February 2008

Mondays, February 18 - April 28, 2008

Two truths and a lie: creative nonfiction
a 10-week writing workshop with Bushra Rehman

All ten sessions meet Mondays, 7 - 9pm, at KSW's space180, 180 Capp Street, @17th Street, San Francisco.

Please note: all multi-session KSW workshops include a public reading and chapbook publication following the final workshop session, coordinated and scheduled by KSW with the workshop participants.

Class Description:
Writing from life can be a tricky business.  There are people to protect, faulty memories of events, and the pitfalls of self-censorship and self-aggrandizement. This is where creative non-fiction comes in. It’s a form of writing that is drawn from real life, but employs techniques of poetry and fiction.  Permission is given to veer from the facts, to change names and the order of happenings, to start with a true story and end it the way it should have ended. Creative non-fiction recognizes that our lives are too rich not to write about, but that our imaginations are too strong to ignore.

In this class, we will write by drawing on memory, family myth, and the truth and lies of our lives.  We will cover literary techniques such as character, dialogue, setting and story arc, as well as performance. We as a collective will give ourselves permission not only to share our life stories, but to re-write them into the stories we want them to be.

About the instructor:
Bushra Rehman’s mother says Bushra was born in an ambulance flying through the streets of Brooklyn.  Her father is not so sure.  Since there are no definitive records of the time of her birth, there is no real way of knowing, but it would explain a few things.  Bushra is a vagabond poet who traveled for years with nothing more than a greyhound ticket and a book bag full of poems. Now, she performs her poetry regularly in theaters and colleges around the country. Lately, she’s been spending her time flying through the streets of Oakland and Brooklyn, writing an on the road adventure novel for Muslim girls. 

Bushra is co-editor of the anthology Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism (Seal Press, 2002) which has been adopted as essential reading material in women’s studies and ethnic studies classes around the United States. She has been featured in The New York Times and NY Newsday and her work has appeared in ColorLines, Mizna, Curve, SAMAR, and Bottomfish. Her writing is forthcoming in Writing the Lines of Our Hands: An Anthology of South Asian American Poetry (Creative Arts Press), Voices of Resistance: Muslim Women on War, Faith and Sexuality (Seal Press)and Stories of Illness and Healing: Women Write Their Bodies (Kent State University Press).

Registration fee is $215 regular, $195 for KSW members. Class is capped at 14 registrants; first come, first serve basis. To register with credit card, please click on one of the buttons below. To register by check, please send a check or money order for full amount to KSW, 180 capp street #5, san francisco, ca 94110, and include your full name and contact info:

General workshop registration (non-KSW members):

KSW member workshop registration:

Saturday, February 9, 2008

APAture 2008 Retreat

Believe it or not, 2008 marks KSW's 10th annual APAture festival!

Each year, KSW holds a day-long retreat to officially begin the community planning for APAture: a window on the art of asian pacific americans, the 2-week long multidisciplinary arts festival showcasing the work of over 100 local, emerging Asian Pacific American artists, that takes place at the end of September at various San Francisco venues.

APAture is organized with KSW staff by a group of volunteer curators and organizers who form the APAture General Planning Committee (GPC). Individuals join the GPC in the winter/spring and meet regularly to plan and curate the festival.

The retreat is open to ALL individuals who have any interest in learning more about the festival and how to get involved. At the retreat, we will provide an in-depth overview of KSW's mission, programs, and history, and an overview of KSW's APAture festival. We will discuss how the festival is organized and executed, brainstorm ideas for the 10th annual APAture, and have a chance to ask questions, discuss various festival issues, and get to know one another. We welcome those who have been involved in APAture in the past in any capacity, as well as those who have never worked with KSW before--all that is required is an interest in learning more about the festival.

RSVP is requested, along with dietary restrictions.

Please contact Sam at sam@kearnystreet.org or 415.503.0520 with any questions.

Pictured above: APAture 2007 General Planning Committee members Jack Choi (bottom left), Amy Ho (top left), Lucy Kalyani Lin, and APAture 2007 festival coordinator May Briosos (center) at APAture 2007 opening night, with APAture attendees (seated at right).
Photo credit: Jay Jao, www.mochamonkey.com

What: KSW's APAture 2008 Retreat

Date: Saturday, February 9th, 2008

Time: 10am - 4pm

Location: KSW's space180, 180 capp street, @ 17th street, SF

Free. Food & drink will be provided.

More information: Please rsvp at sam@kearnystreet.org or call 415.503.0520

For more information about KSW's APAture festival, please visit:
http://www.kearnystreet.org/programs/ksw-next/apature

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Getting Your Work Out There: Tips for Unpublished Writers
with Chellis Ying

Moving one’s writing from personal to published can be overwhelming to first time writers.

With the number of writers increasing and the number of readers decreasing, the realities of the publishing world have made it harder for writers to get their work out there. This seminar will address the challenges that undiscovered writers face today, as well as tips on how to get one’s work out there. While this seminar won’t guarantee a writer’s launch onto the best seller’s list, it will provide basic tips for understanding the system.

