future class.)  No registration link yet, but one will be posted here when it’s available.

September 24, 2023: Out of the Blue, A Meteorite: Writing with Bhakti Poetry (supplementary intensive, independently offered, one 6-hour session, 9/24 (Sunday), 10 AM-4 PM PT):  There’s always room for more bhakti!  This intensive focuses on South Asian bhakti or devotional poetry—some of the most beautiful, inspiring, and spiritually significant words ever written, by iconoclastic poets often centuries ahead of their time.  If you’ve previously taken one of my bhakti poetry classes, the content of this one will supplement what you’ve seen before—but if you haven’t, you can also take it as a standalone class.  We’ll have time to dive into the immortal Geet Govinda by Jayadeva, works by his spiritual successors Chandidas, Vidyapati, Ravidas, and others; previously unshared poetry in the Tamil Nayanmar (Shaivite) tradition; and other poets such as Guru Nanak, Lal Ded, Rahim, Tulsidas, Akho Bhagat, and more. 

This is an independently offered course, so please email me via the contact link at the bottom of this webpage if interested. About four weeks prior to the class start, I’ll formally open registrations, and the class will run if enrollment reaches a critical mass of 6 or more students. Independently offered courses are offered at a significantly lower price than those offered via other platforms.

July 25 through August 15, 2023: You Are Drinker and You Are Wine: Writing with the South Asian Sufis (Writers.com, four 2-hour sessions, 7/25-8/15 (Tuesday evenings), 4-6 PM PT):  This short class will allow us a glance into the space of South Asian Sufi poetry and qawwali, which make a magical space in which lover and beloved engage in an eternal dance, yearning toward the divine within.  While Rumi is the best known Sufi poet in the West, South Asian Sufis are equally deserving of acclaim in their own right, creating ecstatic poetry that has stood the test of time.  In this part-analytical, part-generative class, we’ll engage the inspiring work of these multi-talented poets, including Amir Khusrau, Baba Bulleh Shah, Sultan Bahu, Lal Ded, Waris Shah, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, and many more, in a range of languages from Hindavi to Persian to Punjabi, Sindhi, Kashmiri, and others.  Though reading, watching, and listening, including qawwali musical performances that are an integral part of this living tradition, we’ll use the sparks of these voices, passed down over nearly a thousand years, to generate our own inspired writing.  Register here (note that the syllabus on the course page is out of date).

July 8 through July 9, 2023: Go I Know Not Where: Writing with Slavic Magic Tales:  This updated version of a previous class returns as a one-weekend, two-day summer intensive via Hugo House!  In Slavic magic tales, the world is literally a fantastic place where anything can happen. Venal tsars, card-playing dragons, man-eating cats, dancing geese, princesses, phoenixes, devils, and witches populate this space. These tales also connect to social upheaval, forest survival, and the melding of indigenous cultures and Christianity. This lively mix also makes for great inspiration for writing! In this part-generative, part-analytic class, we’ll look at classic Slavic fairytales, discuss their meaning, and create our own fiery pieces.  The class takes place via Zoom from 10 AM to 2 PM PT, July 8th and 9th. 

April 19 through May 24, 2023: Out of the Blue, A Meteorite: Writing with South Asian Bhakti Poetry:  One of my favorite classes to teach, this one explores the universe that is South Asian devotional poetry—“the breath-catching moment when self speaks to self more directly than you ever thought possible.”  This centuries-old movement of devotional poetry finds the divine in the beloved, resulting in some of the most ecstatic words ever written.  And the poets themselves stand as some of the greatest rebels of all time, rejecting labels of gender, ethnicity, and caste, and transforming the Subcontinent and beyond with their diverse voices.  (See previous iterations of this class below for a fuller description.) This part-generative, part-analytical class will be six weeks, via Hugo House, Wednesday evenings from 7:10 to 9:10 PM PT, April 19 through May 24, 2023. The class will be virtual on the Zoom platform. Sign up here!

April 16, 2023: Iconoclast: Reimagining the Line Break:  This one-session class offers a collaborative deep-dive into line breaks, the poet’s Swiss Army tool.  We won’t so much determine the right way to do line breaks as reimagine together the choices poets have in deploying them.  (See previous iterations of this class below for a fuller description.) This class will be offered in a single session via Hugo House on Sunday, April 16, 2023, from 10 AM – 1 PM PT. The class will be virtual on the Zoom platform. Sign up here!

April 12, 2023: PoetryBridge at C&P Coffee:  I return as a featured reader at this long-running West Seattle series, held in the friendly confines of C&P Coffee.  The featured reader slot affords me an opportunity to delve deeper into my catalogue of new, unpublished work, especially on tech.  6 PM PT on April 12th—please join!

April 8, 2023: Launch Reading for I Sing the Salmon Home:  Several of my ecological poems have landed in anthologies recently, and I’m particularly excited for I Sing the Salmon Home: Poems from Washington State, because it’s put together by Rena Priest, our current Washington State Poet Laureate and a former co-fellow with me at Jack Straw Writers.  The launch reading for the anthology takes place at the Seattle Public Library downtown on Sunday, April 8th, from 2-4 PM PT.  I’ll be reading my poem Salmon Circle the RAS Tank Until Reaching Market Weight, which is both an ecology poem and a technology poem!  And incidentally, publisher Empty Bowl Press will also be tabling at AWP, with some copies of the anthology for sale. 

April 4 through May 23, 2023: I’ve Drunk Your Poisoned Nectar: Writing with the Goddess:  The Goddess class returns for what’s likely to be the last go-around for a while.  This class never gets old—Hinduism’s Goddess tradition is arguably the most ancient among those of world religions, dating back many millennia, which gives us a massive trove of scripture, poetry, treatises, and more, to dive into.  The Goddess encompasses within herself all aspects of the godhead—creation, preservation, and destruction—while transcending gender, matter, and time entirely.  (See previous iterations below for a fuller description.) All this will provide rich inspiration for our own pieces in our Goddess-inspiring writing community.  I’ll offer this class via Kundiman on Tuesdays, April 4 through May 23, 4:00 to 6:30 PM PT.  The class will be virtual on the Zoom platform. If you haven’t yet been part of this class, please join! Sign up here.

March 8 through March 9, 2023: AWP Conference Happenings: For those not in the category of hardcore writing geeks, AWP is the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, and they’re having their annual conference here in Seattle next week.  Amazingly, I’ve actually never been, but this time around, I’m participating in or connected to several events.  I imagine you all will be busy with many events, but I hope you can make it to some of these, and say hi!

•  Race to Machine: Asian-Americans Write Tech, Colonialism, and Dystopia (Thursday March 9th, 12:10 PM): I’m super-excited to be moderating and participating in this panel of Asian-American writers writing about tech and its impact!  With Betsy Aoki, Franny Choi, Margaret Rhee, and Neil Aitken, I’ll have a wide-ranging, intersectional chat about the challenges and joys of writing in this complicated space.

•  They Rise Like a Wave: A Night of Asian-American Poetry (AWP Offsite; Thursday March 9th, 5:30 PM, Zeitgeist Café):  A group of Pacific Northwest Kundiman fellows is organizing this reading celebrating a new anthology of Asian American women poets.  In addition to the reading itself, there will be time to mingle with Kundiman fellows from all over the country!

•  Defining Cascadia: A Cultural Celebration (AWP Offsite; Thursday March 9th, 6 PM, Town Hall):  A reading in celebration of the aforementioned Cascadia anthology.  I’m not reading, but I’m honored to have poems in this anthology celebrating the giant Pacific octopus (enteroctopus dofleini, in case you were curious) and the Douglas-fir (pseudotsuga menziesii), two of my favorite species.  Incidentally, I’ve got my copy of the book, and it’s beautiful!  Even if you can’t make the reading, the book is highly recommended for anyone who loves nature and/or Cascadia. 

• Informal Happy Hour with Current/Former Students (Thursday March 9th, 8 PM, Noi’s Thai outdoor space):  If you’re one of my current or former students and happen to be in town (or even if you live in Seattle!), please join me for an informal happy hour at the outdoor space at Noi’s Thai downtown, within walking distance of the Convention Center.  I’ll be hanging out there starting at 8 PM, and would love to see you in person!

• Hand to Stone: Fujitaro Kubota and James W. Washington Jr. in Poetry and Prose (Room 337, Friday, March 10th, 10:30 AM):  This reading honors master landscaper Kubota and noted sculptor Washington by bringing together contributors to celebrate the fusion of spiritual beliefs with natural landscapes.  I’ll be reading a couple of poems, including the one that appears in the Spirited Stone anthology.

February 25 through February 26, 2023: Iconoclast: Reimagining the Line Break: The line break is the poet’s Swiss Army tool. Conventional wisdom blesses and outlaws many line break moves—but is it right? We’ll take a deep dive into line breaks, not so much to determine the right way to do them—there isn’t one—but to reimagine together the choices poets have in deploying them. Writers will leave with an expanded sense of creative possibilities and the shards of a few crumbled line break myths. Bring three existing pieces and an open mind. Offered through the writers.com platform; two sessions on Zoom, Saturday and Sunday, February 25 and 26, 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM PT. Sign up here.

January 11 through February 1, 2023: Boundary Breaker: Writing with South Asian and North American Indigenous Trickster Tales:  I’ve hinted about offering this class in the past, but it’s finally here—a class about the figure of the trickster, which is also a window into animal mythology in South Asian and North American Indigenous mythologies.  Tricksters are often shapeshifters who disdain authority, defy social convention, and create space for growth and transformation.  South Asian and North American indigenous traditions, in particular, are rich in such stories—both traditions hold space for multiple truths, empowering paradoxes, and shifting morality.  In this part-analytic, part-generative course, we’ll draw on ancient South Asian source material such as the Panchatantra and Hitopadesa as well as epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and compare and contrast them with traditional tales from a variety of North American indigenous literatures.  We’ll consider what makes a trickster a trickster; how shapeshifting creates space for transformation; and how the role and relationship of animals to humans informs this mythology.  And along the way, we’ll take deep dives into these rich source materials and use them to fuel our own transformative pieces.  No experience required, and no specific genre—just come ready to discuss, play, and write.  I’ll be offering this class on my own—so if you want to be in it, just write me through the “Contact” page on this website.  The class will be from 5:15 PM to 7:15 PM PT on four Wednesday evenings: January 11, 18, and 25, and February 1, 2023.  The class will be virtual on the Zoom platform. This will be fun — please join!

December 3 through December 10, 2022: Techwashed! Writing with AI, Data, and Surveillance:  My Techwashed class returns, this time on the writers.com platform in a shorter, two-class iteration, and I’m excited about it!  Tech is our own dark mirror, transforming humanity’s endeavors, impacting marginalized communities, and raising unique writing challenges. Artificial intelligence and the data that feed it are challenging our society’s foundations, empowering some, disempowering others, and changing our writing and thinking in the process.  As usual, this class will be part-generative and part-analytical—we’ll explore the challenges of writing with and about tech with courage and authenticity, while exploring humanity’s love affair with tech.  Past iterations of this class have been fun—tech moves so fast that the class is never the same twice.  Classes are December 3rd and 10th, 10 AM-2 PM PT.  The class will be virtual on the Zoom platform. Please join if you’re able, and forward to others who might be interested!

