Tea Time: Writing Our Leaves & Our Lives Workshop

Explore the tasty partnership of tea, story, poetry and writing—in this special writing workshop with author Megan Willome.

 

Begins February 6, 2017. Limit 10 participants. Register by January 30 to avoid a $10 late registration fee.

Do you drink tea—either occasionally, or like your life depends upon it?

Maybe you’ve noticed, and maybe you haven’t, but tea is integral to the Tweetspeak Poetry community. It’s on book covers, in posts, and in the Mischief Café.

It’s also a great way to tell a story.

Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes it leaves you on the ground, as the main character Laura finds out in the first chapter of The Novelist. All she wants is a cup of tea, when she suddenly feels faint and lies down on the kitchen floor. By chapter 2, she’s flat out, staring at the ceiling.

Our hero does finally get up and steep the tea, but first she takes a trip down memory lane to figure out how she got where she is and if she’s brave enough to deal with a request from an online friend named Megan, who has a tea empire, and who has challenged Laura to write a novel in record time.

Hi, my name is Megan Willome, and I do not have a tea empire. I do, however, adore tea. I’m also well-acquainted with life leaving me flat on the floor. What gets me up? Sometimes it’s nothing more than the thought of a cup of tea.

In this workshop we’ll talk about (and drink!) tea and use it as a vehicle for writing about our lives. We’ll also read The Novelist, in which tea is as much a character as Laura or Megan.

Weeks 1-8 will focus around the theme of Tea Inside. Think of it as eight weeks of self-care, tea-style, along with a generous spoonful of story, poetry, and writing. Weeks 9-12 will be Tea Outside—because tea should also move us outward, towards the only conceivable destination: a tea party.

As part of the workshop, you’ll receive a complimentary digital copy of The Novelist. Other material will include links to tea articles, videos and tea-adjacent items of interest. Each week will include a tea tip. We’ll also read and discuss a tea poem each week because tea and poetry go together like, well, tea and poetry. Each participant will keep a tea journal, shared with the group.

The eight-week class will run from February 6-March 30. The twelve-week version will end on April 27.

8-week course includes

• Explore chapters 1-21 of The Novelist
• Group poetry partnering for at least one tea poem each week
• Six asynchronous discussions and two Zoom (video) chats
• Writing prompts. We’ll be telling our stories through the lens of tea. We’ll also keep a tea journal.

Bonus: Through one of our favorite tea sellers, Plum Deluxe, receive: a Free Shipping coupon on any order of $30.00 or more

12-week course includes

• Explore chapters 22-30 of The Novelist
• Four additional weeks of poetry partnering
• Three more asynchronous discussions and one more Zoom (video) chat
• Extra writing prompts and opportunities to journal about tea

Bonus: Through one of our favorite tea sellers, Plum Deluxe, receive: a Free Shipping coupon on any order of $20.00 or more OR

Free 1 ounce of tea of your choice when you sign up for the Tea Club (and you’ll be happy to know you get free shipping on all your Plum Deluxe orders when you’re a Tea Club member)

For You

• Private online group setting that includes a free digital copy of The Novelist
• Selected tea poems
• Each week will include an optional link to something about tea — an article (including several from Tweetspeak), a YouTube video, and so on

You will need

A computer or mobile device with an Internet connection capable of accessing our interactive online space, clicking on documents, and participating in Zoom chats. And you’ll need your favorite writing devices: computer, pencil, pen, crayon, notebook paper, Moleskine, spiral, or other creative tool.

Your workshop leader

Megan Willome has served as managing editor to and still serves as a contributing writer to the Wacoan, a city magazine in Texas. She also occasionally writes for Rock & Vine, a publication of the Fredericksburg Standard Radio Post, and for Tweetspeak Poetry. Her poems have appeared in Every Day Poems and Windhover. She is the author of The Joy of Poetry: How to Keep, Save & Make Your Life with Poems, published by T.S. Poetry Press in 2016.

From Past Tweetspeak Workshop Participants

Sharon Gibbs: Thank you for making Tweetspeak Poetry such a rich area of living and learning. The workshops are not only life-changing, but they have blessed me with friendships and community outside the classroom(s).

Darrelyn Saloom: I signed up for the fiction class at a crazy/busy time. What was I thinking? With all the chaos in my life, I am so happy I did. I would NEVER have completed a 3-thousand word short story without Anthony. It was wonderful to have his guidance and feedback. And I am so pleased with the result.

Brad Grout: I am personally getting so much out of this memoir workshop…you people are AMAZING!

Lane Arnold: I struck gold. An afternoon session of writing poetry is good for the soul. The poetry workshop is a catalyst for creativity.

Lexanne Leonard: The most important step I’ve taken is to join Tweetspeak’s Poetry Workshop with Anne Doe Overstreet. I cannot begin to thank Tweetspeak, Anne, and my fellow students for this journey.

Darlene S.: I don’t think I can put into words both the overall value of the lessons learned and the encouragement I got.

Sandra Heska King: This was absolutely the single best whim I’ve followed.

Register by January 30 to avoid a $10 Late Fee

8 week • BUY NOW $350 + $10 Late Registration Fee = $360

12 week • BUY NOW $420 + $10 Late Registration Fee = $430

Photo by matryosha, Creative Commons, via Flickr.