What does it take to lead a creative life every day? New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg offers a workshop on how to carve out a creative life for yourself. The author of seven novels and the 2022 memoir I Came All This Way To Meet You, as well as the new motivational creativity book 1000 Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round, Jami is a “writer’s writer,” with decades of experience in pursuit of a creative life.

This workshop will share ideas and perspectives for putting your own creativity first: How can writers best serve their own creative processes? Where do you go for inspiration? How important is community to our writing lives? And how can you create a life in this business of art? It will include a talk, a writing prompt with a group write-along. Jami will share how the #1000wordsofsummer became a worldwide literary movement in a collaborative environment.

Her wildly popular, grassroots movement inspired the 1000 Words collection, the book-length extension of it, about becoming and staying motivated, discovering yourself and your creative desires, and approaching your craft from a new direction. It features advice from more than fifty well-known writers, including New York Times bestsellers, Pulitzer Prize winners, and stars of the literary world, such as Roxane Gay, Lauren Groff, Celeste Ng, Meg Wolitzer, and Carmen Maria Machado. Paired with vibrant word art illustrations, 1000 Words is an accessible and motivational craft book that allows you to open any page and get a quick and fulfilling hit of inspiration.

CityLit Festival offers this Master Class giving attendees 90 minutes to engage with a celebrated author about writing. Meaningful discussions about craft combined with a lecture, Q & A, exercises, and handouts are provided by some of the greatest authors of our time. Past presenting authors include Kiese Laymon, George Saunders, Susan Straight, Dinaw Mengestu, Kia Corthron, and Yrsa Daley-Ward. They have all graced our stage in virtual and live platforms.

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