October 13, 2022: In-Person Kundiman Reading: Hugo House:  I’m thrilled to report that, in conjunction with Kundiman’s Pacific Northwest Chapter, I’ll be doing my first in-person reading for quite some time!  I’ll be sharing new work that engages with our age technology, colonialism, and environmental catastrophe, and I hope you can join.  The reading will take place Thursday evening, October 13th, at Hugo House on Capitol Hill.

October 8, 2022: You Yourself Are the Beloved: Writing with South Asian Ghazals:  Along with the Goddess class, I’ll also be offering my popular ghazal class via the writers.com platform this term.  You all will recall my enduring love for the ghazal form, particularly as it exists in South Asia—a potent vehicle for elegant lyricism, cutting wit, and heartrending emotion, that has enchanted millions of afficionados for centuries.  This class aims to give participants practical tools to incorporate the inspiration of ghazals into their writing.  We’ll consider the history of the ghazal, listen to performances of ghazals in Urdu and other languages, deep-read translations, consider what makes a good ghazal work, and create our own electric new works.  Writers will leave with a deepened appreciation for and knowledge of the ghazal, several new writing starts (including ghazals if they so desire), and resources to pursue a deeper exploration of this enchanting form.  This time around, the class will take the form of a one-day, four-hour workshop from 10 AM to 2 PM PT on Saturday, October 8th.  Join the fun here.

September 28 through November 23, 2002: I’ve Drunk Your Poisoned Nectar: Writing with the Goddess: I’ve enjoyed teaching the Goddess class so much I’ll be doing it again, this time via the writers.com platform—my first venture with them.  As with most of my classes, this one is part-generative and part-analytic—in other words, we’ll draw on rich source material to inspire our own creative writing practices (in any genre).  In this case, that source material involves exploring the many aspects of the Goddess, and it never gets boring!  Hindu Goddess mythology incorporates elements of both Vedic Hinduism and pre-Vedic South Asian cultures such as the Harappan civilization.  The Goddess contains infinity within herself—she is creator, preserver, and destroyer; transcends matter, form, gender, and time; and provides the energy that animates the universe.  Whether known as Devi, Durga, Kali, Parvati, Lakshmi, or Saraswati, she is as diverse as her legions of devotees.  All this energy can provide unmatched inspiration to a writing practice, so I hope you’ll join us!  This evening class begins on Wednesday, September 28th, and continues for eight weeks.  Sign up here. 

June 21 through August 9, 2022: Awaken Into Infinite Blue: Writing with Vishnu. Arguably the most popular god in the Hindu pantheon, Vishnu, the preserver, maintains the cosmic balance no matter what it takes. He offers endless inspiration and fascination for writers through his many avatars, each adapted to creating spiritual justice in the context of the particular demands of an era’s history and geography. Whether he acts in animal form (as fish, turtle, boar, or man-lion) or human (priest, warrior, king, hermit, cowherd, or destroyer), or as his godly self, Vishnu wrestles with thorny ethical and human questions as he weighs and tempers jungle law on his own ultimate scale. In this multi-genre, part-generative, part-analytical class, we’ll turn to key texts and episodes from the mythology of this fascinating god, and use them to fuel our own diverse, electric pieces. No prior knowledge required — but come ready to write! I’m offering this class on my own platform, so if you’re interested, please contact me via the Contact page on my website and I can send you further details!

May 15, 2022: I’m teaching again at Write-O-Rama at Hugo House. This time around, the class will be a teaser on a future offering, centering around the mythology of the Hindu god Vishnu, the preserver. This complex god offers endless inspiration and fascination for writers through his many avatars — so we’ll have plenty of fodder to create our own electric pieces. The class is from 3-4 PM, please join!

April 14 through June 2, 2022: The Core of All Creation: Writing with South Asian Classical Music:  This is a class I’m really excited about, because it reflects so many things I care about and love—music, philosophy, spirituality, and beauty.  South Asian classical music is explicitly interlinked with South Asian philosophy as a key way of awakening the spiritual self through the connection between performer, audience, and the mystery of swara.  No class, of course, could do justice to the universe of South Asian classical music—an ancient fount of creativity more than three millennia in the making—but this class will allow those interested in the space to gain a basic understanding of Hindustani and Carnatic philosophies and ideas, as well as exposure to key ragas, instruments, and performers.  As usual, we’ll take that rich source material to inspire our own creativity.  The class starts right when I’m back from India in April, and I couldn’t be more excited.  Register here.

April 19 through June 14, 2022: I’ve Drunk Your Poisoned Nectar: Writing with the Goddess:  I’m excited to be teaching a class with River Heron Review, a Pennsylvania-based writing organization whose poetry prize I previously won.  And what better class to offer again than the Goddess class, which was a lot of fun when I offered it through Hugo House—in the process, I learned about many aspects of the Goddess in Hindu mythology that I hadn’t fully appreciated, including her ultimate transcendence of gender as she consolidates the full powers of the godhead within herself.  I also burrowed deeper into Tantric aspects of the Goddess such as the Mahavidya Chinnamasta, who decapitates herself with a scythe and brandishes her own head!  The Goddess also connects deeply to pre-Vedic cultures in South Asia, representing the animating force for all of creation.  Whether known as Shakti, Durga, Kali, Uma, or by her thousands of other names, she slays demons amid oceans of gore, enacts cosmic transformations, masters death, dispenses compassion, and is mother to the entire universe.  If you missed this class the first time around, here’s a second chance!  Register here.

February 26 through March 5, 2022: You Yourself are the Beloved: Writing with the South Asian Sufis:  This class is an intensive look into the ecstatic writing of the South Asian Sufis.  You may know Sufism as an ecstatic form of Islam which, much like South Asian bhakti poetry, expresses poetically a deep yearning for union with the divine.  While Rumi is the best known Sufi poet in the West, South Asian Sufis such as Amir Khusrau, Baba Bullhe Shah, Ghulam Farid, and many others are equally deserving of acclaim in their own right, creating ecstatic poetry that has stood the test of time.  These always-enchanting Sufis wrote in multiple languages, including Farsi, Urdu, Punjabi, and more, and their work intertwined inextricably with powerful qawwali performances that lifted listeners into states of divinely-inspired frenzy.  This class will be a part-analytical, part-generative intensive, in which we’ll engage the inspiring work of these multi-talented poets though reading, watching, and listening.  And we’ll use the sparks of these voices, passed down over nearly a thousand years, to generate our own inspired writing.  The class takes place in two Saturday sessions of four hours each, the first of which is this upcoming Saturday the 26th at 10 AM.  Register here.

September 29, 2021: River Heron Poetry Prize Reading: As you may already know, I judged the 2021 River Heron Review poetry contest (which I won last year), and it was a lot of fun! Although very challenging to narrow down submissions. The winner, Deshawn McKinney, is already a special poet making waves, and the finalists—Jessica Cohn, Julie Cooper-Fratrik, Leah Claire Kaminski, and Meghan Sterling—all present compelling and urgent voices. And happily, we’ll all be reading together on Wednesday, September 29th, at 4 PM PT! This should be a special reading for me, since in a way, it feels as though I curated it myself. And since readings are a rarer event for me now than they used to be pre-pandemic (although my role in this one will be quite limited), I would love for you to join us! Register here and bring your friends!

September 30 through November 18, 2021: I’ve Drunk Your Poisoned Nectar: Writing with the Goddess: Standing atop a prone couple making love in a crematorium, a dark-skinned, unclad woman decapitates herself with a scythe and brandishes her own head, blood from her neck flowing into her own mouth and those of her two attendants. Shocking images like this one (of the Mahavidya Chinnamasta) led the British to dismiss Hinduism as savagery and justify their colonization of South Asia. Yet they failed entirely to appreciate their symbolism, and that of the thousands of other manifestations of the Goddess in Hinduism’s rich mythscape. And if you’re wondering what the symbolism associated with such an image could possibly be, wonder no more—I’ll be diving into this vast subject in this virtual class offering at Hugo House this fall. The Goddess—whether known as Mahadevi, Shakti, Durga, Kali, Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Draupadi, Radha, or Sita, among her thousands of manifestations—is one of the most compelling and powerful figures in Hinduism, tracing her history in South Asia as many as 10,000 years back. In turn, this makes Hinduism’s particular tapestry of Goddess worship one of the richest anywhere in the world. Mahadevi slays demons amid oceans of gore, enacts cosmic transformations, masters death, dispenses compassion, and is mother, sister, and lover to the entire universe. The Goddess’s literary legacy is equally rich, encompassing centuries of spiritual texts in prose and poetic form. This eight-week class for all levels—part-generative, part-analytic in the style of previous ones—will deepen our understanding of the Goddess’s many aspects and spur the creation of our own electrifying work in response. The class meets on Thursday evenings from 7:10-9:10 PM, beginning on the evening of September 30th. I hope you can join—and please tell your friends! Register here.

October 9 through October 30, 2021: Techwashed!: Writing with AI, Data, and Surveillance: My second fall offering at Hugo House is a shorter one (four sessions), and pays homage to the biggest theme driving Seattle’s economy—technology! As most of you know, a significant focus of my professional work for has been to my effort to empower communities, particularly historically disenfranchised ones, in the face of the growing power of Big Tech. Advancements in technology are invisibly challenging our society’s foundations, and data about us already empower some and disempower others. In this part-generative, part-analytical course, we’ll examine the language of this revolution through close reads of everything from technical writing and essays to poetry, fiction, and manifestos, talk about what it all means, and riff off those materials to generate our own technologically inspired pieces. This is my second time offering this class—the first time was nearly three years ago, and it was a blast, attracting everyone from data scientists, science fiction writers, ethicists, and technologists, among others. So much has changed since then, and I can’t wait for this one! This class meets on Saturday mornings at 10 AM, beginning on October 9th. Register here.

June 15 through August 3, 2021: The Sweep of the Universe: Writing with Millennia of South Asian Poetry: In the summer, I have two class offerings at Hugo House—a one-day class on line breaks (see below) and this one, on South Asian poetry. No single class, obviously, can do this subject justice—the breadth and reach of South Asian poetry is almost unimaginably vast, encompassing six major religions, hundreds of languages, diverse geographies, and millennia of time. So instead, we’ll take a movement-based approach, looking at different bodies of South Asian poetry, including ancient Sanskrit texts, Urdu political resistance poetry, regional classics in various languages, and even English poetry written in South Asia. For western writers, this approach will offer a survey of the landscape and how it’s evolved, and an opportunity to dive deeper into areas that interest you. As with most of my classes, this one is part-generative, part-analytical, and aims to leave students with new kn0wledge of this subject area, a range of new pieces, and a community with which to explore further. The class is for all levels, and is open-genre (ie, you can write in whatever genre you wish, even though the material we’ll use to spark our writing will always be poetry). The class meets on Tuesday nights from 7:10 to 9:10 PM. Sign up here!

