This workshop was offered in 2026. Sign up for our email list to receive updates for the 2027 conference.
Tethering Theme:
Crafting Micro Essays
Writing Workshop in New Jersey
January 16-19, 2026
Led by Darla Himeles
In this supportive, generative workshop, we’ll read and discuss micro essays—“essayettes”—to explore how writing a series of thematically linked flash creative nonfiction pieces will yield surprising layers of connection. Together, we’ll create an essayette toolkit, exploring how imagery, syntactical play and formal constraint can help break new ground in our work. We will conduct short, energizing writing experiments in class and set aside ample time to write. The opportunity to give and receive constructive, encouraging feedback will further sharpen our vocabulary and inspire our writing. You are welcome to start a new series of drafts, or bring previously-written work in need of fresh energy. No prior experience with creative nonfiction is necessary.
*Limited to just 10 participants.*
“The workshop leaders are talented and compassionate, pushing you to new levels. The atmosphere is charged with creativity and appreciation for the work of others. I travel from Chicago to attend and have not been disappointed.”
~ Donna, Willowbrook, IL
Darla Himeles
Darla Himeles (they/them) is a Philadelphia-based poet and an assistant teaching professor at Widener University. They are the author of the chapbook Flesh Enough and the full-length poetry collection Cleave, both published by Get Fresh Books. Their poems and essays have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net and can be read in recent and forthcoming issues of Beloit Poetry Journal, The Gay & Lesbian Review, The Massachusetts Review, Honey Literary and American Poetry Review. They hold an AB in English from Bryn Mawr College, an MFA in poetry and poetry in translation from Drew University and a PhD in American literature from Temple University. Find Darla on Instagram @darlahimelespoetry, read a piece by Darla and learn more at darlahimelespoetry.com.
