About
Writing Workshops
Writes of Spring: Part 1 – Ides of March - 2025
An online memoir writing workshop with Amy Minato
Tuesdays, March 4,11,18
6:00-8:00pm Pacific Time
Registration: $120 or $110 for Fishtrappers
Is the registration fee an obstacle for you to attend this workshop? Fishtrap offers a limited number of scholarships to help with the cost. Contact Program Director Mike Midlo for more information. mike@fishtrap.org
We all have stories we need to tell.
In the March series we stir the soil of our past especially delving into difficult but important memories. In churning this deep material we generate evocative stories that are often the heart of any authentic memoir collection. We will explore examples of trauma writing for ideas of effective stylistic techniques in various genres. As fellow writers and humans we will lean on each other through this challenging, necessary work in a friendly supportive atmosphere. It is recommended and most fulfilling (but not required) to participate in both sessions. All ages, genres, and experience are welcome.
Writes of Spring: Part 2 – April Fools
An online memoir writing workshop with Amy Minato
Tuesdays, April 1,8,15
6:00-8:00pm Pacific Time
Registration: $120 or $110 for Fishtrappers
Is the registration fee an obstacle for you to attend this workshop? Fishtrap offers a limited number of scholarships to help with the cost. Contact Program Director Mike Midlo for more information. mike@fishtrap.org
Time to bloom!
This season we write with whimsy and finesse about what brings joy and celebration. We expand. We write as a source of growth toward the light and explore how to transform story seeds into flowers with the soil, still clinging to our stems. We will glean effective stylistic techniques from sample writing of various genres. Prompts will promote imagination, humor and love. There will be deep sighs and laughter. Come play with us! It is recommended and most fulfilling (but not required) to participate in both sessions. All ages, genres, and experience are welcome.
An Online Creative Writing Workshop with Amy Minato
Saturday, October 21, 2023, 10:00am – 12:00pm
Registration $90 ($80 Fishtrappers)
All ages and experiences are welcome
Save your spot at Fishtrap.org
Youth Writing Workshop: Writing Poetry From Art
Portland Book Festival
Saturday, November 4, 2023, 10:00 - 11:30 A.M. | GRADES 9-12
Students will discover parallels between visual and written art, and use pleces In the gallery collection to Inspire poetry. Activitles will Include practicing Imagery, form, metaphor, and perspective to engage In conversation with actual paintings In a supportive writing community.
No prevlous writing experlence necessary! The only requlrement Is to bring your Imaginatlon and good vibes.
Workshops take place at Rental Sales Gallery, 1237 SW 10th Ave.
Free of charge, but registration is required.
Learn more and sign up at pdxbookfest.com
Memorials
An Online Workshop with Amy Minato
Saturday, November 12, 2022
10:00am – 12:00pm pacific time
Registration $60 ($55 Fishtrappers)
Register Now at Fishtrap: www,fishtrap.org
Spend a few hours with someone you miss. In this season of All Souls we welcome back those who are gone from our lives. This workshop will offer you tools for commemorating people you love in words that speak deeper than photos. Use memoir writing skills to revive someone, or a part of yourself, whom you have lost. We will use prompts to release memories then organize these into short prose pieces and/or poems. Whether you want to honor someone at an event, share your writing with family and friends, keep a vivid cameo for yourself, or just bask in time spent with a dear one, join us.
A New Leaf: A Creative Writing Workshop
Breitenbush Conference Center
June 7-9, 2022
Contact amyminato@gmail.com
Just as our cottonwoods and conifers unfurl their foliage this season, stretch and open yourself through writing. Examine new forms of expression and be inspired by discoveries as you turn over the leaves of your personal journey. Immersed in this place of riffling waters and wind-strummed trees we’ll practice ways to shape your findings into effective writing. This workshop develops organically with participant interest. Themes we may consider include loss, hope, change and love. We will weave being outdoors with readings, discussions and writing in a fun, relaxed, supportive atmosphere. All writing levels welcome!
Amy Minato is author of Siesta Lane, a creative nonfiction book about living in a rural community and The Wider Lens, a poetry collection. Her writing has been recognized with a 2004 Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship and her prose with a Walden Fellowship. She currently teaches a sustainable living course at PSU and offers writing workshops through Literary Arts, Wordstock and at conference centers. She and her family migrate between Portland and the Wallowa Mountains.