June 26, 2021: Iconoclast: Reimagining the Line Break: My other offering at Hugo House this summer focuses on craft—specifically, the poetic line break. The line break is the poet’s Swiss Army tool. Conventional wisdom blesses and outlaws many line break moves—but is it right? We’ll take a deep dive into line breaks, not so much to determine the right way to do them—there isn’t one—but to reimagine together the choices poets have in deploying them. Writers will leave with an expanded sense of creative possibilities and the shards of a few crumbled line break myths. Bring two existing pieces and an open mind. All levels are welcome! Sign up here!

April 12, 2021: Reading for Kubota Garden: Another reading in support of the Spirited Stone anthology, this one is different—it’s all about sharing the community’s poetry about this special place. You can sign up to read here. While I won’t be reading myself, I’ll be there to hear what others have written about Mr. Kubota’s beautiful space. I hope to see you then!

April 6 through May 11, 2021: Out of the Blue, a Meteorite: Writing with South Asian Bhakti Poetry: In the Spring quarter, I’m teaching again at Hugo House—and this time, the subject is South Asian bhakti poetry. Bhakti refers to a centuries-long series of movements in South Asia of devotional poets gripped by a particular kind of madness—the desire to connect directly with the divine, rejecting any intercession. These poets of diverse backgrounds and genders, from princesses to weavers, found the divine in the beloved, resulting in electric, ecstatic poetry that’s been described as “the breath-catching moment when self speaks to self more directly than you ever thought possible.” And the poets themselves were united in rebellion and often centuries ahead of their time, rejecting divides between class, caste, gender, and religion. No wonder their mark has endured through the ages, scarring devotees even today when their works are sung in India and around the world! I couldn’t be more excited for this part-generative, part-analytical class, which is open to all levels and genres. Just bring your imagination, and come ready to write! The class takes place on Tuesday nights from 7:10 to 9:10 PM. Sign up here.

January 16 through March 13, 2021: The Fire That Does Not Burn—Writing with Shiva:  As my Hugo House class on the Mahabharata (which has been a blast) winds down, another class begins in January, this one about writing alongside Shiva, the complex Hindu god of destruction.  I’ve long wanted to teach a writing class that engages the legends and mythologies of my namesake god, and I couldn’t be more excited.  Shiva’s contradictions get at the deepest and darkest parts of our psyches—wild vs domesticated, ascetic vs familial, detached vs engaged, destructive vs creative.  Shiva, an ancient god who’s inspired scripture and literature for millennia, blurs lines of gender and even those between human, animal, and god.  We’ll dig into Shiva’s rich and diverse lore to inspire our creative practices—the class is not genre specific, and no experience is required.  The class begins January 16th—unlike previous classes, this one is in the morning, so perhaps more conducive to those in other time zones.  Please join, and tell your friends!  Register here.

January 21, 2021: Raven Chronicles Reading: I’ve already written about the Raven Chronicles-produced anthology, Take a Stand—Art Against Hate, a truly wonderful social justice poetry collection. A series of readings supporting the anthology has been taking place online, and one that features me, along with fellow readers Tess Gallagher, Chip Livingston, Tiffany Midge, henry 7 reneau, jr., and Penina Ava Taesali is upcoming in January, co-sponsored by Seattle Public Library. The reading is on January 21st from 7-830 PM PT, and you can register here. I hope to see some of you (virtually) then!

October 22, 2020: River Heron Poetry Prize Reading:  I managed to get it together enough to submit one set of work during the pandemic lockdown, and I’m very glad I did—an older poem of mine won the River Heron Poetry Prize for 2020!  I’m very fond of herons (who have been very active this summer at Lincoln Park where I like to walk and paddle) and excited to have won a prize named after them.  In connection with the prize, there’s an upcoming virtual reading featuring me, the other finalists, and judge Alina Stefanescu, all of whose work seems intriguing.  That will happen on October 22nd at 4 PM PT.  Here are the details—note the link for registration, which is required to get the Zoom link.  Hope to see you then.

October 15 through December 10, 2020: The Longest Poem—Writing with the Mahabharata:  At Hugo House this quarter, I’m offering a class centered around the Mahabharata, a favorite topic of mine.  The world’s longest poem, the Mahabharat is an intense and beautifully written epic that thoroughly absorbs, raising apocalyptic ethical questions and pulling in themes of family loyalty, nature-vs-nurture, fate-vs-free will, and many more.  This 8-session class will offer a longer timeframe (albeit still too short) to engage with this rich material, working alongside key concepts, episodes, and characters to inspire our own writing practices.  The class happens Thursday nights from 7:10-9:10 PM, October 15th through December 10th (skipping November 26th), and I couldn’t be more excited to delve into this titanic work.  Please join and tell your friends!

September 19, 2020: An Ancient Music—Writing with South Asian Ghazals:  After having so much fun teaching previous iterations of this class, I’m teaching it again, this time as a two-hour virtual class through Seattle Public Library.  The ghazal form is a favorite of mine, and ghazals in South Asia bridge elite and popular culture, as well as poetry and music.  Ghazals have many lessons to offer writers, and this class aims to give participants a flavor of that space—we’ll listen/watch versions of ghazals, read translations, consider what makes these forms work, and create our own new works alongside this incredibly powerful music and verse.  The class happens on Saturday, September 19th, from 10 AM to noon.  Please join!

February 8 and 15, 2020: Writing with South Asian Ghazals and Qawwalis: This class centers on two of my favorite musical/poetic/popular forms, ghazals and qawwalis.  Ghazals will need no introduction to most—but while there has been much analysis of the ghazal’s evolution in English, how the ghazal works as popular art is less accessible to Western writers.  Qawwalis, on the other hand, evoke oneness with the divine.  The beauty of qawwali is that it’s an incredibly syncretic form—many different languages, moods, and tones make their way in, leading to a form of ecstatic engagement.  Both ghazals and qawwalis have many lessons to offer writers, and this class aims to give participants a flavor of that space—we’ll listen to versions of ghazals and qawwalis, read translations, consider what makes these forms work, and create our own new works alongside this incredibly powerful music and verse.

December 10, 2019: Cascadia Magazine Reading, Vermillion: This promises to be a particularly exciting and unusual reading, with each of the four readers’ works (myself, Kristen Millares Young, Anstacia-Renee, and Ruth Joffre) being paired up with that of a visual artist (in my case, Monyee Chau). Cascadia Magazine itself is fantastic, with loving coverage of the bioregion I call home and have come to love deeply; and Vermillion is likewise fantastic, so what’s not to love? See you soon.

November 30, 2019: Raven Chronicles Reading at BookTree Bookstore: What better way to celebrate your un-Thanksgiving/Indigenous People’s Week than with poetry? This one is in support of a Raven Chronicles anthology entitled Take a Stand: Art Against Hate anthology, which will debut at AWP 2020 in San Antonio, Texas, and in which I’m lucky enough to have a poem featured! It goes down from 6-7:15 PM at BookTree Bookstore in Kirkland, and will feature Anna Bálint, Paul Hunter, and Gary Copeland Lilley in addition to me. Hope to see you there!

November 2, 2019: Jack Straw Writers Reading at the Seattle Public Library: This is the final reading of my Jack Straw fellowship (see below) at the downtown Seattle Public Library, which will feature all (or nearly all) of the fellows. It goes down on November 2nd at 2 PM. Mark your calendars!

October 24, 2019: Spirited Stone Anthology Reading: One of my favorite places in Seattle, Kubota Garden, is now getting its own book. It’s from Chin Music Press, and it’s called Spirited Stone: Lessons from Kubota’s Garden. (Despite the foregoing link, I suggest you wait and get it at a reading or from the publisher directly when it’s available.) If you’ve never been to Kubota, you should—it’s a special place with a remarkable immigrant story behind it in the form of the life and work of Fujitaro Kubota, who created the garden before being incarcerated at Minidoka. The book itself looks gorgeous, and my poem will be the last one in the book! The project will also result in some public readings and a set of broadsides of the poems. Although the book won’t yet be released by the time of Seattle Litcrawl, there will still be a reading of work from it then—please join us at 8 PM at Hugo House on October 24th. I can’t wait to hold this book in my hands!

October 20, 2019: Jack Straw Writers Reading at Open Books: My time as a Jack Straw fellow is drawing to a close—it’s been an honor to be in community with a group of fantastic and diverse writers as well as our wonderful curator, former state Poet Laureate Kathleen Flenniken. There are still two events to go, though. This is the first—a reading of assorted fellows (including me!) at Open Books on the evening of October 20th. Please join!

July 13, 2019: Writing with Poets of the South Asian Diaspora. (This is another Hugo House one-day class.) South Asian and the broader South Asian diaspora have a diverse and vibrant poetry culture, yet most writers in the US never encounter many of its brightest lights.  That diaspora has longstanding historic traditions of work written in both English and in translation from other South Asian languages.  This one-day class aims to spark your writing by showcasing and examining some of the best South Asian contemporary poetry, and generating new work alongside it.

June 1, 2019: Open Books Reading with Doyali Islam:  This is a reading I’m very excited about, taking place June 1st at Open Books.  Fabulous Canadian poet and fellow South Asian diasporite Doyali Islam will be reading with me.  She is, among other things, the editor of Arc, Canada’s national poetry magazine, and a delight to correspond with.  (As an aside, their last issue, on “poets from the USA,” is beautiful and worth picking up – which I would say even if it didn’t contain some of my work.)  I’m also hoping we can manage to read in Vancouver together, which would allow me to fulfill my ambition of becoming an international poet.

May 18, 2019: Hugo House Class: Writing with South Asian Qawwalis:  I’m teaching a one-day class at Hugo House in both the spring and the summer quarters.  For spring, the class happens on May 18th from 1-5 PM.  Qawwalis are an incredible form -- Sufi devotional music whose purpose is to evoke oneness with the divine. Qawwali is a syncretic art where many different languages, moods, and tones make their way in, leading to ecstatic engagement.  Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Sabri Brothers, and others were acclaimed exponents.

May 3, 2019: Jack Straw Writers Reading.  As some of you may know, I’ve become a Jack Straw fellow this year, in some distinguished company.  I’m really enjoying our cohort thus far, which comprises a fascinating group of writers, as well as our curator, former Washington State Poet Laureate Kathleen Flenniken.  There will be a number of readings as well as an anthology coming out of the fellowship—the first reading I’m a part of will be on Friday, May 3rd, at the Jack Straw Cultural Center in the U-District.

May 1, 2019: Cephalopod Appreciation Society Reading.  This is one of my favorite readings of the year—it’s all about the fascinating creatures known as cephalopods.  I’m scrambling to produce cephalopod-related content, which hopefully will justify my inclusion in the program that evening.  Regardless, it all goes down on Wednesday, May 1st, at Hugo House.  So get kracken and (s)cuttle over to Hugo!  (Sorry—cephalopod puns are irrestible.)

