The Black Swan Bookstore, 2601 West Main Street
6 Mondays: February 27 - April 2-- FULL!
7:00-9:00 pm
$150
6 Mondays: April 9- May 14
7:00-9:00 pm
$150
Join me for a series of creative nonfiction prompts and exercises designed to get you - or keep you - on the write path. We'll discuss the idea that "truth is stranger than fiction" as well as the craft and art of the first person narrative. We'll explore how to access the right side of the brain, blast through writer's block and get all of our words, thoughts and ideas on the page. After reading short selections of essays, memoirs, journals and journalism, we'll write. And then? We'll write some more. Please bring a journal and a pen.
To reserve your seat in the circle, please email valleyhaggard@gmail.com and send a check payable to Valley Haggard to 1202 Hillside Avenue/Richmond, VA 23229.
Creative Nonfiction: The Next Frontier
The Black Swan Bookstore, 2601 West Main Street
6 Thursdays, February 2- March 8
7:00- 9:00 pm
$150
This class is for students who’ve already taken the Intro to Creative Nonfiction and are interested in exploring techniques for taking their writing to the next level. While we will still use prompts and group exercises in class, the majority of our time will be spent developing each individual writer's themes, structure, voice and stories. Through in-class writing, we’ll flesh out and expand what’s already been written and discover what's yet to be uncovered. Be prepared to read and write in class. Please bring a journal and a pen!
To reserve your seat in the circle, please email valleyhaggard@gmail.com and send a check payable to Valley Haggard to 1202 Hillside Avenue/Richmond, VA 23229.
Write Now: Mini Writing Marathons
Come to Chop Suey Books this spring for an invigorating series of writing prompts that will help you access the right side of your brain and provide you with a working portfolio of ideas that you will revisit again and again. Come prepared to read and to write! Possible side effects may include: inspiration, mixed metaphors and the urge to write with stronger and more intense frequency. Please bring a journal and a pen. Chocolate provided.
All workshops will be held on the 4th Saturday of each month from 2-5 pm in the upstairs art gallery of Chop Suey Books, 2913 West Cary Street in Carytown. A portion of the proceeds will benefit a scholarship fund for Richmond Young Writers.
January 28, 2-5 pm FULL!
February 25, 2-5 pm FULL!
March 24, 2-5 pm
April 28, 2-5 pm
May 26, 2-5 pm
$40 per workshop
Chop Suey Bookstore
2913 West Cary Street in Carytown.
To reserve your seat at the table, please email valleyhaggard@gmail.com and send a check payable to Valley Haggard at 1202 Hillside Avenue/Richmond, VA 23229.
Chesterfield County Public Library Writers' Workshop
Saturday, March 10, 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Meadowdale Branch Library
4301 Meadowdale Blvd., Richmond 23234
Registration $25.00 per person – prepaid, Registration Deadline Friday, March 2
Check, cash or money order only
Mollie Bryan: The Mystery Writer’s Toolbox
Valley Haggard: The Art of Creative Nonfiction
Valley Haggard: Blasting through Writer’s Block
Joanna Bourne: Point of View: Dive into Your Character’s Head
Includes Box Lunch by Positive Vibe Café
Please call Blanche DePonte at 804-717-6381 for more information. Registration forms will be available at all Chesterfield Public Libraries or can be downloaded and printed from our website. They must be mailed to the address printed in the brochure, or dropped of at any Chesterfield County Public Library, along with payment, by the deadline.
CREATIVE NONFICTION: THE NEXT FRONTIER
6 Tuesdays, March 13 – April 17
Intermediate
10:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Visual Arts Center of Richmond, 1812 West Main Street
Register here!
This class is for students who’ve already taken the Intro to Creative Nonfiction or who have been writing for a while and are interested in exploring techniques for taking their writing to the next level. While we will still use prompts and group exercises in class, the majority of our time will be spent developing each individual writer's themes, structure, voice and stories. Through in-class writing, we’ll flesh out and expand what’s already been written and discover what's yet to be uncovered. Be prepared to read and write in class. Material List: Students should bring their own journal and pen.
Writing with Valley is like being pushed out of a moving car. Once you have dusted yourself off, you are stuck in the moment of “now what?” and then, amazingly enough, the little details begin to emerge. We write down what we see, and we write from our hearts.
-- David Sharrar
Valley's class is like a double espresso and a slice of dark chocolate cake on a cold cold night, without the calories (except when she brings doughnuts).
--Stephenie Brown
Valley is such a warm and supportive writing coach and guide who leads me into nooks and crannies of my writing life that have been long neglected.
-- Sarah Allen-Short
Writing with Valley is way better even than biting into a peppermint patty. I use many of the writing exercises I learned in Valley’s classes in my own writing practice on a daily basis. It’s good to do a little something for yourself - something to sustain you – every now and then.
--Gigi Amateau
Writing with Valley was like taking an expedition...through her quiet, thoughtful guidance, she helped me awaken to a vast treasure of life experience tucked away deep within....and to give it voice.
--Mark Joy
It was such a delight to be able to have some structured writing time and wonderful people with whom to share what I had written. Valley had a fun series of writing exercises that always kept us coming up with new ideas and ways to express ourselves. She creates such a comfortable atmosphere and brings out the best in people.
-- Dawn Layne
The pen descends to the page and the words swim out uncontrolled, happy and rambunctious in their unbridled freedom. Later, the guy with the pen thinks “well that wasn’t that hard”. Discovery trumps skill every time anyway. But the paradox and beauty is, that with Valley’s deep listening, writerly wisdom, and gentle words of encouragement, something of real value emerges, and skill arises in the wake. Thanks Valley. Your lovely, organic facilitation is a great gift. The people say: “we did it”!
-- Cory Blake
Haggard Haiku
The girl with a bird's nest, twigs wound 'round scarlet bits of ribbon.
The girl with the curl, a truth-speaking pioneer, Cordelia to King Lear.
Dances five elements and lets other find the Afikomen. She is maximum matzah. Gila. Ditzah.
Her frontier is Black Swan. She is our Simon LeBon.
Audi 5k bummer summer.
I'm driving around with Valley and jamming on it to mix tapes.
Rooting around Hope thrift, Forever in Blue Jeans.
With the girl whose brainy swain plugged the bath tub drain with a single small rubber bouncing ball.
--Nita Rao
