Previous Workshops & Explorations:

We met in November-December 2023,

to READ, WRITE & ASK questions together

about what happens

to LANGUAGE & FORM,

to the BODIES of our TEXTS

& the TEXTS of our BODIES
during time of catastrophe.

We met for three Sundays in August 2023 to explore various forms of haunted relationships
in our writing.

In this 8 week film lab, we take a journey through experimental film and draw inspiration from the filmmakers' innovative approaches for our own writing. Come write through the experimental, underground and avant-garde films you love / never heard of / or that you've always wanted to watch but never dared ...

In this writing lab, we delve into what is traditionally rejected or cast off. Making art out of refuse, laying bare the blemishes, the imperfections. The mess. Everything that makes us and our writing so human and alive.

EXPERIMENTS

IN

WRITING SEX

This workshop, born in 2016, is an invitation to an experiment, in which we approach writing sex as entering unknown territory.

Through our experiments in reading texts, watching scenes, and writing exercises, we will explore, deconstruct, and re-envision the sex scene.

Copy of Copy of Open Roads - Made with P

An online writing workshop in which we mine materials that haunt us, our bodies, our lives, our memories, our cities, our times, our texts, & explore new forms to express our hauntedness.

This is an ongoing exploration that has taken place over four summers: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023.

AMITAL STERN writes film, theater, and hybrid work. Her plays have been performed at the Theatronetto Festival, the Jerusalem Fringe Festival, the Arab-Hebrew Theater and more. Her work has recently appeared in Guernica, Elderly, and Best American Experimental Writing 2020. You can read some of her writing here & here.

Testimonials from previous workshops:

Amital’s conception of what we were doing together, and how to write about sex, was transformational… Amital’s sequence of writing exercises made me realize that writing about sex was writing about our life and death force, and breaking taboos about what you could write about transformed every part of my writing that day, and I have continued to mull over these insights over the past month. I’m inspired by Amital’s sense of urgency about reading and writing, and their transformational effect.

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Amital is simply an amazing teacher. I found myself completely transfixed and transformed by my work with her. What she knows how to do (that I believe is rare to find), is to stand there ready to help, in the way that YOU need help. It is your class, your work, and she knows how to stay out of your way, but support, nurture, and engage with you. She very perceptively gives you feedback and in an unusual way that makes it very easy to hear and understand.

That doesn't mean she won't provide structure and guidance and clear lessons. She does all of that so seamlessly that you are thrown back into yourself to find your solutions.

I felt her feedback and her teaching methods incredibly thoughtful, deeply perceptive and most importantly inspiring. I can't wait for the next class she offers. My advice: grab it!

Amital began each session with a range of texts and images, drawn from many genres and worlds, for us to engage with and to prompt us into our own writing. Along with making for rich reading and conversation, this did the work of creating a writing space which was expansive and free of judgment, where I felt safe to experiment with my own writing style and to explore my thoughts, wherever they may go. Amital's experience and her entirely accepting presence created a tone where it became easy for all of us to jump in, cover a lot of ground and go deep in a relatively short amount of time. It was one of the most original and enriching writing workshops I've ever taken part in, and would welcome the opportunity to do another one with her.

*

Amital has the ability to share post-post modern writing and crazier assignments with perfect poise and then has the nerve to ask if there are any questions.

Listen to her deeply and your writing arm will free a little more after each class.

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I have no hesitation in recommending Writing Messy workshop led by Amital Stern to all aspiring writers who want to explore subjects which challenge our sense of decency and sometimes fill us with disgust. Such subjects offer a potentially rich wellspring of ideas with which to experiment.

Amital uses an eclectic mix of artistic material to challenge the senses and stimulate creativity; avant-garde art, film and literature that both repels and entices. No subject is off limits. The workshop has developed my confidence to experiment with material of which prior to taking the course, I had no knowledge. I consider that my writing has benefitted significantly as a result.

Amital is an inspirational teacher. She is very enabling, encouraging and has a fierce intelligence. It has been a great privilege to have been in her class. It is a testament to the power of the class that the writing of all the participants flourished as the workshop progressed.

I would take this workshop again in a heartbeat. The whole experience was brilliant.