April 25, 2019: Kundiman Reading at Hugo House:  As part of what we hope will be an ongoing partnership with Hugo House, four Kundiman fellows will be reading there on Thursday, April 25th (the description’s not yet up on Hugo’s website, but trust me, it’s true).  The four fabulous fellows reading that evening will be Jai Dulani, EJ Koh, Daniel Tam-Claiborne, and Troy Osaki.  Also trust me that you won’t want to miss this one—all the readers are dynamic and engaging!

March 26, 2019: Kundiman Reading with Monica Youn. I’m very excited for this reading with the fabulous Monica Youn! Monica is fantastic—she’s former Kundiman faculty and author of Blackacre.  For those interested, she’s also teaching a workshop on generative revision the preceding evening, on Monday March 25th.  She’s a great teacher, too, so I’d encourage you all to consider going—she’s not in Seattle often.

January 18, 2019: Tasveer South Asian Literature Festival.  I couldn’t be more excited that the stalwart creatives at Tasveer (the brains and brawn behind multiple, huge South Asian film festivals every year) are putting on a South Asian literary festival this year!  While details are still being ironed out, I’m going to be reading/moderating a poetry session on Friday evening, January 18th.  Please stay tuned to the Tasveer website (or mine) for details as they get fixed, and please join us to celebrate South Asian literature.

January 9, 2019: Poetry Bridge Reading with Claudia Castro Luna.  I’m lucky and pleased to be reading again with Washington State Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna, this time at C&P Coffee House (which survived its existential threat to remain West Seattle’s living room!) for Poetry Bridge.  It happens from 7-9 PM on January 9th—what better way to kick off the new year than with Claudia’s wonderful spirit?

December 18, 2018: Braving the Chill Reading at LitFix.  I’m happy to be reading on Tuesday, December 18th from 7-9 PM at the fabulous Vermillion in Capitol Hill.  I’ll be reading with several all-stars, including Katrina Carrasco, Kevin Emerson, and Dujie Tahat.  The Del Vox Duo will provide the beats, and your five dollars at the door will go, in their entirety, to Hopelink Adult Education.  Come in from the cold (not that it ever really gets that cold in Seattle) for my last reading of 2018!

November 27, 2018:  Made at Hugo House Fellows Reading.  I’ll be reading at Hugo House in November—this time with former Hugo House fellows (fellow fellows?) Sierra Golden, Laura Da, Bill Carty, and Steve Barker.  Another good group in whose company to bask!  I’ll break out my best Thanksgiving poems, and perhaps some artifacts from India, from where I’ll have just returned.  The reading will be on November 27th, exact time TBD.  Stay tuned for details!

October 11, 2018:  I'll once again be reading at Seattle LitCrawl, this time with Korean-American poet Jongmin Jerome Baek, and with Gabrielle Bates hosting.  We're calling it "Cosmic Disconnect" because everything's cosmic and disconnected (especially with the amount of alcohol that will be flowing at Litcrawl!).  LitCrawl is October 11th, and this reading is at St. John’s at 8 PM. See you there!

October 6-7, 2018:  New Hugo House Class: Writing with Russian Fairy Tales.  As many of you know, I was born in Russia (in the then Soviet Union) and also went to high school there.  I've always had a fond spot in my heart for the dark and wild world of Russian fairy tales, where anything can happen (and often does!).  There are glee-maker cats, self-playing psalteries, card-playing dragons, stoves that move about, men who turn into birds, and of course, princesses, tsars, and witches.  All of this is excellent writing fodder, and I hope to turn it into a fun generative class!  One weekend only, October 6th and 7th from 1-4 PM on each day.  Sign up here!

September 27, 2018:  Kundiman South Asian Writers Reading:  In one of the first events at the brand new home of Hugo House on Capital Hill, I’ll be reading with Jordan Alam, Azura Tyabji (Seattle’s Youth Poet Laureate), and Jasleena Grewal, in an all-South Asian lineup—the first entirely South Asian literary event I’ve seen in Seattle in a while (or ever?). This should be a lot of fun—come support these three dynamic young writers (and me!).  Sonora Jha, former Hugo House writer in residence, will host.  It all goes down on September 27th at 7 PM.

August 4, 2018:  Open Books Reading with Kundiman Fellows and Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna, 6:30 PM.  A last-minute, super-exciting reading!  I'll be featuring along with Washington Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna and fellow Kundiman Fellows Cathy Linh Che and Margaret Rhee.  I'm excited, particularly since Margaret has written fabulous poems on love and robots, and is visiting Seattle from across the country in Buffalo.  I hope you all can be there!  Stay tuned for an official event page.

August 2, 2018:  Raising Our Voices for Compassion: A Poetry Reading to Benefit the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project:  Everyone could use a ferry ride to Vashon Island and its charming bookstore!  I’ll be back at the Vashon Bookshop for a reading in support of human rights and justice – Thursday August 2nd at 6 PM.  I really had fun the last time I read there—and as a bonus, it’s got a great Thai restaurant next door.  Also featuring Washington Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna, Robert Hasselblad, Merna Ann Hecht, and Lynn Carrigan.  Come join!

July 29, 2018:  Writing with South Asian Ghazals.  Hugo House (1 day class), 1-5 PM.  Ghazals in South Asia are one of the most popular forms of poetry anywhere. While there has been much analysis of the ghazal's evolution in English, how the ghazal works as popular art is less accessible to western writers. This class aims to give participants a flavor of that space -- we'll listen to versions of ghazals in Urdu, read translations, consider what makes a good ghazal work, and create our own new works. Come ready to write!  Sign up here.

May 31, 2018:  The Ever-Shifting Diaspora: Kundiman Writers in the Pacific Northwest.  Reading in Portland with Literary Arts.  Neil Aitken, Alex Dang, and Jyothi Natarajan also feature.  As if you needed another excuse for a roadtrip to Portland.  7 PM, Literary Arts, 925 SW Washington St, Portland.  See you there!

May 17, 2018:  I feature at Margin Shift reading series at Common Area Maintenance in Belltown, one of the most fun reading series around!  I'm thrilled they invited me back.

April 2018:  Check out the extensive new interview with me in the new issue of Moss!  Thanks to Dujie Tahat for his fabulous work on the interview and on the journal.  Please support this important outlet for Northwest Writing!

April 25, 2018:  Chapbook launch reading!  This is the chapbook launch reading for my new chapbook, Postcards from the New World, at Hugo House on April 25th at 7 PM.  Gabrielle Bates, Troy Osaki, and Dujie Tahat will read with me that evening!  Full video of the event here.

April 9 - May 21, 2018:  All-Accepting: Accessing Hinduism in Your Writing.  Hugo House (6 week class), Monday nights 7:10-9:10 PM, no class May 7.   In this workshop, we’ll walk through some of Hinduism’s seminal concepts, such as dharma, maya, kalpa, and brahman, as well as excerpts from key texts such as the Vedas, Upanishads, and the great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.  We’ll discuss how those concepts might be applied to a writing practice and do deep reads of poems in which modern South Asian writers in America have created their own interpretations of the Hindu cosmology.  Throughout, we’ll put these concepts into practice by writing!  Sign up here.

March 26, 2018:  Lillo Way Dubious Moon book launch reading, sponsored by Hugo House.  Fireside Room, Hotel Sorrento (900 Madison St), 7 PM.  I'll be reading a single poem, along with several others, to help kick off Lillo's launch reading!

March 10, 2018:  Extra-Bonus Last Minute Secret Reading!  You can catch me and prize-winning poet Sierra Golden reading Saturday March 10th at the Greenlake Public Library from 4-5:30 PM.  I know the event page says it's going to be Tod Marshall, but I assure you it's going to be me and Sierra instead.  Come join us!  It's going to be a good time.

March 5 - March 26, 2018: Techwashed!  The Language of Data, Surveillance, and Technology.  Hugo House (4 week class), Monday nights 7:10-9:10 PM.  Sign up here.

January 31, 2018:  Passing of the Laurel reading at Seattle Public Library, Central Branch (1000 4th Ave), main auditorium, 7-8:15 PM.  This is the final event of Tod Marshall's tenure as Washington State Poet Laureate, and the first of Claudia Castro Luna's.  It's also the final Washington 129 Anthology reading.  Should be fun!

December 11, 2017:  Featured reader, EasySpeak Wedgwood.  Wedgwood Ale House (8515 35th Ave NE), 8 PM.

October 19, 2017:  Ever-Shifting Diaspora: The Writers of Kundiman.  Barça Lounge (1510 11th Avenue), 8 PM.  I'm hosting this event as part of my 4Culture Project, Claiming Space, and in collaboration with Kundiman.

October 11, 2017:  Featured reader with Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall.  Vashon Bookshop (17612 Vashon Highway SW, Vashon, WA), 6 PM.

October 6, 2017:  Made at Hugo House Fellows Final Reading.  Hugo House (1021 Columbia St.), 7 PM.  Last chance to hear all six fabulous Made at Hugo House Fellows reading together!

October 5, 2017:  WA 129 Anthology Reading.  Open Books (2414 North 45th Street), 7 PM.  Come support our only poetry bookstore!

September 18, 2017:  Raven Chronicles reading for Home issue.  Columbia City Gallery (4864 Rainier Avenue South), 7 PM.  Includes readings by writers from Recovery Cafe's Safe Place writers' circle.

August 20, 2017: Cephalopod Appreciation Society reading.  Friends of the Waterfront (1400 Western Ave), noon.  Say yes to cephalopods!

July 25, 2017: Anastacia Renee book launch reading. Elliott Bay Books (1521 10th Ave), 7 PM.

July 7, 2017:  Reading and publication party for Raven Chronicles Vol. 24, Home. Jack Straw Cultural Center (4621 Roosevelt Way NW), 7-9 PM.

May 26, 2017:  Made at Hugo House Fellows Midyear Reading.  Hugo House (1021 Columbia St.), 7 PM. 

March 15, 2017:  Featured reader at WordsWest.  C&P Coffee (5612 California Ave. SW), 7 PM.  So excited to be reading in my local West Seattle home series with the fabulous Donna Miscolta!

January 14, 2017: Margin Shift series featured reader.  Common Area Maintenance (2125 2nd Ave).  Doors (and wine) at 7:30, and the poetry starts at 8 PM.

4

Teaching/Doing

Student TESTIMONIALS

I endeavor to make my classes engaging and collaborative learning spaces, where we build community intentionally while inspiring and supporting our best writing. Here’s some feedback from past students:

“Shankar creates an inspiring space for creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and celebration of each other’s work. Shankar is also extremely generous with resources, so you are learning for long after the class is over. I found the generative prompts in this class inspiring. I will be taking many more classes with Shankar in future!”

“Shankar’s facilitation is gentle, clear, and open. He makes space for students to learn and engage with each other as well as the ideas that he offers with his incredible breadth of knowledge. I always feel supported in Shankar’s classes because of his preparation, care for his students, and patient guidance through difficult concepts.”

