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Writing the Unspeakable: Words that Mend, Poems that Heal – With Friday Gretchen & Improvisational Dulcimer by Diane Ippel

When we turn our turmoil into a short poem or micro-story – using metaphor and embodied awareness – and then share it with others, it brings insight, renewal, and restoration. We free ourselves from unwanted emotions and strengthen our neurological resilience to stress.

This workshop, led by renowned Ventura County poet Friday Gretchen, will guide you through exercises that demonstrate the power of using writing and poetry. Accompanying Friday, performance artist Diane Ippel will play improvisational music on the dulcimer as we compose and share our stories with each other.

“Writers in the Gallery” meets on the first Wednesday of each month (from 6:30pm to 8pm) with different hosts conducting experiential workshops to inspire writers (and nonwriters) of all genres – fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, storytelling, etc. – to improve the quality of their work. Check out the prose, poetry, essays, and experiential writing exercises at www.WritersintheGallery.com.

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Summary
Featuring the showcase for the Emergence 2026 poetry competition. All shortlisted poets will be invited to read, and the three winning poets—including the recipient of the Leon Priestnall Poetry Prize—will be recognized. There will, as always, be an open mic for poets who are not part of the showcase.

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Every Picture Tells a Story – Drawing Literature from Art, with Nancy Spiller

How do you transform “looking” into “inspiration”? What memories and stories can be found within a painting, sculpture, or photograph. Using the current exhibit in the art gallery where we meet, you’ll be guided through exercises to strengthen your powers of observation, interpretation, and imagination to expand your creativity and writing skills.

Nancy Spiller is an exhibiting visual artist and a published novelist and memoirist. She is an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.

“Writers in the Gallery” meets on the first Wednesday of each month (from 6:30pm to 8pm) with different hosts conducting experiential workshops to inspire writers (and nonwriters) of all genres – fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, storytelling, etc. – to improve the quality of their work. Check out the prose, poetry, essays, and experiential writing exercises at www.WritersintheGallery.com.

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Survivors of Human Trafficking: Turning Silent Voices into Prose, with Tess Cacciatore

Sex trafficking, labor trafficking and 21st century slavery have been proliferating, including here in Ventura County. How can we use our writing skills to help bring more attention to these issues and their survivors? In this workshop, we will be joined by some survivors of trafficking and hear about their experiences, with performance assistance from some of our Ventura County poets. Please note: The material in this workshop will be highly sensitive and potentially triggering for some attendees.

“Writers in the Gallery” meets on the first Wednesday of each month (from 6:30pm to 8pm) with different hosts conducting experiential workshops to inspire writers (and nonwriters) of all genres – fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, storytelling, etc. – to improve the quality of their work. Check out the prose, poetry, essays, and experiential writing exercises at www.WritersintheGallery.com.

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May 6: Black, Write, & Wrong: Writing Through Sound, Memory, & Emotion, with Tony Maddox

This evening will be a catalyst of creative expression, and tonight we’re going to explore writing in a different way—not from the mind, but through feeling. Music has always been one of the most powerful storytelling tools in Black culture. Long before many of our stories were written down, they were sung. They carried pain, joy, resistance, love, survival—and truth.

The songs I’ll be sharing tonight come from artists who are no longer with us, but whose voices still speak. Artists like Billie Holiday, BB King, and Bobby “Blue” Bland, who didn’t just sing songs—they lived them. As I perform each piece, I want you to listen beyond the lyrics. Listen for what’s underneath—the emotion, the history, the weight, the beauty.

After each song, you’ll have a few minutes to write. Don’t overthink it. Don’t try to be perfect. Just respond. Write what you feel, what you see, what the music unlocks in you. It isn’t about being right or wrong – there is no right or wrong way to write – it’s about being honest, vulnerable, and authentic. That’s why I call this exercise. ‘Black Write and Wrong.’”

Tony Maddox is a dynamic vocalist and his style is a soulful blend of jazz, Motown, and classic favorites. Tony weaves storytelling with humor, emotional depth, and connectivity. The Tony Maddox band is a family of skilled musicians who have shared the stage and recorded with such greats as Tina Turner, Katie Perry, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Hornsby, Patti Labelle, Celine Dion, Nancy Wilson, Bobby Caldwell, Natalie Cole, The Jacksons, and many others. Tony is also an artist, author, poet, photographer, designer, and producer.

“Writers in the Gallery” meets on the first Wednesday of each month (from 6:30pm to 8pm) with different hosts conducting experiential workshops to inspire writers (and nonwriters) of all genres – fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, storytelling, etc. – to improve the quality of their work. Check out the prose, poetry, essays, and experiential writing exercises at www.WritersintheGallery.com.

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Emergence Event Program Sponsored by

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Welcome back to Poetry in the Gallery! We hope you enjoyed the second annual Ventura County Poetry Festival, and we’re excited to be presenting the next open poetry reading at Studio Channel Islands Art Center.

This month will be featuring Kali Bennett and Gale Naylor. 

