Join us on Saturday, October 31st, 2020 from 1:00pm-2:00pm CDT for a generative workshop with featured reader Michael Torres:

Autumn has always been a very reflective time for me, maybe especially because I’m a writer. Mostly it’s a time to think about endings, but I also save a lot of room for appreciation, honor and love. In this generative workshop, we’ll talk about the elegy as a form and a bit of its history. We’ll also go over a few of my favorite elegies before we jump into writing our own. Since I believe the elegy is quite a personal form, I’ll bring along many different writing prompts that will hopefully serve as inspiration.

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Space is limited to 20 participants.

The workshop will take place virtually via Zoom with Otter Live Captions. An ASL interpreter will be present. Access copies of workshop materials will be made available via Google Docs.

Register for the virtual workshop by clicking on the "Registration" button on the Eventbrite page, donating any amount you can, and entering the required fields. You will receive an email with the Zoom information.

Suggested donation of $5.

NOTE: If you are unable to donate at this time, simply enter $1.00 as your donation amount (not zero) and click "check out," and then click "pay at the door" as your payment option. Once you have filled out all required fields, you will still be able to register, and you can keep your dollar.

Every donation to Open Mouth Reading Series supports our programming, ASL interpreters, and feature poets. Become a monthly patron on Patreon or make a one-time donation at on PayPal or to our GoFundMe campaign.

For more Poetry Festival events, visit the Events page on our website.

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Michael Torres was born and brought up in Pomona, California where he spent his adolescence as a graffiti artist. His debut collection of poems, An Incomplete List of Names (Beacon Press 2020) was selected by Raquel Salas Rivera for the National Poetry Series. His honors include awards and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the McKnight Foundation, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, CantoMundo, VONA Voices, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Jerome Foundation, the Camargo Foundation, and the Loft Literary Center. Currently he’s an Assistant Professor in the MFA program at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and a teaching artist with the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop. Visit him at michaeltorreswriter.com

Event header image description

Left side: image of open mouth logo—a line drawing of lips around an open mouth with tongue & uvula snowing behind teeth, two of which are gold—on a blue background overlaid with the text "Writing Workshop: The Elegy in October, with Michael Torres." Availability of sign language interpretation is indicated by the presence of an icon showing two hands signing in the bottom left corner.

Right side: This author photo was taken by my friend Henry Jimenez while I was visiting home in southern California in 2018. It was summer so a white shirt was all I was willing to dress up in. I met up with Henry in old town Temecula, near where he now lives. I've known Henry for over a decade and promised him--way back when we worked retail together at the mall--that I would like him to be the one to take my author photo when I "became a writer." This was circa 2008, twelve years before the publication of my first book. Henry and I are still good friends. (Photo Credit: Henry Jimenez)

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Many thanks to the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Arkansas for supporting this year's festival.