“I was drawn to the class by the title but then I discovered it was so much more than that. Shankar introduced Hindu stories and myths in a way that was accessible and fascinating. As writers, we could use the material to jumpstart our stories using a new kind of energy and with new characters. Shankar is thoughtful, organized, and able to break down complex information into bite sized pieces. Each class is well-crafted and includes a combination of funny, interesting, and symbolic content. We listen, watch, read, and write in each session. I also appreciated the community agreements that were shared at the beginning of each class and inspired a sensitive and safe space for everyone. I would take any class that this instructor teaches!”

“Shankar’s classes hold warm, supportive space no matter where you are in the creative process, and offer plenty of encouragement and ideas for trying new things with your writing. I’ve been taking classes with Shankar for the past couple of years, and his kindness, sense of humour, and passion for words keeps me coming back for more. I hope to be writing with you again soon.”

Classes

• INTO THE BEDAZZLING INVISIBLE: WORKING WITH LINE BREAKS AND EMPTY SPACE IN POETRY

(3 weeks, Saturdays 10 AM-2 PM PT, offered via Hugo House (December 7, 14, 21, 2024)): Line breaks and empty space are critical poets’ tools, offering myriad possibilities and impacts based on the same set of words.  These tools can take the reader’s breath away or give them new breath; make them float or sink; snakecharm and mesmerize them; and ultimately, leave them transformed.  Conventional wisdom blesses and outlaws many moves in this space—but is it right?  In this three-session intensive, we’ll take a deep dive into the philosophies and practicalities of line breaks and empty space, examining and deconstructing conventional wisdom around them, and building a new palette of moves for poets to play with.  We’ll be there not so much to determine the right way to use these tools—there isn’t one—but to reimagine together the many choices poets have in deploying them.  Writers will leave with an expanded sense of creative possibilities and the twisted shards of a few exploded writing myths.  Bring two existing pieces and an open mind.  Sign up here via the Hugo House website.

• With Kin We Share Our Breath: Writing with the More-Than-Human Universe

(8 weeks, Wednesdays 5:15 PM–7:15 PM PT, offered independently (October 30; November 6, 13, 20, 27; December 4, 11, 18, 2024)): As climate change, pandemic threats, and technological dystopia loom ever larger in our consciousness, there is renewed interest in worldviews that emphasize beings, systems, and relationships that go beyond the human sphere.  In fact, until the advent of colonialism and its associated ethic of exploitation, such other-than-human worldviews were widespread.  Many animist cultures have long traditions of spirituality that recognize the personhood of animals, plants, landforms, water bodies, and even planets and stars, sometimes envisioning them as spirit beings with the power to create new relationships and connections in the living world.  The marginalization of these traditions has shrunk both our worldviews and our imaginations—and conversely, exploring these traditions can help us find new ways to move forward through our interconnected crises.  In this eight-week, part-generative, part-analytic class, we’ll engage with myths, poems, songs, and commentaries drawn from a wide range of traditions—from Hinduism to Islam, from various Indigenous traditions to Buddhism, from old Russian paganism to ancient African religions, and many more.  With a sweeping scope to match this class’s electrifying charge, we’ll trace histories through colonialism and the climate crisis, and the traditional countercurrents that have pushed back.  And we’ll consider how those traditions can help create new visions of an ethical future that finds power in the interconnected web of creation.  Throughout, we’ll have time to create vibrant new work infused with the energy of those traditions, to share with and inspire one another.  Join me in this journey as we become our own shamans of the future!  Class tuition will be $350.  This independently-offered class is confirmed to run, and slots still remain—if interested, please email me directly using the contact link below.

• The Changeless in the Ever-Changing: Writing with the Vedas and Upanishads

(4 weeks, Mondays 5:15 PM-7:15 PM PT, offered independently (October 7, 14, 21, 28, 2024)): The Vedas and the Upanishads are a universe in themselves—among the most thought-provoking poetry ever written.  These foundational texts of Hinduism have echoed down the millennia, documenting the movement of Hindu philosophy from ritual and sacrifice to deeper probings of cosmic reality and the relationship between the divine, the universe, and the body.  In resonant verse, these works approach fundamental human questions with curiosity and openness, wisdom and grace.  The result is a rich mix of scripture encompassing multiple truths and a variety of views about the nature of the universe.  In this four-week sampler, we’ll engage with some of the poetry and philosophy of these immensely influential works, creating stepping-stones through their basic questions and ideas.  And we’ll create our own inspired pieces in their company, sparking our creativity with some of the most basic and universal human questions.  Class tuition will be $175.  This independently-offered class is confirmed to run—if interested, please email me directly using the contact link below.

• What Will Be/Our Becoming? The Human, the Mind-Body, and Technology

(3 weeks, Saturdays 10 AM-2 PM PT, offered via Hugo House (October 5, 12, 19, 2024)): We live in transformative times.  Advances in AI and robotics, along with the widespread datafication of human bodies, are resulting in cataclysmic upheavals to the ways in which we live, work, love, relate, and survive.  This, in turn, leads to fundamental questions—what is human, what is animal, what is robot, and what is divine?  This class—an updated installment of my popular Techwashed series—will provide readings, space, and inspiration to discuss and write alongside those cataclysmic changes.  We’ll move through this space with a particular focus on the relationship of the mind-body to technology, considering its impacts on creativity, labor, dis/ability, illness and disease, mind and awareness, exercise, consumption, sex, aging, and even death, putting current discourse into the context of broader philosophies of what the mind-body is and should be.  If technology sees the mind-body as a set of problems to be “solved,” how do we respond as a society?  And what makes us us, when AI is drawing closer to thinking as we do?  Throughout this three-session intensive, we’ll engage with a wide range of source materials—from novels to poetry, from non-fiction commentaries to news articles, from computer code to government forms, and much more.  And we’ll use all this inspiration to create and share our own inspired writing.  Sign up here via the Hugo House website.

• She Who Bodies the World: Writing with the Wisdom Goddesses

(Hugo House, two 4-hour sessions, 7/13-7/20 (Saturdays), 10:00 AM-2 PM PT):  In Hindu mythology, the all-powerful Goddess is cause, effect, and manifestation of the entire universe.  Of the Goddess’s many forms, the ten Mahavidyas—or wisdom goddesses—are perhaps both the most shocking and the most enlightening.  These ten Tantric deities often embody qualities and imagery far outside of social norms—for example, one goddess decapitates herself and drinks her own blood; another sits on a horseless chariot with carrion crows for company; a third clubs thieves while pulling out their tongues; and a fourth is eternally sixteen years old, sitting on a throne borne by the corpses of Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, and Rudra.  The well-known goddesses Kali and Tara also form part of this revelatory group.  In this genre-free two-session intensive, we’ll make time and space to dig deeply into each of these ten intense visions of the divine feminine—reading ancient texts and myths and absorbing vibrant artwork, poetry, and film, we’ll create our own explosive writing in response.  Come ready to discuss, write, and transform!  This class can be taken regardless of whether or not you’ve previously taken my eight-week Goddess class—it provides an opportunity specifically to deep-dive into the fascinating mythology of the Mahavidyas.  Sign up here.

• Iconoclast II: Reimagining Empty Space in Poetry

(Independently offered, two 4-hour sessions, April 4-April 11 (Saturdays), 10:00 AM-1 PM PT):  Like the line break, empty space is a critical poets’ tool, offering myriad possibilities and impacts based on the same set of words.  Empty space can take your breath away or give you new breath, make you float or sink, snakecharm and mesmerize you, and much more.  In this craft class we’ll take a deep dive into the philosophies and practicalities of empty space, examining and deconstructing convention wisdom around it, and building a new palette of moves for poets to play with.  Writers will leave with a sense of expanded creative possibilities.  This two-session intensive builds on my previously offered class on line breaks, but it’s not necessary to have taken that class to be a part of this one.  Bring two existing pieces and an open mind.  Class tuition will be $150.  This independently-offered class is confirmed to run—if interested, please email me directly.

• Blue Sphere, Imploding: Writing with Climate Emotions

(Hugo House, four 2-hour sessions, April 11-May 2 (Thursday evenings), 5:00-7:00 PM PT):  Climate change’s impacts are undeniable, wreaking havoc on humans, non-human beings, and our planet’s rhythms.  As cycles of destruction and extinction unfurl, many react with a range of emotions, from deep grief and melancholy, to catharsis, to renewed energy to avert these consequences, and many more.  This class is a space to create with those feelings—drawing on rich source materials ranging from ancient philosophical and spiritual texts to scientific analyses, news articles, and contemporary poetry, we’ll dive down into and deconstruct what we are urgently feeling, as humans and as writers.  And we’ll create our own pieces suffused with the contradictory energies of living in this particular moment.  There’s no sign-up link yet, but I’ll let you know when one is available.

• Name Your Personal Gods: Writing with Contemporary South Asian English Poetry

(Independently offered, eight 2-hour sessions, Feb 20-April 9 (Tuesday evenings), 5:00-7:00 PM PT):  South Asian poetry written in English is unfamiliar to most North American readers, yet it contains a veritable universe of enthralling writers.  Far-reaching in their diversity, writers living in the Subcontinent are exploring legacies of colonialism and diaspora, ecology and violence, humanity and relationships, mythology and paradox, North and South, and much more.  These poets are witnessing contemporary struggles with courage and conviction in a geopolitical context where South Asia is transforming into hitherto unseen forms.  We’ll make ample space to discuss and be inspired by all this in this 8-week class, zooming into the micro of a poem about a single green bee-eater, zooming out to the macro of nuclear conflict, finding echoes in the work of disparate writers, and ultimately creating our own new work alongside these unflinching contemporary voices.  Class tuition will be $320.  This independently-offered class is confirmed to run—if interested, please email me directly using the contact link below.

• A Ghosting of Racoon Dogs: Writing with Spirit Beings

(Independently offered, two 4-hour sessions, Feb 3 and Feb 10 (Saturdays), 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM PT):  Spirit beings are common to cultures around the world, bringing good harvests, helping with domestic tasks, wreaking vengeance on wrongdoers, mourning the dead, lifting the spirits of protagonists, or simply injecting quirky mischief into the proceedings.  More profound systems of meaning underlie these beliefs in both animist and non-animist cultures, connecting to societies’ deepest fears, traumas, hopes, and dreams.  In this two-session intensive, we’ll examine this parade of spirits using pieces drawn from four cultures--Japanese, old Russian, Pacific Northwest Indigenous, and Hindu—diving into a parade of yokai, rusalkas, yakshas, chupacabras, and many more.  We’ll have fun connecting echoes across these disparate cultures, and use this inspiration (perhaps directly aided by a spirit being or two) to fuel our own rich writing.  Class tuition will be $150.  This class will run only if it reaches critical mass—if interested, please email me directly using the contact link below.

