Community Workshop Series
Community Workshop SeriesThe Butler MFA Community Workshop series is a free writing program facilitated by Butler University alumni of the MFA in Creative Writing. These one-off workshops, hosted at partner sites including bookstores, nonprofits, and public libraries in the Greater Indianapolis area, connect adults at all stages of their writing journeys with workshop experiences shaped by graduate-level study. Thanks to a generous gift from the Efroymson Family Fund, alumni from the program’s concentrations in Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, and Fiction will guide local writers into creative practice. Each workshop is designed to help participants generate new work, learn new ways of thinking about the craft of writing, and more confidently continue their own writing practices.
A Poetics of Rememory: Imagining and Reimagining Ancestry Through Poetry
Facilitator: Thomas Kneeland, Class of 2023
Location: Indiana Humanities | 1500 N. Delaware St., Indianapolis, IN 46202
Date: Sunday, April 19 | 10am – 12pm
This generative poetry workshop is perfect for writers who are interested in learning new techniques for crafting poetry. We will look at examples from the works of Black, Afro Latine, and Afro Caribbean writers such as Toni Morrison, Melania Luisa Marte, Christina García, and Saidiya Hartman for this workshop. We will then use prompts and exercises to write our own poems, imagining and reimagining our own ancestries.
Thomas Kneeland is the Pushcart-nominated author of the chapbook, We Be Walkin’ Blackly in the Deep. His writing explores ancestry, ecological memory, and the effects of intergenerational trauma in Black, Afro-Latine, and Afro-Indigenous family dynamics. A recent recipient of the Edward Stanley Award for poems published in Prairie Schooner, his publication credits include Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora, Southern Humanities Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Kneeland was recently nominated for Hayden’s Ferry Review’s Best of Small Fiction Anthology. Named a 2025 Emerging Scholar by The EDU Ledger, Kneeland is currently an Assistant Professor of English at Anderson University.
Writing True Stories: An Introduction to Creative Nonfiction
Facilitator: John Strauss, Class of 2022
Location: Indianapolis Public Library – Lawrence| 7898 Hague Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46256
Date: Saturday, May 2 | 1:30pm – 3:30pm
This Creative Nonfiction (CNF) introduction workshop is perfect for anyone interested in telling their stories: the big stories, the small stories, and everything in between. Adult writers will generate new work over the course of this guided writing workshop. We will look at examples from writers like Joan Didion, David Sedaris, and James Baldwin, and then talk about where ideas come from. The bulk of this workshop will be spent generating new work. This is a supportive space for adult writers and storytellers of all levels!
John Strauss, a 2022 Butler MFA graduate, is a longtime Indiana journalist currently on the broadcast news faculty at Ball State University. He has also served as creative nonfiction editor for Booth, a Journal, at Butler and is a producer for the “Real Life, Revised” reading series sponsored by Booth, the Butler MFA, WQRT radio and Indiana Humanities. He has a passion for helping people tell the stories of their lives and is working on an anthology of his own stories and essays.
How to Have Ideas: A Fiction Writing Workshop
Facilitator: Logan Taylor, Class of 2021
Location: Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library – Zionsville | 250 N. 5th St., Zionsville, IN 46077
Date: Sunday, May 24 | 2pm – 4pm
No one is born knowing how to drive a car, ride a bike, or write a story. Like everything else in life, having ideas is a skill that we can develop and work out over time like a muscle. This generative fiction workshop for adult writers of all levels will teach you how to come up with ideas for stories, recognize ideas when you have them, and use titles and short phrases as launchpads for creativity. We will look at examples of short, concept-driven flash fiction (<250 words) and use concise prompts and dynamic exercises to generate our own writing, paying special attention to the process of having and then using ideas.
Logan Taylor is a writer and teacher working at Ivy Tech Community College and Butler University in Indianapolis. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Butler University in 2021 with a concentration in Fiction. Logan spends his time talking about Kurt Vonnegut, running community Dungeons & Dragons events, and writing about the philosophical value of videogames on his blog.
When Forms Collide: A Generative Poetry Comic Workshop
Facilitator: Scoot Swain, Class of 2021
Location: Indy Reads | 1066 Virginia Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46203
Date: Saturday, May 30 | 4pm – 6pm
This generative workshop is designed to introduce participants to foundational poetry and comic writing techniques, then put both to use to produce something new! Over the course of this guided workshop, adults at all stages of their writing lives will produce new poetry and visual art, then marry them to craft exciting new pieces of their own!
Scoot Swain is a poet and artist from Columbia City, Indiana. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing from Ball State and an M.F.A. in Poetry from Butler. Currently, she is working on a chapbook about her gender transition, religion, and family. In addition to poetry, she draws, reads and writes comics, and plays as much D&D as possible. Her work can be found in the Indianapolis Review and the New York Quarterly.
Writing for Wellness
Facilitator: Dominique Weldon, class of 2020
Location: Indianapolis Public Library – Franklin | 5550 S. Franklin Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46239
Date: Tuesday, June 9 | 3pm – 5pm
Our lives are constantly bombarded with stressors that physically and mentally drain us, and this is especially true in recent times. Thankfully, there are several means that can help us cope with these stressors and even traumas, and writing is one of those means. Both experienced and inexperienced writers use writing as a tool to achieve healing, wellness, and examine traumas. Writing for Wellness is not about writing to impress others or even being grammatically correct. Writing for Wellness means writing about whatever is weighing on your heart and mind.
