In this workshop we will create a writing community for folks who perhaps identify as mad, crazy, or a survivor; people who may experience altered states; writers who may relate to or reject terms like mental illness, depression, and anxiety. Together, we will read and write all the brilliance and beauty of what we have survived and what we are building. Using prompts, free-writes, the magnificent muck of our lives, and the full wing-span of our imaginations, we will generate new work and revise old. We will try out genres including poetry, flash fiction, and non-fiction. Students will complete weekly assignments and receive weekly feedback from their peers and from the instructor.

Be prepared to dig deep. In our writing, we will make space for all the fierce, radiant, sexy, disastrous, sacred and profane facets of our truths as survivors navigating a mad mad world. Let this class be your permission to play, work, and risk. The format of this online class will be hybrid –  live weekly classes via video-chat, one private consultation with the instructor, and self-paced work with specific deadlines for exchange and feedback.

Cost for all five weeks is $175(USD), with payment plans and some sliding scale scholarship support available. A $60 deposit saves your spot.

All live classes will be at 4pm PST/ 5pm MST/ 6pm CST/ 7pm EST. Sundays October 25th, November 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd.

For more information, write to red.winged.jacks.bird@gmail.com

Jacks McNamara is a queer poet, artist, activist, educator, performer, and somatic healing practitioner. In 2012 Jacks was selected as a Lambda literary fellow, and their first book of poetry, Inbetweenland, was released by Deviant Type Press in March 2013. Co-author of Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness, Jacks has toured across the US and Canada offering readings and workshops. Their writing has appeared in numerous publications, blogs, and zines. In January 2011 they released the chapbook/zine, So Many Ways to Be Beautiful, available online here. Jacks is the co-founder of The Icarus Project, a radical mental health support network and media project by and for people living with the dangerous gifts that our society commonly labels as “mental illness,” and is the subject of the poetic documentary film Crooked Beauty.

To learn more about Jacks’ somatic counseling practice, events, and classes, visit Red Roots Healing Arts. To learn more about Jacks’ writing, art, and design, visit their portfolio site.