• Boundary Breaker: Writing with Trickster Tales

(Hugo House, six 2-hour sessions, Jan 17-Feb 21 (Wednesday evenings), 7:10-9:10 PM PT):  If you missed this returning favorite on its last go-around, now’s your chance!  Tricksters are often shapeshifters who disdain authority, defy social convention, and create space for growth and transformation.  South Asian and North American indigenous traditions, in particular, are rich in such stories—both traditions hold space for multiple truths, empowering paradoxes, and shifting morality.  In this part-analytic, part-generative course, we’ll draw on ancient South Asian source material such as the Panchatantra and Hitopadesa as well as epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and compare and contrast them with traditional tales from a variety of North American indigenous literatures.  We’ll consider what makes a trickster a trickster; how shapeshifting creates space for transformation; and how the role and relationship of animals to humans informs this mythology.  And along the way, we’ll take deep dives into these rich source materials and use them to fuel our own transformative pieces.  No experience required, and no specific genre—just come ready to discuss, play, and write.  Sign up here!

• The Fire that Does Not Burn: Writing with Shiva

(Independently offered, eight 2-hour sessions, 10/25-12/20 (Wednesday evenings, no class Thanksgiving week), 5-7 PM PT):  The Shiva class returns for another go-around, continuing the cycle of classes on the major South Asian deities.  Shiva, an ancient deity dating back to deep prehistory, straddles divides of engagement and disengagement, ascetic and householder, spiritualist and materialist, preserver and destroyer.  The relationship between Shiva and Shakti, the Goddess, is also the subject of a great deal of discourse.  As usual, in this class, we’ll turn to key texts and episodes from the mythology of this fascinating god, and use them to fuel our own burning (or not!) pieces.  There will also be plenty of new material not seen in the previous run of this class. 

This is an independently offered course, so please email me via the contact link at the bottom of this webpage if interested. About four weeks prior to the class start, I’ll formally open registrations, and the class will run if enrollment reaches a critical mass of 6 or more students. Independently offered courses are offered at a significantly lower price than those offered via other platforms.

• What Will Be/Our Becoming? The Human, the Mind-Body, and Technology

(Independently offered, three 4-hour sessions, 9/30-10/14 (Saturdays), 10 AM-2 PM PT):  Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that AI’s time has finally come, for better or worse.  This class will provide readings, space, and inspiration to discuss and write alongside those cataclysmic changes.  The class builds on my previous Techwashed class, but with a focus on the relationship of the mind-body to technology, and a new context of much broader awareness of AI and its impacts.  We’ll consider the impact of technology and AI on issues like creativity, labor, dis/ability, illness and disease, mind and awareness, exercise, consumption, sex, aging, and even death, putting current discourse into the context of broader philosophies of what the mind-body is and should be.  If technology sees the mind-body as a set of problems to be “solved,” how do we respond as a society?  And what makes us us, when AI is drawing closer to thinking as we do? In this class, I deploy my longstanding expertise as a technology activist and attorney to guide deep discussions around futurism and the future.

This is an independently offered course, so please email me via the contact link at the bottom of this webpage if interested. About four weeks prior to the class start, I’ll formally open registrations, and the class will run if enrollment reaches a critical mass of 6 or more students. Independently offered courses are offered at a significantly lower price than those offered via other platforms.

• The Sweep of the Universe: Writing with Millennia of South Asian Poetry

(Offered via Hugo House, eight 2-hour sessions, 9/27-11/15 (Tuesday evenings), 5-7 PM PT):  This favorite returns after a two-year hiatus, with plenty of new content.  No single class, obviously, can do this subject justice—the breadth and reach of South Asian poetry is almost unimaginably vast, encompassing six major religions, hundreds of languages, diverse geographies, and millennia of time.  So instead, we’ll take a movement-based approach, looking at different bodies of South Asian poetry, including ancient Sanskrit texts, Urdu political resistance poetry, regional classics in various languages, contemporary poetry in translation, and much more.  (The class doesn’t include poetry written in English, whether in the subcontinent or the diaspora—that body of work will be the subject of its own future class.)  No registration link yet, but one will be posted here when it’s available.

• Out of the Blue, A Meteorite: Writing with Bhakti Poetry

(Supplementary intensive, independently offered, one 6-hour session, 9/24 (Sunday), 10 AM-4 PM PT):  There’s always room for more bhakti!  This intensive focuses on South Asian bhakti or devotional poetry—some of the most beautiful, inspiring, and spiritually significant words ever written, by iconoclastic poets often centuries ahead of their time.  If you’ve previously taken one of my bhakti poetry classes, the content of this one will supplement what you’ve seen before—but if you haven’t, you can also take it as a standalone class.  We’ll have time to dive into the immortal Geet Govinda by Jayadeva, works by his spiritual successors Chandidas, Vidyapati, Ravidas, and others; previously unshared poetry in the Tamil Nayanmar (Shaivite) tradition; and other poets such as Guru Nanak, Lal Ded, Rahim, Tulsidas, Akho Bhagat, and more. 

This is an independently offered course, so please email me via the contact link at the bottom of this webpage if interested. About four weeks prior to the class start, I’ll formally open registrations, and the class will run if enrollment reaches a critical mass of 6 or more students. Independently offered courses are offered at a significantly lower price than those offered via other platforms.

• You Are Drinker and You Are Wine: Writing with the South Asian Sufis

(Offered via Writers.com, four 2-hour sessions, 7/25-8/15 (Tuesday evenings), 4-6 PM PT):  This short class will allow us a glance into the space of South Asian Sufi poetry and qawwali, which make a magical space in which lover and beloved engage in an eternal dance, yearning toward the divine within.  While Rumi is the best known Sufi poet in the West, South Asian Sufis are equally deserving of acclaim in their own right, creating ecstatic poetry that has stood the test of time.  In this part-analytical, part-generative class, we’ll engage the inspiring work of these multi-talented poets, including Amir Khusrau, Baba Bulleh Shah, Sultan Bahu, Lal Ded, Waris Shah, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, and many more, in a range of languages from Hindavi to Persian to Punjabi, Sindhi, Kashmiri, and others.  Though reading, watching, and listening, including qawwali musical performances that are an integral part of this living tradition, we’ll use the sparks of these voices, passed down over nearly a thousand years, to generate our own inspired writing.  Register here (note that the syllabus on the course page is out of date).

• Go I Know Not Where: Writing with Slavic Magic Tales

This updated version of a previous class returns as a one-weekend, two-day summer intensive via Hugo House!  In Slavic magic tales, the world is literally a fantastic place where anything can happen. Venal tsars, card-playing dragons, man-eating cats, dancing geese, princesses, phoenixes, devils, and witches populate this space. These tales also connect to social upheaval, forest survival, and the melding of indigenous cultures and Christianity. This lively mix also makes for great inspiration for writing! In this part-generative, part-analytic class, we’ll look at classic Slavic fairytales, discuss their meaning, and create our own fiery pieces.  The class takes place via Zoom from 10 AM to 2 PM PT, Saturday and Sunday, July 8th and 9th.  There’s no sign-up link yet, but you’ll be first to know when there is!

• Out of the Blue, A Meteorite: Writing with South Asian Bhakti Poetry

One of my favorite classes to teach, this one explores the universe that is South Asian devotional poetry—“the breath-catching moment when self speaks to self more directly than you ever thought possible.”  This centuries-old movement of devotional poetry finds the divine in the beloved, resulting in some of the most ecstatic words ever written.  And the poets themselves stand as some of the greatest rebels of all time, rejecting labels of gender, ethnicity, and caste, and transforming the Subcontinent and beyond with their diverse voices.  This part-generative, part-analytical class will be six weeks, also via Hugo House, Wednesday evenings from 7:10 to 9:10 PM PT, April 19 through May 24, 2023. The class will be virtual on the Zoom platform.

• Iconoclast: Reimagining the Line Break

This one-session class offers a collaborative deep-dive into line breaks, the poet’s Swiss Army tool.  We won’t so much determine the right way to do line breaks as reimagine together the choices poets have in deploying them.  This class will be offered in a single session via Hugo House on Sunday, April 16, 2023, from 10 AM – 1 PM PT. The class will be virtual on the Zoom platform.

•  I’ve Drunk Your Poisoned Nectar: Writing with the Goddess

Finally, the Goddess class returns for what’s likely to be the last go-around for a while.  This class never gets old—Hinduism’s Goddess tradition is arguably the most ancient among those of world religions, dating back many millennia, which gives us a massive trove of scripture, poetry, treatises, and more, to dive into.  The Goddess encompasses within herself all aspects of the godhead—creation, preservation, and destruction—while transcending gender, matter, and time entirely.  All this will provide rich inspiration for our own pieces in our Goddess-inspiring writing community.  I’ll offer this class via Kundiman on Tuesdays, April 4 through May 23, 4:00 to 6:30 PM PT.  If you haven’t yet been part of this class, please join! The class will be virtual on the Zoom platform.

• Boundary Breaker: Writing with South Asian and North American Indigenous Trickster Tales

I’ve hinted about offering this class in the past, but it’s finally here—a class about the figure of the trickster, which is also a window into animal mythology in South Asian and North American Indigenous mythologies.  Tricksters are often shapeshifters who disdain authority, defy social convention, and create space for growth and transformation.  South Asian and North American indigenous traditions, in particular, are rich in such stories—both traditions hold space for multiple truths, empowering paradoxes, and shifting morality.  In this part-analytic, part-generative course, we’ll draw on ancient South Asian source material such as the Panchatantra and Hitopadesa as well as epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and compare and contrast them with traditional tales from a variety of North American indigenous literatures.  We’ll consider what makes a trickster a trickster; how shapeshifting creates space for transformation; and how the role and relationship of animals to humans informs this mythology.  And along the way, we’ll take deep dives into these rich source materials and use them to fuel our own transformative pieces.  No experience required, and no specific genre—just come ready to discuss, play, and write.  I’ll be offering this class on my own, exclusively through this list—so if you want to be in it, just email me back, and I’ll also be reaching out to those of you that previously expressed interest in the class.  The class will be from 5:15 PM to 7:15 PM PT on four Wednesday evenings: January 11, 18, and 25, and February 1, 2023.  The class will be virtual on the Zoom platform. This will be fun!

• Techwashed! Writing with AI, Data, and Surveillance

My Techwashed class returns, this time on the writers.com platform in a shorter, two-class iteration, and I’m excited about it!  Tech is our own dark mirror, transforming humanity’s endeavors, impacting marginalized communities, and raising unique writing challenges. Artificial intelligence and the data that feed it are challenging our society’s foundations, empowering some, disempowering others, and changing our writing and thinking in the process.  As usual, this class will be part-generative and part-analytical—we’ll explore the challenges of writing with and about tech with courage and authenticity, while exploring humanity’s love affair with tech.  Past iterations of this class have been fun—tech moves so fast that the class is never the same twice.  The class will be virtual on the Zoom platform. Classes are December 3rd and 10th, 10 AM-2 PM PT.  Please join if you’re able, and forward to others who might be interested! 

