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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.
(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.
(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!
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!
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 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.
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’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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
