Geist is thrilled to present a creative writing workshop facilitated by José Teodoro, writer, artist, curator, and musician. Please note that this workshop takes place over two consecutive Sundays, February 15 and 22, each with a 90-minute session. Registration is required through the form below. Participants are asked to be available to attend both sessions.

Dream Reportage

This program asks participants to use dreams as raw material for the crafting of writing, to probe the unconscious as a means of excavating personal histories, desires, and anxieties. Because this process inevitably involves extrapolation, it offers participants a method through which to balance found material with narrative development and imagination.

There will be two sessions. In the first, the ideas behind the exercise and its significance for writers of varied disciplines and levels of experience will be discussed. Participants will be invited to share the ways in which dreams typically have (or have not) informed their life and work. We will explore techniques for the remembering, recording, and analyzing of dreams, as well as for expanding upon even vague impressions. Between the first and second sessions, participants will have time to dream—and to craft new writing from their dreams.

The second session will be open for sharing work, discussing process and results, and considering how the experience might inform future work. This program will activate one’s capacity for recall, analysis, and extrapolation. While the exercise encourages the development of narrative, the pieces will be short, so this will also serve as an opportunity to exercise compaction.

Workshop Dates: Sunday, February 15 and Sunday, February 22

Time: 11:30am to 1pm (both days)

Location: Geist Magazine office at 111 West Hastings Street (Woodwards Heritage Building)

Materials required: Please bring a pen and notebook.

Registration (required): $40

There are 16 spots available (please register through the form below). Refreshments will be provided! There is elevator access to our office on the second floor, and accessible washrooms down the hall. Let us know if you have any other access needs, and we’ll do our best to meet them.

About the facilitator:

José Teodoro is an artist and curator working in the fields of literature, theatre, music, and cinema. His prose has appeared in Brick, The Fiddlehead, Geist, and subTerrain. His criticism has appeared in publications such as Film Comment, Cinema Scope, and The Literary Review of Canada. His performance works include Island, winner of the Lee Prize For New Canadian Plays, Cloudless, which was adapted into an audio play presented by Canadian Stage, and Screen Door, which was adapted into the eponymous debut LP by Applied Silence, José's group with musician-composer Stephen Lyons, and is available on vinyl and online via Offseason Records. The award-winning short film Binary Star, which José wrote and directed, debuted at Colombia's Cali International Film Festival, where it was presented with live music and voiceover by Applied Silence. José is co-author, with Laura Barrón, of Cathedral, a 3.5-metre-long book of image and bilingual text. Most recently, José's book Nothing But Time: Conversations with Peter Mettler on Life and Cinema was published by Anvil Press. He is currently developing a novel, new works for the stage, and a new project with Applied Silence. joseteodoro.com

Image credit (on poster): Laura Barrón, laurabarron.ca

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