• You Yourself Are the Beloved: Writing with South Asian Ghazals

Along with the Goddess class, I’ll also be offering my popular ghazal class via the writers.com platform this term.  You all will recall my enduring love for the ghazal form, particularly as it exists in South Asia—a potent vehicle for elegant lyricism, cutting wit, and heartrending emotion, that has enchanted millions of afficionados for centuries.  This class aims to give participants practical tools to incorporate the inspiration of ghazals into their writing.  We’ll consider the history of the ghazal, listen to performances of ghazals in Urdu and other languages, deep-read translations, consider what makes a good ghazal work, and create our own electric new works.  Writers will leave with a deepened appreciation for and knowledge of the ghazal, several new writing starts (including ghazals if they so desire), and resources to pursue a deeper exploration of this enchanting form.

• One-day, four-hour workshop from 10 AM to 2 PM PT on Saturday, October 8th.  Join the fun here.

• I’ve Drunk Your Poisoned Nectar: Writing with the Goddess

I’ve enjoyed teaching the Goddess class so much I’ll be doing it again, this time via the writers.com platform—my first venture with them.  As with most of my classes, this one is part-generative and part-analytic—in other words, we’ll draw on rich source material to inspire our own creative writing practices (in any genre).  In this case, that source material involves exploring the many aspects of the Goddess, and it never gets boring!  Hindu Goddess mythology incorporates elements of both Vedic Hinduism and pre-Vedic South Asian cultures such as the Harappan civilization.  The Goddess contains infinity within herself—she is creator, preserver, and destroyer; transcends matter, form, gender, and time; and provides the energy that animates the universe.  Whether known as Devi, Durga, Kali, Parvati, Lakshmi, or Saraswati, she is as diverse as her legions of devotees.  All this energy can provide unmatched inspiration to a writing practice, so I hope you’ll join us! 

• Wednesday evenings, 5-7 PM PT, September 28th through November 23, 2022.  Sign up here. 

• awaken into infinite blue: writing with vishnu

Arguably the most popular god in the Hindu pantheon, Vishnu, the preserver, maintains the cosmic balance no matter what it takes. He offers endless inspiration and fascination for writers through his many avatars, each adapted to creating spiritual justice in the context of the particular demands of an era’s history and geography. Whether he acts in animal form (as fish, turtle, boar, or man-lion) or human (priest, warrior, king, hermit, cowherd, or destroyer), or as his godly self, Vishnu wrestles with thorny ethical and human questions as he weighs and tempers jungle law on his own ultimate scale. In this multi-genre, part-generative, part-analytical class, we’ll turn to key texts and episodes from the mythology of this fascinating god, and use them to fuel our own diverse, electric pieces. No prior knowledge required — but come ready to write! I’m offering this class on my own platform, so if you’re interested, please contact me via the Contact page on my website and I can send you further details!

• Tuesday evenings, 5 PM to 7 PM, June 21 through August 9, 2022. Contact me to register.

• The Core of All Creation: Writing with South Asian Classical Music

This is a class I’m really excited about, because it reflects so many things I care about and love—music, philosophy, spirituality, and beauty.  South Asian classical music is explicitly interlinked with South Asian philosophy as a key way of awakening the spiritual self through the connection between performer, audience, and the mystery of swara.  No class, of course, could do justice to the universe of South Asian classical music—an ancient fount of creativity more than three millennia in the making—but this class will allow those interested in the space to gain a basic understanding of Hindustani and Carnatic philosophies and ideas, as well as exposure to key ragas, instruments, and performers.  As usual, we’ll take that rich source material to inspire our own creativity.  The class starts right when I’m back from India in April, and I couldn’t be more excited.

• Thursday evenings, 7:10 PM to 9:10 PM, April 14 through June 2, 2022. Register here.

• I’ve Drunk Your Poisoned Nectar: Writing with the Goddess

I’m excited to be teaching a class with River Heron Review, a Pennsylvania-based writing organization whose poetry prize I previously won.  And what better class to offer again than the Goddess class, which was a lot of fun when I offered it through Hugo House—in the process, I learned about many aspects of the Goddess in Hindu mythology that I hadn’t fully appreciated, including her ultimate transcendence of gender as she consolidates the full powers of the godhead within herself.  I also burrowed deeper into Tantric aspects of the Goddess such as the Mahavidya Chinnamasta, who decapitates herself with a scythe and brandishes her own head!  The Goddess also connects deeply to pre-Vedic cultures in South Asia, representing the animating force for all of creation.  Whether known as Shakti, Durga, Kali, Uma, or by her thousands of other names, she slays demons amid oceans of gore, enacts cosmic transformations, masters death, dispenses compassion, and is mother to the entire universe.  If you missed this class the first time around, here’s a second chance!

• Tuesday evenings, 4 PM to 6 PM, April 19 through June 14, 2022. Register here.

• You Yourself are the Beloved: Writing with the South Asian Sufis

This class is an intensive look into the ecstatic writing of the South Asian Sufis.  You may know Sufism as an ecstatic form of Islam which, much like South Asian bhakti poetry, expresses poetically a deep yearning for union with the divine.  While Rumi is the best known Sufi poet in the West, South Asian Sufis such as Amir Khusrau, Baba Bullhe Shah, Ghulam Farid, and many others are equally deserving of acclaim in their own right, creating ecstatic poetry that has stood the test of time.  These always-enchanting Sufis wrote in multiple languages, including Farsi, Urdu, Punjabi, and more, and their work intertwined inextricably with powerful qawwali performances that lifted listeners into states of divinely-inspired frenzy.  This class will be a part-analytical, part-generative intensive, in which we’ll engage the inspiring work of these multi-talented poets though reading, watching, and listening.  And we’ll use the sparks of these voices, passed down over nearly a thousand years, to generate our own inspired writing.  The class takes place in two Saturday sessions of four hours each.

• Saturdays from 10 AM to 2 PM, February 26 through March 5, 2022. Register here.

• I’ve Drunk Your Poisoned Nectar: Writing with the Goddess

Standing atop a prone couple making love in a crematorium, a dark-skinned, unclad woman decapitates herself with a scythe and brandishes her own head, blood from her neck flowing into her own mouth and those of her two attendants. Shocking images like this one (of the Mahavidya Chinnamasta) led the British to dismiss Hinduism as savagery and justify their colonization of South Asia. Yet they failed entirely to appreciate their symbolism, and that of the thousands of other manifestations of the Goddess in Hinduism’s rich mythscape. And if you’re wondering what the symbolism associated with such an image could possibly be, wonder no more—I’ll be diving into this vast subject in this virtual class offering at Hugo House this fall. The Goddess—whether known as Mahadevi, Shakti, Durga, Kali, Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Draupadi, Radha, or Sita, among her thousands of manifestations—is one of the most compelling and powerful figures in Hinduism, tracing her history in South Asia as many as 10,000 years back. In turn, this makes Hinduism’s particular tapestry of Goddess worship one of the richest anywhere in the world. Mahadevi slays demons amid oceans of gore, enacts cosmic transformations, masters death, dispenses compassion, and is mother, sister, and lover to the entire universe. The Goddess’s literary legacy is equally rich, encompassing centuries of spiritual texts in prose and poetic form. This eight-week class for all levels—part-generative, part-analytic in the style of previous ones—will deepen our understanding of the Goddess’s many aspects and spur the creation of our own electrifying work in response. The class meets on Thursday evenings from 7:10-9:10 PM, beginning on the evening of September 30th. I hope you can join—and please tell your friends!

• Thursday evenings from 7:10 to 9:10 PM, September 30 through November 18, 2021. Register here.

• Techwashed!: Writing with AI, Data, and Surveillance

My second fall offering at Hugo House is a shorter one (four sessions), and pays homage to the biggest theme driving Seattle’s economy—technology! As most of you know, a significant focus of my professional work for has been to my effort to empower communities, particularly historically disenfranchised ones, in the face of the growing power of Big Tech. Advancements in technology are invisibly challenging our society’s foundations, and data about us already empower some and disempower others. In this part-generative, part-analytical course, we’ll examine the language of this revolution through close reads of everything from technical writing and essays to poetry, fiction, and manifestos, talk about what it all means, and riff off those materials to generate our own technologically inspired pieces. This is my second time offering this class—the first time was nearly three years ago, and it was a blast, attracting everyone from data scientists, science fiction writers, ethicists, and technologists, among others. So much has changed since then, and I can’t wait for this one!

• Saturday mornings from 10 AM to noon, October 9th through October 30, 2021. Register here.

• The Sweep of the Universe: Writing with Millennia of South Asian Poetry

In the summer, I have two class offerings at Hugo House—a one-day class on line breaks (see below) and this one, on South Asian poetry. No single class, obviously, can do this subject justice—the breadth and reach of South Asian poetry is almost unimaginably vast, encompassing six major religions, hundreds of languages, diverse geographies, and millennia of time. So instead, we’ll take a movement-based approach, looking at different bodies of South Asian poetry, including ancient Sanskrit texts, Urdu political resistance poetry, regional classics in various languages, and even English poetry written in South Asia. For western writers, this approach will offer a survey of the landscape and how it’s evolved, and an opportunity to dive deeper into areas that interest you. As with most of my classes, this one is art-generative, part-analytical, and aims to leave students with new kn0wledge of this subject area, a range of new pieces, and a community with which to explore further. The class is for all levels, and is open-genre (ie, you can write in whatever genre you wish, even though the material we’ll use to spark our writing will always be poetry). The class meets on Tuesday nights from 7:10 to 9:10 PM.

• Tuesday nights from 7:10 PM to 9:10 PM, June 15 through August 3, 2021: Sign up here!

• Iconoclast: Reimagining tHE LINE BREAK

My other offering at Hugo House this summer focuses on craft—specifically, the poetic line break. The line break is the poet’s Swiss Army tool. Conventional wisdom blesses and outlaws many line break moves—but is it right? We’ll take a deep dive into line breaks, not so much to determine the right way to do them—there isn’t one—but to reimagine together the choices poets have in deploying them. Writers will leave with an expanded sense of creative possibilities and the shards of a few crumbled line break myths. Bring two existing pieces and an open mind. All levels are welcome!

• June 26th, 2021, 1:10 PM to 4:10 PM. Sign up here!

• OUT OF THE BLUE, A METEORITE: WRITING WITH SOUTH ASIAN BHAKTI POETRY

In the Spring quarter, I’m teaching again at Hugo House—and this time, the subject is South Asian bhakti poetry. Bhakti refers to a centuries-long series of movements in South Asia of devotional poets gripped by a particular kind of madness—the desire to connect directly with the divine, rejecting any intercession. These poets of diverse backgrounds and genders, from princesses to weavers, found the divine in the beloved, resulting in electric, ecstatic poetry that’s been described as “the breath-catching moment when self speaks to self more directly than you ever thought possible.” And the poets themselves were united in rebellion and often centuries ahead of their time, rejecting divides between class, caste, gender, and religion. No wonder their mark has endured through the ages, scarring devotees even today when their works are sung in India and around the world! I couldn’t be more excited for this part-generative, part-analytical class, which is open to all levels and genres. Just bring your imagination, and come ready to write!