Dominique Weldon is a Black biracial writer who grew up in Iowa. She is a first-generation college graduate of the University of Iowa and received her MFA in Fiction from Butler University, where she served as the nonfiction editor of Booth. Her work appears in Lover’s Eye Press, DarkWinter Literary Magazine, and Erato Magazine. She lives in Indiana, where she teaches at the Indiana Writers Center. She is currently working on her first novel as well as a graphic novel.
Writing Tiny Truths: Unearth Your Story with Flash Creative Nonfiction
Facilitator: Susan Lerner, Class of 2017
Location: Hamilton East Public Library – Noblesville | One Library Plaza, Noblesville, IN, 46060
Date: Sunday, June 28 | 1pm – 3pm
This Creative Nonfiction (CNF) introduction workshop is perfect for anyone interested in writing stories about their life, but wants to learn more about where to start and how to pick the small moments that matter. Adult writers will generate new, short-form work (250-500 words). We will look at examples of micro-essays and other short CNF from outlets like River Teeth’s Beautiful Things archive and then use prompts to write our own work.
Susan Lerner, a graduate of Butler University’s MFA in creative writing program, writes, reads and obsesses over creative nonfiction. She contributes to the field by working as an assistant memoir editor for Split Lip Magazine, an assistant editor for Brevity, and as a reader for River Teeth, and Fourth Genre. Adjacent to her involvement in creative nonfiction are her author interviews, which stoke her curiosity about writing and writers. Find her in social media on Instagram: @susanlitelerner. Find links to her work at susan-lerner.com.
Dystopia 101: Learning to Write the Future
Facilitator: Vinny Corsaro, Class of 2021
This science fiction introduction workshop is perfect for anyone interested in writing the near future, far future, or anywhere in between. Adult writers of all levels are invited to engage with the wisdom and work of Octavia Butler and other sci-fi writers to generate new work over the course of this two-hour writing workshop, a part of the Butler MFA Community Workshop series.
Vinny Corsaro is a multimedia artist living, teaching, and working in Indianapolis, Indiana. As a lifelong Indianapolis resident, Vinny is committed to contributing, facilitating, and enjoying the Indy art scene to the fullest extent. With a space-themed jam band, a proclivity to high-concept sci-fi, and a life filled with outdoor experiences, Vinny knows that the earth (and the cosmos) have much to offer to anybody who wants to live, learn, and grow.
Writing Poetry through Word Games: An All-Levels Workshop
Facilitator: Chris Speckman, Class of 2013
This generative poetry workshop is perfect for writers who are interested in learning new techniques for crafting poetry. Adult writers of all levels will create new work over the course of this two-hour guided writing workshop. We will look at examples from poets like Terrance Hayes and then use prompts and exercises to write our own poems.
Writing YA: A Generative Workshop for Adults Writing Young Adult Fiction
Facilitator: Annie Sullivan, Class of 2012
This Young Adult (YA) Fiction workshop is designed for adult writers of all levels as an introductory space to generate new work. We will cover what YA is (as well as subgenres), general mechanics of fiction writing, and what the market looks like now. The bulk of this workshop will be spent setting writers up to create YA characters and worlds. Seasoned authors and emerging writers of all levels are encouraged to join us!
Annie Sullivan is the author of three young adult fantasy books: A Touch of Gold, A Curse of Gold, and Tiger Queen. She is also the author of two of the famous “…For Dummies” books and has a picture book titled Ghouldilocks and the Three Ghosts, which is published by Penguin Random House. She grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, and received her master’s degree in Creative Writing from Butler University. She loves fairytales, everything Jane Austen, and traveling. You can follow her adventures on Instagram (@annsulliva) or on her blog: https://anniesullivanauthor.com/.
Writing the Body: A Poetry Workshop
Facilitator: JD Amick, Class of 2022
This generative writing workshop will explore imagery of the senses and use language to inhabit, transform, and dissect the human body on the page. Over the course of this guided writing workshop, adults at all stages of their writing lives will produce new poetry informed by the experiences of being in a body.
Questions about the Butler MFA Community Workshop Series? Email Sam at samjferrante@gmail.com. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Sam Ferrante
Butler MFA Community Workshop Director
Sam Ferrante (she/her) is a queer poet, teacher, and busybody who received her MFA in Creative Writing from Butler University in 2020 and now serves as the Butler MFA Community Workshop Director. A former member of the Pure Ink Poetry team in Buffalo, Sam has served as a Poetry Editor for Booth, a Creative Producer for Slamalamadingdong, a Melbourne Spoken Word board member, and was the founding facilitator of the Melbourne Spoken Word Workshops. Her manuscript, No More Odes to My Mouth, won the 2020 First-Book Scholarship from Gasher Journal. Sam’s written work has appeared or is forthcoming in The MacGuffin, Hobart After Dark, Turnpike, Foundlings, Ghost City Review, Hypertext Review, and elsewhere. She is currently the Director of Development for Sonic Poetry Festival, an annual grassroots spoken word and poetry festival based in Naarm/Melbourne. Sam also hosts Real Life, Revised, a reading series and open mic, on the second Sunday of each month at Indiana Humanities. Follow Real Life, Revised on Instagram @RealLife_Revised.