Ongoing + Upcoming Groups

If you’ve been itching to get your pen moving but keep making excuses not to, welcome to so many ways to practice. It all counts. And the best part? You don’t have to be good. You just have to show up. 

Let’s write together!

* Two-Week Writing Groups *

High touch and low stakes, with an emphasis on practice, showing up, not editing or polishing, standing up to your inner critic, and connecting with other awesome people.

Next Session:

Stark Beauty
January 30-February 10, 2017

Details + Registration

* Dive Into Poetry *

A month-long poetry party. Come find your own points of access into poetry across centuries, cultures, forms, and styles — and (if you wish) try your hand at writing and sharing some poems of your own. Participation can be totally solo and self-paced, or as part of a group of fellow poetry seekers and lovers. No pomposity or prerequisites — all welcome.

Next Session: April 30, 2017

Details + Registration

* Jumpstart Your Practice *

 Short on time or strapped for cash? Jumpstart or deepen your daily writing practice by devoting just ten minutes a day to showing up. Ten evocative prompts in your inbox will keep your hand moving and help get the words come out.

Details + Registration

* On-Demand Writing Classes *

One Story: Ten Facets
Mini Memoirs
On the Corner: Writing at the Intersection(s)
It’s All Made Up: Freewriting Fiction

Details + Registration

“These prompts are so beautiful, Jena. Thank you for inspiring me with some new channels for my writing. The self-paced course feels spacious. The email in my box each morning feels like an unwrapped present.” – Sue Ann Gleason

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“Jena is a gifted and perceptive facilitator. The format and duration of the class were brilliant and conducive to a gentle opening and gradual deepening of the practice. Every prompt asked me to show up in different ways and revealed how sometimes I jump in head-first, others I kick and fight through resistance. A present, compassionate guide and companion, Jena has succeeded in creating a space where all you have to do is show up, write, and open up to presence and vulnerability, the essential ingredients for clear, honest writing. I recommend this class to everyone, whether you call yourself a writer or not. If you can write, type or dictate your words, you will get something invaluable beyond words from this writing group.” – María José Giménez

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“I have felt amazed at how much the prompts of the past three weeks have elicited from my memories, some long forgotten or seldom visited. The writings from this mini-memoir group feel complete in themselves — even as they also are seeds waiting to germinate.” – Peg Morse Conway

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“It is pretty damn amazing the way Jena can see the threads, the underpinnings, the unconscious rising to the surface into a sentence.” – Marsha Lee Recknagel

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“Jena creates a space of discovery. She cracks you open. She helps you remember why on earth you wanted to write in the first place. Practicing with her and the other participants was pure joy. There were no “shoulds” or “have to’s” or judgments. Just love, generosity, and practice. I am so grateful for this experience.” – Wendy Wisner

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“The writing has been humbling, inspiring, sublime. You have all been part of an evolution in me.” – Margaret Keen

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Your online group classes are so powerful – they create these lasting and lingering connections and camaraderie. I am so grateful I’ve intersected with you. You offer gifts even without knowing that you do so.” – Rudri Bhatt Patel

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“I don’t consider myself ‘a writer’ and like many others, felt some slight anxiety about maybe being in a group with people who had much more experience than I do. But I also knew enough of Jena that I trusted it would feel like a perfectly safe and encouraging environment in which to explore. My goal was to develop more of a writing practice and to find inspiration in the prompts and the reflections of others, and this is what I got. Besides encouraging my own practice of self-expression, enjoying a shared space with others allowed me to receive great feedback and reflections of other women about the effect of my own writing on them. This was a really different way of encouraging a writing practice, and way less intimidating than it would be to be receiving ‘critiques.’ It was all just what I needed. And it was very profound to share our stories among a group of women–finding both the unique and the universal between us.” – Raquel Aronhime

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“Never have I felt so befriended: by the page, by a group of fellow writers, by a teacher and coach. Jena provides a lovely mixture of inspiration, invitation, and validation. And then she throws in something else, something wonderful and ineffable which I can only describe as magic. For how else could a bunch of strangers become so intimate so quickly? Within this sacred circle, we came to trust not only one another, but also our own voices, our process, and most of all, the value of sharing our stories.” – Katrina Kenison

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“The prompts are the best writing exercises I’ve ever done. They are thoughtful, imaginative, visually beautiful, and inspiring. They make me want to do the writing rather than just think about it. Each prompt is like a seed. Out of it grows wonderful new material every day!” – Dawn Skorczewski

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“These two weeks have been deeply meaningful to me, magical. I retired intending to write, and now for the first time I truly feel that I will keep at it. Looking into your heads, hearts, and souls through your writing has been integral to my newfound devotion. I’ve learned from all of you and felt a deep community of spirit among you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Jena, I will be back.” – Jeanne Argoff

Write. Practice. Be Good to Yourself.