32nd Annual Creative Writing Workshop for Social Workers

July 14-17, 2023  REGISTER / LEARN MORE About the Workshop The University of Iowa is known nationally as "The Writing University," and our institution boasts a rich tradition of great writing and an early and enduring commitment to the creative arts. Iowa’s tradition of writing has been guided by the principle that, though writing is … Continue reading 32nd Annual Creative Writing Workshop for Social Workers

Journal Writing Workshop for Caregivers

I’ve been teaching Creative Writing for Social Work at the University of Iowa School of Social Work since 1999, exploring the use of creative writing as a tool for personal transformation and social activism. Writing offers us a way to make sense of what happens in our lives, and it can help us to imagine … Continue reading Journal Writing Workshop for Caregivers

Love and Apocalypse – Externalize Your Inner Apocalypse with Creative Writing

 Available on Amazon. This book is for anyone who wants to use creative writing to feel better by externalizing their inner apocalypse.  Using 25 writing prompts with evocative photographs, readers are encouraged to make meaning of their life experiences by discovering, emphasizing and illuminating changed perspectives. Every character and every story we write, is autobiographical. … Continue reading Love and Apocalypse – Externalize Your Inner Apocalypse with Creative Writing

tilt

Days are longer in the spring, as the Earth’s axis increases its tilt relative to the Sun. ebszabo Climate Fiction (CliFi) is a genre that addresses the ways that climate change is already transforming our world. By anticipating and elaborating on what these changes might mean in the not so distant future, writers of CliFi use … Continue reading tilt

art from shackles

What happens to you when you see this prompt on your screen? Creating a password can be as agonizing and fraught with drama as beginning or ending a relationship. How much do you reveal, how much can you hide? What secret code will unlock this other's heart? Will the secret code elude you in the moments … Continue reading art from shackles

holiday cliché

In 50 words, create a Thanksgiving gathering characterized by cliché. Then, using 50 more words, introduce someone whose arrival gives new meaning to "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." Some say writers who use cliches betray a lack of original thought - make them wrong. Begin here:  David Cooper, US Fish and Wildlife Service End here:  Jerry … Continue reading holiday cliché

twitter recap

For those of you who don't follow me @ebszabo on Twitter, here's what you missed: #RulesOnWriting #BreakTheRules be consistent and create your own #CreativeWriting #Innovation #WriteNow  #FreeConsult @MargaretAtwood “forces us to see in such sharp relief that we feel compelled to share her worries and thus to act on them.” #DrewFaust #Read to write & … Continue reading twitter recap