Friday 7-8:30pm
Saturday 10-11:30am and 2- 3:30
Informal reading Saturday night 7-8pm
$100 workshop/$25 space rental fees
LIMIT 12 participants Date TBD
Nature Awareness
Breitenbush Conference Center
Date to be decided
Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, is a Japanese healing practice that is proven to: reduce stress, improve mood, increase concentration, aid sleep and generate energy. Nature experience strengthens our bodies and senses while bacteria in the soil aids in digestion and the release of serotonin. In this workshop we explore how to increase both the quantity and quality of our time outside and to create new rhythms that foster an intimacy with nature.. We may stargaze, lie in the grass, bask in the sun, rinse in the river, make rock cairns, and of course, soak in pools. We will also study local ecology, share inspirational readings and find creative ways to express a deepening relationship with the wild while relaxing and healing our spirits in the regenerative Breitenbush environment.
Amy Minato is author of Siesta Lane, a creative nonfiction book about living in a rural community and The Wider Lens, a poetry collection. Her writing has been recognized with a 2004 Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship and her prose with a Walden Fellowship. She currently teaches a sustainable living course at PSU and offers writing workshops through Literary Arts, Wordstock and at conference centers.
Friday 7-8:30pm
Saturday 10-11:30am and 2- 3:30
Stargazing Saturday night 8pm
Cost of lodging plus
$100 workshop/$25 space rental fees
LIMIT 12 participants Date TBD
Turning Over Stones: A Creative Writing Workshop
Date TBD
Just as we discover those zen-like salamanders hidden under logs, crawdads under rocks, looking below the surface of daily life reveals meaning. Come be inspired by what you find as we turn over the stones of our lives beneath elder trees and beside the effervescent Breitenbush River. Then practice ways to shape your findings into effective writing. This workshop develops organically with participant interest. Themes we may consider include loss, hope, change, love and spiritual quest. We will weave being outdoors with readings, discussions and writing in a fun, relaxed, supportive atmosphere. All writing levels welcome!
Amy Minato is author of Siesta Lane, a creative nonfiction book about living in a rural community and The Wider Lens, a poetry collection. Her writing has been recognized with a 2004 Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship and her prose with a Walden Fellowship. She currently teaches a sustainable living course at PSU and offers writing workshops through Literary Arts, Wordstock, Fishtrap and Multnomah Art Center.
Friday 7-8:30pm
Saturday 10-11:30am and 2- 3:30
Stargazing Saturday night 8pm
$100 workshop/$25 space rental fees
LIMIT 12 participants
The Practice of Simple Living
Breitenbush Conference Center
Date TBD
In this workshop we learn ways to move toward essentials and away from frenzy and clutter. We renew our relationship to personal values then recreate our lifestyles to honor what brings us meaning and joy. We refresh our relationship to time and work and collaborate on how to live saner, calmer and thus healthier lives. Participants align the externals of their lives with their internal values as we move toward moderation in our relationship to stuff, time, work and technology.
Friday 7-8:30pm
Saturday 10-11:30am and 2- 3:30
Stargazing Saturday night 8pm
$100 workshop/$25 space rental fees
Portland workshops
Garden Writes
Private Portland Residence, Quarterly (dates TBA) 10am-2pm, $40
A small group of writers gather seasonally to write, wander garden paths and share a scrumptious potluck together. Prompts derive from nature inspiration. Newbies welcome. Fun and fruitful!
Toasts, Tributes and Love Poems
Spring
Multnomah Art Center, $25
We all have folks to laud but many of us need help expressing our sentiments. Be prepared for the next wedding, memorial, mother’s or father’s day, graduation or birthday with a well-written celebration of someone you love. Draw on stories, memories and ideas to practice skills in characterization, audience and dramatic technique. Learn how to craft a brief cameo that lingers in the hearts of your audience.
Testimomials From Workshop Participants
“Not every poet can teach and not every teacher of poetry can write it at the highest level. Amy is rare in that she is both a fine poet and an exceptional teacher. Her poetry writing workshop at Breitenbush was more than just what I was hoping to find in a workshop, it turned out to be exactly what I needed to find in a workshop. Amy delights in fine writing; she inspires her students to join her in pushing themselves to look for the best they have to offer, and she does it in a way that affirms the value of one's struggle. Amy is a talented guide and fellow traveler into the mysteries and rewards of embracing the poet in oneself. You'll thank yourself for taking one of her workshops.” - Reed Clarke, Breitenbush
“This was the best experience (like this) that I have ever had. It beats them all! It was informative, personal and intimate. The writing exercises and partner-critique sessions were very helpful.” Fishtrap Writing Workshop participant
“Very helpful prompts and structuring. Encouraged participation and dialogue. A superb instructor/facilitator.” Writing Circle participant
“Amy is an extraordinary instructor and was great as a group leader. I loved all the writing we did; even though some of it came hard to me, it was all so valuable.” Opal Creek Workshop participant.
