Elevate Your Writing Life & Unearth Your Potential
Welcome to our newest series of online workshops, led by teachers and partners who fully embody the Trust and Travel ethos. Sign up for a singular workshop or join us for the entire series and receive a discount. All workshops are 1.5-2 hours, hosted live on Zoom, and all are made available as a recorded option for those who cannot attend live or purchase a workshop after the date it airs.
The Blue Years: A Generative Workshop
April Writing Workshop with Erin Rose Belair
*This workshop has taken place; you will receive the recording.
Join us with Trust and Travel co-founder Erin Rose Belair for a 2-hour generative workshop designed to inspire writing in the most unexpected of places. Find mystery and magic in the mundane through a series of writing prompts that recreate the energetic flow of Belair’s writing in her newly published poetry collection, The Blue Years. We will explore the form of prose poetry, build new worlds from the familiar, and discuss the process of self-publishing. This workshop is for anyone and everyone, all levels and all genres. It’s about reigniting the joy of writing.
A writer, from the coffee to the grave. Less of a vocation and more of a veneration. Erin Rose is a multi-genre writer exploring the boundaries of her craft. She received her MFA in fiction where she wrote, Vinegar, her first collection of short stories. Stories from this collection have been published in Greensboro Review, Juked, Green Hills, Southern Indiana Review, and have won awards with Glimmer Train and Narrative. She is currently editing her first novel, CULLING, and is busy raising her son and hosting international writing retreats with her company Trust and Travel. You can follow along at @roseblacque.
The Power (and Pain) of Self-Promotion: How to advocate for your writing career, from drafting to querying to publishing and beyond
May Writing Workshop with Cierra McElroy
Sunday, May 26th @10am PST
This two-hour session with novelist and marketing strategist Ciera Horton McElroy will explore best practices for self-promotion and how to share your work in a way that feels authentic and honest. We’ll explore strategies for writers at all stages of their career: from drafting a manuscript and thinking about publishing paths to submitting query letters to preparing for book tours and publicity opportunities. We’ll unpack the fears that may hold us back from promoting our work—and how to navigate an ever-changing marketplace. Ciera will also share the exact query letter that resulted in offers of representation for her debut novel. You’ll leave with actionable steps and tools for building on your own writing career.
Ciera Horton McElroy is an author, business owner, and film communications consultant. As a marketing and messaging strategist, her film projects have grossed a collective $165 million at the box office. Ciera’s debut novel ATOMIC FAMILY (Blair) was released in 2023. Additional work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Writer’s Digest, AGNI, Bridge Eight, Iron Horse Literary Review, the Crab Orchard Review, and Saw Palm, among others. Ciera is passionate about making the publishing industry more transparent and sharing marketing strategies for authors.
Writing Deliciously: Food, Desire, and Memory.
July Writing Workshop with Jane Wong
Sunday, July 14th, @10am PST
How can writing about food open up evocative spaces of comfort, family, ancestral lineage, memory, shared rituals, and desires? How can writing through and about food strengthen our communities and open up our creative craft? Along with celebrating and exploring vibrant food writing by poets such Naomi Shihab Nye and Lucille Clifton, our session will inspire you with sensory writing prompts and opportunities for feedback, connection, and breaking bread/sharing.
Jane Wong is the author of the memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City (Tin House, 2023). She also wrote two poetry collections: How to Not Be Afraid of Everything (Alice James, 2021) and Overpour (Action Books, 2016). A Kundiman fellow, she is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships and residencies from the U.S. Fulbright Program, Harvard's Woodberry Poetry Room, Artist Trust, Hedgebrook, Ucross, Loghaven, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and others. She grew up in a restaurant on the Jersey shore and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Western Washington University.
Words From Those Who Know…
“I can’t imagine a better way to spend a
Saturday morning.”
— Avon
“I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from an online workshop, and I just started writing some poetry. By the end I felt like I had several pieces I was proud of and ideas for more, a grasp on poetry as form that I didn’t have before, and an all around renewed creativity. It was so much more than I could have hoped for.”
— Lisa Rae
“This was my first ever workshop on writing and my first experience diving deeper into it. The prompts have been enlightening and the whole workshop was actually less confronting than I expected. I felt safe in this space and gently guided. It was perfect for a beginner and more advanced writers alike. I was able to remove blocks around writing and creativity without resistance.”
— Delphine
“Before the workshop I felt stuck, lost, confused regarding some decisions in my life. The meditation, writing tips, and journaling exercises made my heart feel light, wonderful and ready. I feel ready to write again and share my deepest truth. Thanks for an incredible insightful unique workshop full of passion, trust, wisdom and fun.”
— Tina Tara