As always, there will be an open mic. Poets who would like to perform can sign up on the day and will have a maximum of five minutes (if you have shorter poems, please feel free to do more than one). Tickets are free for all students, members of the gallery and performers. So, if you plan to read on the open mic, please reserve a free ticket, since you will count as a performer. General admission is a suggested $10 donation. If you would like to attend but cannot afford the donation, please contact sean[at]studiochannelislands.org for options of financial support. Read more…

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“Writers in the Gallery” meets on the first Wednesday of each month (from 6:30pm to 8pm) with different hosts conducting experiential workshops to inspire writers (and nonwriters) of all genres – fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, storytelling, etc. – to improve the quality of their work. Check out the prose, poetry, essays, and experiential writing exercises at www.WritersintheGallery.com.

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Summary

Free event  

“Writers in the Gallery” meets on the first Wednesday of each month (from 6:30pm to 8pm) with different hosts conducting experiential workshops to inspire writers (and nonwriters) of all genres – fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, storytelling, etc. – to improve the quality of their work. Check out the prose, poetry, essays, and experiential writing exercises at www.WritersintheGallery.com

Poetry as Transformation: A Workshop for Personal Change
with Nathan Hassall, Poet Laureate of Malibu (2023-25)

Wednesday, Nov. 5th, 2025
6:30-8 pm FREE! (but bring a treat to share & eat!)

Poetry is transformation: a dream that shines a light on our shadows. It asks us to see the world not just with our eyes, but with our hearts, our guts, our skin. It interrupts old rhythms creating a new awareness of the living flow of all things. In this workshop, we will use meditation, deep listening, and intuitive writing to find words we’ve never put on paper before, or spoken aloud to others. This experiential workshop is for writers and non-writers: For anyone who wants to begin the dance with what stirs within, and attune themselves to the pulse of language. Find the words that only you can write, with the power to transform your life.

Nathan Hassall served as the Poet Laureate of Malibu, California from 2023 to 2025, and he is the founder of The Poetry Vessel, a multidisciplinary podcast seeking the poetic across all disciplines, and has hosted numerous workshops throughout his time living in the US. His poems, which explore dreams, altered states, and the natural world, are widely published in journals including Moria, Luna Luna, Anti-Heroin Chic, and The Inflectionist Review. He splits his time between the US and his home country, England.

BRING SOME FOOD OR DRINK to share and please RSVP: markwaldman3@gmail.com
WHERE: Studio Channel Islands Art Center: 2222 Ventura Boulevard, Camarillo, CA 93010
TIME: 6:30 – 8pm

“Writers in the Gallery” meets on the first Wednesday of each month (from 6:30pm to 8pm) with different hosts conducting experiential workshops to inspire writers (and nonwriters) of all genres – fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, storytelling, etc. – to improve the quality of their work. And it’s free!

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Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025 6:30-8pm FREE!
A Psychedelic Writing Workshop: Tripping Down the Rabbit Hole
with Dr. Michael Pearce, California Lutheran University

From October 4th – December 13th, at Studio Channel Islands, there is a new exhibit called Calidelic Psychefornia curated by Dr. Pearce. It explores the contemporary Californian psychedelic art movement along with historically important figures from its history. On December 3rd, using the art in the gallery, Dr. Pearce will guide us into the world of altered states of writing. It will blow the ink right off your paper!

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Summary

Free event  

“Writers in the Gallery” meets on the first Wednesday of each month (from 6:30pm to 8pm) with different hosts conducting experiential workshops to inspire writers (and nonwriters) of all genres – fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry, storytelling, etc. – to improve the quality of their work. Check out the prose, poetry, essays, and experiential writing exercises at www.WritersintheGallery.com.

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025 6:30-8pm FREE!
A Psychedelic Writing Workshop: Tripping Down the Rabbit Hole
with Dr. Michael Pearce, California Lutheran University

From October 4th – December 13th, at Studio Channel Islands, there is a new exhibit called Calidelic Psychefornia curated by Dr. Pearce. It explores the contemporary Californian psychedelic art movement along with historically important figures from its history. On December 3rd, using the art in the gallery, Dr. Pearce will guide us into the world of altered states of writing. It will blow the ink right off your paper!

Saturday, October 21st at 3:00pm.

Featuring  Crystal AC Salas and Lyz Merola. Crystal is an Individual Fellow artist of the California Arts Council, poetry editor of Break Bread Project and author of Greif Logic by Gunpowder press. Lyz Merola is a published poet and a recent graduate from CSUCI.
 
Crystal AC Salas is a Xicanx poet, essayist, educator, and community organizer. Her poetry chapbook Grief Logic is co-winner of the inaugural Alta California Prize, from Gunpowder Press. She has work in Omnium Gatherum Quarterly, Alta Journal, Northwest Review, [PANK] Magazine, World Literature Today, Chaparral Poetry, Acentos Review, and others. A founding member of the BreakBread Literacy Project, which elevates the voices of young creatives under 25, she serves as poetry editor for BreakBread Magazine. She holds an M.F.A. from University of California, Riverside and is the recipient of a 2021-2022 California Arts Council Established Individual Artist Fellowship.

 
Lyz Merola is a poet, yogi, and nature enthusiast living in Ventura. She is inspired by the magic that exists in all nature, and writes from the perspective of a curious observer. She is published in the newly published Solo Voyage, CSUCI’s Island Fox Literary journal, and has read at events throughout Ventura County.