Reading Group discussion tonight
And other upcoming Mad Woman events— including a last call to join Care for Writers!
So much going on this week in our Mad Woman corner of the internet—all good things to attempt to counter the deluge of gross things happening around us. Here’s a little roundup of upcoming events so you can keep it all sorted:
Last chance to join Care for Writers: The Workshop
We have a small number of spots left in Care for Writers: The Workshop. Each class session in this 6-week class will include generative writing sessions with optional take-home prompts to help you find new ways into your process and voice, guided discussion of the writing life and your purpose and place in the vast literary landscape, practical tips for balancing publishing concerns with craft growth, and nourishing, writer-centered workshops. Together, we will recommit to our writing as a practice of resistance and collective possibility, while acknowledging the practical, everyday, real-life concerns of each writer’s life.
You’ll also have the opportunity to get feedback from me and your cohort on up to 5 pages of writing. Reading will never exceed 20 pages per week total to give everyone in the workshop time to write and rest between classes, and discussions of work submitted will be holistic and generative.
This class is open to writers at all stages in all genres, is perfect for both new and returning students, and will be recorded in case you need to miss anything. The only requirement for enrollment is a commitment to your creative practice, your fellow writers, and yourself.
Read more and grab your spot here. A $30 off discount for paid subscribers can be found here.
Reading Group meets tonight!
Mad Woman’s new feminist Reading Group is meeting tonight 4/22 for the first time 5pm-6pm PT/ 8pm-9pm ET!
Come talk with us about Silvia Federici’s essay, “Why Sexuality is Work.” You can find the essay and our opening discussions here, here, and here.
The Zoom link is at the bottom of this post, below the paywall.
We’ll unpack how the ideas in the essay apply to this wretched political and cultural moment, as well as what the essay brought up for us personally, as we deconstruct how these notions of gender, sex, marriage, capital, and other elements of hetero culture, like housework and domestic labor, show up in our daily lives— and look toward ways to find more pleasure, joy, and sensuality in dark times.
This session will not include a test on the essay (obviously!)— it’s just a totally supportive and wide-ranging space to discuss everything the essay brings up for us.
And while I have you, how about this quote about faking orgasms from the end (!!):
Keep the price up—that’s the rule, at least the one we are taught. If we are already in bed the calculations become even more complicated, because we also have to calculate our chances of getting pregnant, which means that throughout the sighing and gasping and other shows of passion we also have to quickly run down the schedule of our period. But faking excitement during the sexual act, in the absence of an orgasm, is extra work and a hard one, because when you’re faking it, you never know how far you should go, and you always end up doing more for fear of not doing enough.
Indeed, it has taken a lot of struggle and a leap of power on our side to finally begin to admit that nothing was happening.
Writing Group Retreat starts May 5
If you want to join us for a week of creative connection and inspiration, be sure you upgrade to a Writing Group membership (that’s a founding-level subscription). Then, mark your calendars for this virtual retreat.
Monday May 5 at 4-5pm PT/7pm-8pm ET
Community Check-in— come set intentions, talk about how hard it is to set intentions, and/or just be in creative community; depending on turnout, we may also have time for open Q&A (not recorded for privacy)
Tuesday May 6 at 1pm-2pm PT/ 4pm-5pm ET
Community Write-in— come cowrite with us; I’ll offer a prompt at the top of the hour and/or you can work on anything you want; we’ll have a check-in at the end, but feel free to pop in and out depending on your schedule (not recorded, but I’ll share the writing prompt later in the week if you can’t make it)
Wednesday May 7 at noon-1pm PT/ 4pm-5pm ET
Author Salon w/ Tracy Clark-Flory, author of the memoir Want Me, which THE Rebecca Traister called “a gift” and “so very smart” (and which I have also been known to say about Tracy); Tracy will talk to us about writing sex and the erotic, and also how to think of these concepts in the current political and cultural landscape (will be recorded)
Also on Wednesday at 4pm-5pm PT/7pm-8pm ET
Office Hour w/ me— come ask any and all questions about writing, publishing, whatever is on your mind (not recorded)
Thursday May 8 at 1pm-2pm PT/ 4pm-5pm ET
Community Write-in— come cowrite with us; I’ll offer a prompt at the top of the hour and/or you can work on anything you want; we’ll have a check-in at the end, but feel free to pop in and out depending on your schedule (not recorded, but I’ll share the writing prompts later this week if you can’t make it)
Friday May 9 at 4pm-5pm PT/7pm-8pm ET
Office Hour & Community Share— come ask questions about publishing, recovery, finding time to write, your own projects, or just chat; all writers will be invited to share their work and connect with each other (not recorded for privacy)
All events will be on Zoom, except the salon (we’re trying Substack live, god help us)— links will go out the Monday of the retreat.
Remember, you must be a Writing Group subscriber to attend all retreat events (except the salon, which is open to all paid subscibers). Upgrade now, and you’ll also get to come to our fall retreat!
Hope to see you somewhere soon.
Here’s the Zoom info for our Reading Group discussion tonight: