Archived here is a list of past SPARK Writing Festival community events linked to their recordings on our YouTube stream.

SPARK 2023: Put Your Words in the World
July 31st – August 4th

SPARK is a community-based creative writing festival. We welcome writers of all experience and we really love bringing new writers to the table. Have you ever felt that small stirring inside of you like you have some words to share? Then SPARK is where you belong!

There’s two ways to experience SPARK:

Ticketed events: grab your ticket for a five-day, in person on UAB’s campus experience. One ticket gets you gets you into both our immersive and genre workshops.

Free Community Events: join us online via Zoom to connect with SPARKers all over the nation. These events are fun creative sessions hosted in the evening and designed to bring us together to celebrate writing.

And if you want even more SPARK content, check out our past Community Events on our youtube page.

Ticketed In-Person Workshops

*immersive and genre workshops included with $80 ticket purchase. For those who may find the cost of attendance challenging, we invite you to apply for the Juliana Wu Scholarship*

Immersive Workshops
Each morning we’ll start with an immersive workshop experience that introduces participants to approaching the writing process from a new angle. These workshops will get participants engaging their senses to connect with the world around them.

• • • • Monday, July 31: Improv Comedy with Chris Davis
      • Tuesday, August 1: Movement + Writing with Brandon Shaw
      • Wednesday, August 2: Nature Writing with Halley Cotton
      • Thursday, August 3: Zine Making Workshop with Halley Cotton
      • Friday, August 4: Scent Workshop with Nellie Beckett

Genre Workshops
Have you really wanted to dig in and commit to your writing? Then the genre workshops are for you. We have 4 in-person workshops hosted on UAB’s campus. Choose one workshop and you’ll get to spend time building community and practicing your writing through 4 days of intentional study. Workshops are held from 10am – Noon, July 31^st – August 3^rd with a community building reception on the 4^th.

• • • • Fiction with Will Walton
        Two-time novelist (I Felt a Funeral in my Brain and Anything Could Happen), Will Walton will create a space for imagination and exploration for those interested in fiction writing.
      • Poetry with Tina Mozelle Braziel
        Phillip Levine Prize poetry winner and fellow of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, Tina Mozelle Braziel guides participants through the poetic process with prompts and a greater awareness of the world around us.
      • Writing for Young Adults with Randi Pink
        Critically acclaimed and award-winning author, Randi Pink will walk workshoppers through how to construct and shape writing literature for young audiences. Participants will have the chance to meet and talk with an agent on their last workshop day.
      • Memoir with Salaam Green
        Known for her transformative healing work and ability to bring out the depth of others’ writing, Salaam Green is an award-winning artist and writer. Her workshop will help unlock the writer within and guide writers through the process of putting their life stories down on the page.

Monday 7/31	Tuesday 8/1	Wed 8/2	Thurs 8/3	Friday 8/4
Improv Immersive Workshop 9-10am	Movement Immersive Workshop 9-10am	Nature Writing Immersive Workshop 9-10am	Zine Making Immersive Workshop 9-10am	Scent Immersive Workshop 9-10am
Genre Workshop 10am-Noon	Genre Workshop 10am-Noon	Genre Workshop 10am-Noon	Genre Workshop 10am-Noon	Community Building 10am-Noon

 

Free Community Events

Free and open to everyone. Please register for Zoom link access. The same Zoom link will connect you to all sessions.

All Sessions are hosted at 7pm Central Time

• Monday, July 31: Journaling through your work in progress with Javacia Harris Bowser
• Tuesday, August 1: How Alabama The Beautiful Magazine is created with Beth Cowan Drake
• Wednesday, August 2: Digital Distribution Workshop with Halley Cotton
• Thursday, August 3: Print Distribution Workshop with Halley Cotton
• Friday, August 4: Digital Poetry/Story Video Workshop with Halley Cotton

Welcome to the SPARK Writing Festival
August 1st – 6th, 2022

SPARK is a community based creative writing initiative by the UAB Department of English designed to spark inspiration and bring writers together. As always, there’s a variety of programming to choose from as well as multiple methods of participation.

