Class Type: Playwriting Craft                         Class Level: All Experience Levels Welcome

When: Monday, March 28 7:00pm - 8:30pm CT 

(5:00pm PT, 6:00pm MT, 8:00pm ET)

Where: Online via Zoom, check out this quick video on the process.

Structure: Lecture, discussion, writing prompts, and exercises 

Questions: Email Alayna at alaynab@pwcenter.org

Participants must register to join this class, Sign Up at the bottom of the page.

 "Let the work heal you - you don't heal the work. Let it speak back to you & open your heart to listen. The work is your cure, not your disease. Handle it softly, protect it boldly, and if it ever becomes too much, don't stress - let it go. It's not abandonment; it's trying it all. All. Including saving yourself."

— Lester Eugene Mayers

CLASS DESCRIPTION

This workshop has been warmly founded on a quote by the legendary American Icon Toni Morrison: “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” The foundation of this workshop is also in the context of the Negro Spiritual, posing the question: How I Got Over? It encourages writers to take an embodied look within themselves and find the stories that lie within their imagination, heart, and even scars. This writing workshop pushes the individual to find the courage to go beyond what they think they know and find what needs to be found with the language they already have. All languages, vernaculars, and grammatical systems are welcomed. It is open-ended like poetry, like life; all stories never take the same path.

This Is the Class for You if You:

• Are willing to open up to yourself and write your way through any suffocating thoughts, confusion, memories into an exhaling moment.
• Are interested in freewriting, meditation, and memory recall.

What to Expect:

• Laugh, cry, scream, shift, and believe in yourself to make it till tomorrow.
• Meditations, memory recall, and freewriting will guide you into moments that allow for full release.

Important Things to Note:

• There are resources the instructor would like you to review prior to the seminar
• Payment plans are available as needed, please contact Membership Programs Associate, Alayna Jacqueline Barnes, to discuss payment options.

NOTE FROM LESTER

This subject is essential because it encourages everyone who witnesses and participates in it to analyze themselves as their own hero, healer, and supporter. The world can get busy and forget that you're there, and when that happens (for those that have taken any of my classes), they will call upon the tools they'll need to push through. 

 

Rarely are we (artists) given a chance to witness people transform before our eyes, but each time I teach this workshop, I get to witness people shift, which is the ultimate gift back from words. I love this class because it fights self-loathing, and this world is hard enough on you - you don't need to add your name to the list. 

INSTRUCTOR BIO

Lester Eugene Mayers is a Brooklyn native, a graduate of the Department of Theatre Arts at SUNY New Paltz, and an MFA graduate of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. Gay-Black-feminine, and a feminist, Mayers tackles issues that have historically been ignored by the public. He has been published by the Huffington Post, Arsenal Pulp Press, LAMBDA LITERARY, Chronogram, Sojourner Truth Library, Colorado’s Boulder Weekly, and I Am from Driftwood LGBTQ archive.

He has performed at many universities & theaters, including SUNY Oswego, Pace University, University at Buffalo, and Delta State University, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Denizen Theater & Unframed Artist Gallery. Including online virtual readings and workshop facilitation.

His first book, 100 Poems for 100 Voices, resulted in a sold-out poetry tour and a poetry album available on iTunes, Spotify, and Tidal. Reception of four awards, including the Visionary Award from the National Advancement of Colored Woman Organization and two New York State proclamations. His second book of poetry, African Booty Scratcha (lovin da ashy-blaq fat chall wit yella teef, peasy head & a broken smile), debuted in November 2019. Mayers recently published a new critical examination book entitled A Spring of Gay-Black-Feminine Joy: A Critical Moment February 2021. Mayers is also a contributing writer in Between Certain Death and a Possible Future, featured on the List of the Most Anticipated on The New York Times, Oprah Daily, in The Millions, and in The Rumpus.

 Sign Up Below! 

Questions? Email Membership Programs Associate, Alayna Jacqueline Barnes, at alaynab@pwcenter.org