• Tuesday nights from 7:10 to 9:10 PM, April 6 through May 11, 2021. Sign up here.

• ThE FIRE THAT DOES NOT BURN: WRITING WITH SHIVA

As my Hugo House class on the Mahabharata (which has been a blast) winds down, another class begins in January, this one about writing alongside Shiva, the complex Hindu god of destruction. I’ve long wanted to teach a writing class that engages the legends and mythologies of my namesake god, and I couldn’t be more excited. Shiva’s contradictions get at the deepest and darkest parts of our psyches—wild vs domesticated, ascetic vs familial, detached vs engaged, destructive vs creative. Shiva, an ancient god who’s inspired scripture and literature for millennia, blurs lines of gender and even those between human, animal, and god. We’ll dig into Shiva’s rich and diverse lore to inspire our creative practices—the class is not genre specific, and no experience is required. The class begins January 16th—unlike previous classes, this one is in the morning, so perhaps more conducive to those in other time zones. Please join, and tell your friends!

• Saturday mornings from 10 AM to noon, January 16 through March 13, 2021. Register here.

• THE Longest poem: writing with the mahabharata

At Hugo House this quarter, I’m offering a class centered around the Mahabharata, a favorite topic of mine.  The world’s longest poem, the Mahabharat is an intense and beautifully written epic that thoroughly absorbs, raising apocalyptic ethical questions and pulling in themes of family loyalty, nature-vs-nurture, fate-vs-free will, and many more.  This 8-session class will offer a longer timeframe (albeit still too short) to engage with this rich material, working alongside key concepts, episodes, and characters to inspire our own writing practices. 

Class offered:

• Thursday nights from 7:10-9:10 PM, October 15th through December 10th (skipping November 26th), 2020. Sign up here.

• an ancient music: Writing with south asian ghazals

After having so much fun teaching previous iterations of this class, I’m teaching it again, this time as a two-hour virtual class through Seattle Public Library.  The ghazal form is a favorite of mine, and ghazals in South Asia bridge elite and popular culture, as well as poetry and music.  Ghazals have many lessons to offer writers, and this class aims to give participants a flavor of that space—we’ll listen/watch versions of ghazals, read translations, consider what makes these forms work, and create our own new works alongside this incredibly powerful music and verse.

Class offered:

• Saturday, September 19th, 2020, from 10 AM to noon. Sign up here.

• WRITING WITH SOUTH ASIAN GHAZALS AND QAWWALIS

This class centers on two of my favorite musical/poetic/popular forms, ghazals and qawwalis. Ghazals will need no introduction to most—but while there has been much analysis of the ghazal’s evolution in English, how the ghazal works as popular art is less accessible to Western writers. Qawwalis, on the other hand, evoke oneness with the divine. The beauty of qawwali is that it’s an incredibly syncretic form—many different languages, moods, and tones make their way in, leading to a form of ecstatic engagement. Both ghazals and qawwalis have many lessons to offer writers, and this class aims to give participants a flavor of that space—we’ll listen to versions of ghazals and qawwalis, read translations, consider what makes these forms work, and create our own new works alongside this incredibly powerful music and verse. Here are a couple of qawwali favorites for you to sample:

Ameer Ali Khan: Bandhi Te Bardi (primarily Punjabi)

 Haider Hassan Vehranwale:  Amada Ba Qatle Man (main verses in Farsi, but seamlessly blending in Urdu and Punjabi as well)

Class offered:

• February 8th and February 15th, 2020, two Saturdays, 10AM-1PM.

• Writing with Poets of the South Asian Diaspora

South Asian and the broader South Asian diaspora have a diverse and vibrant poetry culture, yet most writers in the US never encounter many of its brightest lights.  That diaspora has longstanding historic traditions of work written in both English and in translation from other South Asian languages.  This one-day class aims to spark your writing by showcasing and examining some of the best South Asian contemporary poetry, and generating new work alongside it.

Class offered:

• July 13, 2019: Hugo House (one day class), Saturday, 1-5 PM.

• Writing with South Asian Qawwalis

I’m teaching a one-day class at Hugo House in both the spring and the summer quarters.  For spring, the class happens on May 18th from 1-5 PM.  Qawwalis are an incredible form -- Sufi devotional music whose purpose is to evoke oneness with the divine. Qawwali is a syncretic art where many different languages, moods, and tones make their way in, leading to ecstatic engagement.  Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the Sabri Brothers, and others were acclaimed exponents.

Class offered:

• May 18, 2019: Hugo House (one day class), Saturday, 1-5 PM. Sign up here.

• WRITING WITH RUSSIAN FAIRY TALES

In Russian fairytales, the world is literally a fantastic place where anything can happen. Venal tsars, card-playing dragons, man-eating cats, dancing geese, and all manner of fools, princesses, phoenixes, devils, and witches populate this space. Fatalism, feasting, trickery, and violence abound. As it turns out, this lively mix also makes for great inspiration for writing! In this generative class, we’ll look at classic Russian fairytales such as “Go I Know Not Where,” “Fetch I Know Not What,” “Fenist the Falcon,” “Vasilisa the Beautiful,” and others, and riff off them to create our own fiery pieces. Come ready to write!

Class offered:

• October 6 - October 7, 2018: Hugo House (two day class), Sat and Sun, 1-4 PM. Sign up here.

• All-accepting: accessing hinduism in your writing practice

Swami Achuthananda wrote that “[i]f Hinduism is the all-accepting religion, then English is the all-accepting language.”  Each syncretic creature has much to offer the other.  Hinduism is much more a way of being, a set of practices, an ethos, and a mythology than a religion.  In this workshop, we’ll walk through some of Hinduism’s seminal concepts, such as dharma, maya, kalpa, and brahman, as well as excerpts from key texts such as the Vedas, Upanishads, and the great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.  We’ll discuss how those concepts might be applied to a writing practice and do deep reads of poems in which modern South Asian writers in America have created their own interpretations of the Hindu cosmology.  Throughout, we’ll put these concepts into practice by writing!  Beginners and experienced practitioners alike are welcome.

Class offered:

• April 9 - May 21, 2018 (no class May 7): Hugo House (6 week class), Monday nights 7:10-9:10 PM. Sign up here.

• October 7, 2017: Seattle Public Library, Douglass Truth Branch, 2 PM.

• September 23, 2017: LitFuse writers festival, Tieton WA. Poets unite!

• July 8, 2017:, Hugo House Write-O-Rama.

• come one day to stay forever: the ghazal in south asian popular culture

Ghazals in South Asia are one of the most popular forms of poetry anywhere. While there has been much analysis of the ghazal's evolution in English, how the ghazal works as popular art is less accessible to western writers. This class aims to give participants a flavor of that space -- we'll listen to versions of ghazals in Urdu, read translations, consider what makes a good ghazal work, and create our own new works. Come ready to write!

Class offered:

• July 29, 2018: Hugo House, 1-5 PM. Watch this space for the sign-up link!

• techwashed! The language of data, surveillance, and technology

Can you feel the wave coming? Invisible to most of us, quantum advancements in technology are challenging our society’s most basic foundations. Data about us, and the algorithms that feed on those data, already empower some and disempower others, determining our status. We’ll talk about what this revolution means, and examine its language by closely reading technical writing, essays, and poetry. Most of all, we’ll write, riffing off those materials to create our own mini-tsunamis to share and discuss.

Class offered:

• March 5 - March 26, 2018: Hugo House (4 week class), Monday nights 7:10-9:10 PM. Sign up here.

• December 9, 2017: Hugo House Write-O-Rama, 3:30 PM (50 minute class).

writing help

I would be very happy to offer you help with your writing, in whatever form will best help you.  I have been teaching writing for many years (see my teaching philosophy below) and have worked with students at the University of Washington, Litfuse, Hugo House, and Seattle Public Library, among others.  Our work together will be directed by your goals -- my aim will be for you to achieve the strongest possible version of your own, authentic voice.  I am also empathetic to the challenges writers of color and others face, and can offer empathetic coaching as you work through those challenges. Please get in touch with your proposal!

teaching philosophy

As a teacher, I aim to create a courageous, open, mutually engaging, and joyful space that connects with each student as a complete human being and helps move them towards finding and strengthening their true voice.  I combine the following key elements:

Courageous

I believe in creating a space in which students will feel empowered to engage with the subject matter and produce their best writing.

+Open

I aim to teach my classes in a structured but flexible way that strikes a balance between following a preset curriculum and allowing opportunities for new ideas to open up channels of learning.

+Engaging

Learning, for me, always goes both ways, and I continue to be humbled by how much I learn in every class I teach.  I prefer engagement and discussion at as many points as possible, and build in plenty of in-class writing as well as courageous sharing.  Finally, I try as much as possible to ensure students vocalize their questions or other needs, and give them responses and options based on those needs.

+Joyful

Writing classes should be fun!  I aim to work in humor and levity, particularly to balance somber subject matter.  I often work with subject matter that brings out strong emotions, which I try to recognize and create appropriate space to work through. 

+Human

I believe teaching without connection is impossible.  So I try to get to know and understand my students as complete human beings in the context of their writing goals, and to encourage them to know, understand, and learn from one another.  Writers need other writers, and I see the project of strengthening the mutual bond between writers as being every bit as important as imparting knowledge of a particular subject matter.

=Voice

In the end, I aim to impact the lives of my students by helping them find and strengthen their voices and achieve their own writing goals, whatever those may be.

other projects

• claiming space -- support and voice for writers of color

I'm grateful to 4Culture for supporting the Claiming Space project.  This year, the stakes have gone up for all people of color—immigrants and refugee communities, religious minorities, and others are being targeted verbally and physically.  At the same time, the very right to speak freely, to create, and to criticize the government is in question.  Writers of color must now operate at the difficult intersection of those challenges, and as we have seen in past times of repression, need particular support to lift their voices.  Spaces specifically for writers of color have existed sporadically in Seattle, but those efforts have rarely been consistent or supported monetarily.  The Claiming Space project aims to create consistent, supportive spaces where writers of color can engage with these difficult issues, discuss what it means to create in this environment, and produce this necessary work.

If you are a writer of color with ideas for how to create such supportive spaces, including salons, readings, workshops, classes, or anything else, I would love to hear from you.  Get in touch here!

• kundiman northwest

I'm honored to be Kundiman's Northwest regional co-chair, along with Jordan Alam and Neil Aitken.  Kundiman creates an affirming and rigorous space where Asian American writers can explore, through art, the unique challenges that face the new and ever changing diaspora. We see the arts as a tool of empowerment, of education and liberation, of addressing proactively the legacy we will leave for future generations.

As Northwest regional co-chair, I aim to create a supportive environment for Asian-American writers in the Northwest and to connect emerging Asian-American writers with new opportunities.  If you're an Asian-American writer in the Pacific Northwest and want to connect with us, please drop me a line!

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