Topics that will be addressed:

1. Fiction vs. Nonfiction

2. The importance of Literary Journals

3. Magazines

5. Maximizing opportunities through using Technology

6. Community

7. Finding an agent

8. Small vs. large publishing houses

9. Keeping track of work sent out

Date: Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Time: 7 - 9PM

Location: KSW's space180, 180 capp street, @ 17th street, SF

Cost: $25 registration fee, regular; $20 for KSW members

Workshop is capped at 20 registrants; first come, first serve basis. To register with credit card, please click on one of the buttons below. To register by check, please send a check or money order for full amount to KSW, 180 capp street #5, san francisco, ca 94110, and include your full name and contact info:

General workshop registration (non-KSW members):

KSW member workshop registration:

About Chellis Ying

Chellis Ying is the v-p Marketing for China Books. Her nonfiction has appeared in Publishers Weekly, SF Bay Guardian, SomaLit, and Best Travel Writing 2005. Her fiction has appeared in the Wild River Review and Driftwood Literary Journal. The Amy Rennert Agency will represent her memoir, The Nerve, and short story collection, Good and Dutiful. For more information, refer to www.chellisying.com.

Saturdays, February 16 - March 8, 2008

Drawing as a Way of Seeing I: an Introduction to Contemplative Drawing
a four-week workshop with Sylvia La

Seeing is vital to any creative or innovative work. It is during our moments of clarity – of clear perspective – that inspirations hits us and moves us to create. Yet in these fast-moving times, when we are bombarded by thousands of images and impressions a day, how much do we actually see?

In this workshop, Sylvia La will lead you in contemplative drawing, a practice that slows down the mind and anchors it in observation. Unlike a traditional drawing & composition class, this 4-part introductory workshop will focus on the process of drawing and reflecting, rather than the finished product.

The purpose of this workshop is two-fold: 1) to practice seeing and drawing, and 2) to train the mind through observation. You will be guided through drawing exercises that will allow you to discover for yourself the elements of drawing, such as contour, shape & form. Beyond “learning how to draw,” you will also be training your mind to sit still, observe, and become intimate with an object in the world through the drawing process.

This workshop will benefit anyone who’s curious about drawing, whether or not you think you have the skill. Beginners can benefit from this non-threatening approach to drawing. Visual, literary, and performance artists of all persuasions can benefit from the clarity of vision that this workshop develops. Meditators will find drawing a great way to support your ongoing spiritual practice.

Materials:
Participants will need to bring a simple sketchbook of any size between 7” x 10” and 9” x 12”, a few charcoal pencils or soft graphite pencils (No. 4B – 6B) and a pencil sharpener. These materials should be basic. Please do not spend a lot of money on fancy materials. If you have difficulty sitting in a chair for long stretches at a time, please also bring cushions or sitting other props.

Date: Saturdays, February 16 - March 8, 2008

Time: 12 - 2PM

Location: KSW's space180, 180 capp street, @ 17th street, SF

Cost: $150 registration fee, regular; $130 for KSW members

Workshop is capped at 12 registrants; first come, first serve basis. To register with credit card, please click on one of the buttons below. To register by check, please send a check or money order for full amount to KSW, 180 capp street #5, san francisco, ca 94110, and include your full name and contact info:

General workshop registration (non-KSW members):

KSW member workshop registration:

About Sylvia La

Artist Sylvia La is interested in the connection between art and consciousness. She started the Drawing As a Way of Seeing workshop to spark dialogue about one role of art in human experience – as a practice to bring people to greater awareness.

Sylvia has been drawing and painting for 15 years, studying human figure, gesture, portrait and narrative. She is proficient in a wide range of media, including oils, watercolor, inks, charcoal, pastels, and collage. She exhibits her artwork throughout the bay area.

Sylvia is a meditator and spiritual aspirant. She has been studying the yoga sciences of meditation, prayer, mantra, and hatha under the guidance of her spiritual teacher, Haricharan Das. She has also received blessings and teachings from several high spiritual teachers in the US and India, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Venerable Kirti Tsenschab Rinpoche, Ammaji, and Guru Mata Keshavadas.

For more information about Sylvia La, visit www.sylviala.com.

February 19 - May 27, 2008

Kinetic Theater Classes with Eth-Noh-Tec

co-presented by Kearny Street Workshop

DATES: Tuesdays: Feb 19, 26; Mar: 4, 11, 25; Apr.: 1, 8, 29; May: 6, 20, 27, 2008

TIME: 7:30- 9:00pm

LOCATION: Eth-Noh-Tec, 977 South Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94110

COST: $180 regular; $144 for KSW members.

TO REGISTER: call 415-282-8705; send checks paid in full written and sent to: “Eth-Noh-Tec" 977 So. Van Ness SF CA 94110.

Course Description

Check it out! Create a story that MOVES!… LITERALLY (physically, musically, and choreographically too!). Eth-Noh-Tec, an amazing kinetic theater arts non-profit is offering an 11-session workshop in performance narrative using physical theater, in collaboration with Kearny Street Workshop. This course is for performers with interests in drama, music, dance who want to explore the realm between myth and personal story. Using an integrated, multi-discipline approach to performance narrative, participants will create their own performance pieces. Eth-Noh-Tec will introduce theater techniques, creative processes, and individualized dramatic coaching to move from “page to stage” drawing from their 25 years of working with the archetypes found in mythological story structure, full body gesture and stylized movement. Their use of visual, audio, and kinesthetic processes will excite the natural physicality of each performer, revealing a new and dynamic storyteller.

About Eth-Noh-Tec

Eth-Noh-Tec has performed and tour throughout the United States and abroad, in such notable stages as President Clinton’s Inaugural Celebration, the Smithnonian, Wolftrap, The National Storytelling Festival in Joneseborough TN and on the deck of the Greenpeaces’ “Rainbow Warrior” .. They perform in festivals, universities, schools, correctional facilities, and corporate settings from Kansas City to Boston, from Singapore to Austria. Currently they lead several cultural and storytelling delegations to India, China and Singapore.

Visit: http://www.ethnohtec.org