Drop-In Writing Circles

Create and collaborate.

Hugo House drop-in writing circles are free and open to all! Come on in, get inspired, and meet other writers. Bring something you’re working on, or just come ready to write. You will have the opportunity to share your work and get feedback—but only if you want to (no pressure). You can also use this time to explore your current work in progress, surrounded by fellow writers.

Poetry Circle with Jeanine Walker

In this group, we’ll focus on generative writing through poetry prompts. The session will begin with introductions and a short warm-up, after which we’ll read two separate poems and write in response to those. At times writers will be invited to create community through sharing words or ideas with other writers in small groups. Attendees will leave the class with up to three new drafts of poems. Designed for all writers, this group supports poets as well those working in other genres, as the skills practiced in poetry can be thought of as “cross-training” for memoir and fiction, too.

Jeanine Walker is the author of The Two of Them Might Outlast Me (2022). She has received writing fellowships from Artist Trust, the Jack Straw Cultural Center, Wonju, UNESCO City of Literature, and Inprint. Her work has appeared in Bennington Review, New Ohio Review, Pleiades, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere. A poet with a Ph.D. in creative writing from the University of Houston, Jeanine is a long-time poetry teacher and most recently taught English at Kangwon National University in Chuncheon, South Korea.

Multi-Genre Circle with Alma García

Our mission during this time of distraction, artistic fatigue, and social isolation is to create a regular time and space for writers to write and to meet each other. In this group, writers introduce themselves and are provided optional fiction, poetry and nonfiction prompts to work on for 60-70 minutes of sustained silent writing time, though they are more than welcome to work on their own projects instead. Small group breakout sessions at the end of our time together encourage participants to share and respond to work generated during the session, or just get to know the other writers in the group.

Alma García’s debut novel, All That Rises, is forthcoming from University of Arizona Press in October of 2023. Her short fiction has appeared as an award-winner in Narrative Magazine, Enizagam, Passages North, and Boulevard; has most recently appeared in phoebe, Kweli Journal, Duende, and Bluestem; and appears in anthologies including Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century (Cutthroat Journal of the Arts). She is a past recipient of a fellowship from the Rona Jaffe Foundation. She is a fiction instructor and manuscript consultant at Hugo House.

Write with Hugo House with Miz Floes

Write with Hugo House is a free drop-in writing circle for adults of all ages and genres of writing. Bring something you’re working on, or just come ready to write. You will have the opportunity to share your work and get feedback—but only if you want to (no pressure). You can also use this time to increase productivity on your current work in progress, surrounded by fellow writers.

Miz Portiontè Floes was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. As a youth residing in the urban richness of a “concrete jungle”, she was no stranger to poverty. Miz has always been fascinated with cultural history as well as literature. Despite Miz’s profound fondness for music, it was through poetry that Miz found her escape from the madness that surrounded her, as an at-risk youth in a large city. What began as escape soon transformed into passion. Miz’s first manuscript, I’m Still Growing Vol. 1, was self-published in 2005. Miz has delved even further into the world of poetic verse; authoring five additional poetic manuscripts, and three spoken word theater productions! Her artistry continues to evolve.