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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260412T100000
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UID:10005038-1775988000-1775998800@litwire.org
SUMMARY:Creating Characters Who Read as Real--a writing workshop with Allison Alsup
DESCRIPTION:Stories hinge on credible\, compelling characters. It doesn’t matter the genre—most contemporary narratives demand character-driven storylines. And for those writing personal essays\, there’s no escaping the “I” on the page. Whether based in the writer’s real life experience or completely invented\, intimacy and psychological depth are what modern readers crave. The rub is not all details are created equal. Knowing every tidbit of your character’s life doesn’t necessarily advance the story and may end up obscuring it. \nThis workshop’s goal is to hone in those character essentials that make the people on our pages feel real and true. We’ll explore the kinds of targeted questions writers can—and should–ask long before reaching the end of a draft. Through discussion\, short excerpts and hands on exercises\, we’ll explore key aspects of character development\, including: the core relationship between character and conflict\, what makes for a “telling” detail\,” and the fundamental role of backstory and secondary characters. \nWriters can expect to leave with character-building strategies applicable to any future narrative as well as a deeply rendered character profile for their current project. (They can also expect to learn a heck of a lot by hearing the ideas of other participants.) \nAll levels\, from absolute newbie to experienced writers\, and all prose genres welcome. Participants with either works in progress or well-considered ideas for narratives will most benefit from our session.
URL:https://litwire.org/event/creating-characters-who-read-as-real-a-writing-workshop-with-allison-alsup/
LOCATION:Burnt Canoe Studios\, 4820 Banks Street\, New Orleans\, 70119
CATEGORIES:Workshop
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://litwire.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Allison-BW-Cropped.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="New Orleans Writers Workshop":MAILTO:jessica@neworleanswriters.com
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260412T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260412T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T101635
CREATED:20260317T205348Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260317T205348Z
UID:10005036-1776002400-1776006000@litwire.org
SUMMARY:Silver Room w/ Gus Berg and Bracken LeClair
DESCRIPTION:Silver Room is an online reading series for members of the University of New Orleans Creative Writing MFA community. We welcome anyone to join us in our virtual space for readings of poetry\, prose\, plays\, and more. \nReaders for April 12: \nGus Berg\nGus Berg is a New Orleans based writer from a disappearing town in Minnesota by way of San Francisco. His fiction\, nonfiction\, reviews\, and poetry have appeared in publications like Zyzzyva\, BuzzFeed\, Circles Magazine\, Ellipsis\, Writing for a Real World\, LMNL\, and others. Gus is a third-year fiction student in the Creative Writing Workshop at UNO\, where he serves as the Senior Associate Fiction Editor of Bayou Magazine\, emcees and co-organizes the Gold Room reading series\, and convinces first year writing students to stop using ChatGPT. \nBracken LeClair\nBracken LeClair (he/him\, they/them) is a trans poet thinking about angels. Their work focuses around queer issues\, trans and aspec experiences\, and religion\, and hopes to recenter the conventional perspective around love. They are currently in the process of earning their MFA in creative writing at UNO.
URL:https://litwire.org/event/silver-room-w-gus-berg-and-bracken-leclair/
LOCATION:Online
CATEGORIES:Fiction,Interview,Online,Podcast,Poetry
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://litwire.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/260412-April-2026.png
ORGANIZER;CN="UNO Silver Room":MAILTO:cwwsilverroom@gmail.com
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260412T163000
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260412T180000
DTSTAMP:20260423T101635
CREATED:20230801T234325Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230801T234325Z
UID:10001239-1776011400-1776016800@litwire.org
SUMMARY:The Everette Maddox Memorial Reading Series
DESCRIPTION:Sundays at 4:20 pm \nThe Maple Leaf Bar hosts the longest continuously running poetry reading series in North America. It is free and open to the public. The poetry series has been a platform for a great diversity of writers to present their work\, from the published and well-established to the novice poet alike. The reading series was founded in 1979 by Franz Heldner\, Bob Stock\, and the consummate poet laureate of the Maple Leaf Bar\, Everette Maddox. \nThe series gained popularity around the same time that James Booker\, the flamboyantly wonderful one-eyed piano virtuoso\, held court at The Leaf. Everette Maddox\, another well-loved outrageous personality of the time\, helped popularized the series with his humor\, charisma and whit. Maddox ran the series for nearly 10 years\, until his death in 1989. Since then\, the torch has been carried on by poet Nancy Harris aka “Ape Woman.” \nTo date\, there have been four published anthologies of poets who have read their work at the Maple Leaf: The Maple Leaf Rag (1980)\, The Maple Leaf Rag 15th Anniversary Anthology (1994)\, the Maple Leaf Rag III (2006)\, and Maple Leaf Rag IV (2010). \nAdditionally\, the Maple Leaf is portrayed in many books and stories by New Orleans writers. It is thinly disguised as “The Raintree Street Bar” in the Ellen Gilchrist short story “The Raintree Street Bar and Washerteria” (The Leaf was once a small Laundromat). Poems inspired by the Maple Leaf or about the bar can be found in Mirror Wars and Shards\, by Nancy Harris; Body and Soul and Rhythm & Booze\, by Julie Kane; and The Everette Maddox Song Book\, Bar Scotch and American Waste by Everette Maddox. \nAmerican Waste is a collection of Maddox’ final poems\, written at the Maple Leaf\, Muddy Waters (which was once located across the street) and at the Carrollton Station. Maddox penned the final version of his poems on bar napkins\, fliers\, and beer coasters which were collected by Hank Staples\, the current owner of the Maple Leaf Bar. After Maddox’ death\, his friends decided to publish the posthumous collection of poems. \nThe readings are held every Sunday at 4:20 p.m. If you are going to be in New Orleans and would like to read\, please contact us at least a month or more in advance. \nFor more info\, go to: https://www.mapleleafbar.com/poetry-night or contact Nancy Harris on Facebook.
URL:https://litwire.org/event/the-everette-maddox-memorial-reading-series/2026-04-12/
LOCATION:Maple Leaf Bar\, 8316 Oak St\, New Orleans\, LA\, 70118\, United States
CATEGORIES:Open Mic
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://litwire.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/maple-leaf.png
ORGANIZER;CN="Nancy Harris":MAILTO:apewoman@bellsouth.net
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