Morning Craft Talks with Halley Cotton

Start your day with informative and encouraging craft talks with SPARK Writing Festival’s director, Halley Cotton.

(in person on UAB’s Campus and streamed live via Instagram)
9am-10am (cst)

August 1: Finding Inspiration
August 2: The Writing Process
August 3: Editing
August 4: Publishing
August 5: Forming Community

Immersive workshops

Have you really wanted to dig in and commit to your writing? Then the immersive workshops are for you. We have 3 in-person workshops hosted on UAB’s campus as well as one virtual option. Choose one workshop and you’ll get to spend time building community and practicing your writing through 4 days of intentional study. Workshops are held from 10am – Noon (cst) August 1^st – 4^th with a reception on the 5^th.

Fiction (via Zoom) with Will Walton

Two time novelist (I Felt a Funeral in my Brain and Anything Could Happen), Will Walton will create a space for imagination and exploration for those interested in fiction writing. His online worksop connects SPARK writers from all over into one vibrant community.

 

Poetry (in person) with Tina Mozelle Braziel

Phillip Levine Prize poetry winner and fellow of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, Tina Mozelle Braziel guides participants through the poetic process with prompts and a greater awareness of the world around us.

 

YA Literature (via Zoom) with Randi Pink

Critically acclaimed and award-winning author, Randi Pink will walk workshoppers through how to construct and shape writing literature for young audiences.

 

Memoir (in-person) with Salaam Green 

Known for her transformative healing work and ability to bring out the depth of others’ writing, Salaam Green is an award-winning artist and writer. Her workshop will help unlock the writer within and guide writers through the process of putting their life stories down on the page.

 

 

Registration fee is $80 but scholarship opportunities are available through the Juliana Wu Fund.

Click Here to Register for an Immersive Workshop

Community Events

These free virtual events are open to the public and hosted via Zoom. They’re a perfect fit for you if you need a little more flexibility in your learning schedule. Each session is around an hour long and starts at 7pm (cst). Come to one or catch them all! One Zoom link supports all sessions.

August 1: Ben Bush – an incredible designer and Associate professor at Auburn, Ben will lead participants through organizing their writing flow with sketching and design tools.

August 2: Javacia Harris Bowser – Award-winning freelance journalist and author, Javacia is set to help SPARKers learn how to set and achieve their writing goals with planning and execution

August 3: Jared Nelson – Fantasy writer and gamer, Jared will unlock character and world building exercises by using classic gaming tools

August 4: Michelle Little – Oral historian and audio producer, Michelle will lead attendees through helpful ways of gathering the stories of those around us

August 5: Imani Williams ­– Poet and educator, Imani will create opportunity for writers to experience and practice spoken word poetry

August 6: Keynote Panel (presented at 1pm) – ever wanted to know the who’s who of Alabama writing groups? We have you covered as we invite a variety of Alabama based writing organizations  to chat all in the same space at the same time.

 

 

SPARK July 2021

• Sunday, July 18th at 6pm: SPARK Kick-Off and Flash Fiction Writing with Halley Cotton
• Tuesday, July 20 at 6pm: Slam Poetry with Voice Porter
• Thursday, July 22 at 6pm: Drama with Nichole Lariscy
• Saturday, July 24 at 6pm: Sonnet Writing with Jason Walker
• Sunday, July 25 at 2pm:  Keynote Conversation with Irene Latham and Karim Shamsi-Basha
• Tuesday, July 27 at 6pm: Personal Narrative for the Media with Javacia Harris Bowser
• Thursday, July 29 at 6pm: Where to Go from Here and How to Publish with Halley Cotton
• Saturday, July 31 at 6pm: Poetry with Jennifer Horne

SPARK January 2021

• January 10th @ 7pm: Music and Writing Collide with Lana Austin and Tina Mozelle Braziel
• January 11th @ 7pm: Art meets Writing with Melissa Yes
• January 12th @ 6pm: Character Development Workshop with author Randi Pink
• January 12th @ 7pm: Creative Wrong Memory Workshop with poet Lauren Goodwin Slaughter
• January 13th @ 7pm Writing and Walking to Heal with author & poet Salaam Green
• January 14th @ 6pm Poetry Workshop with Adam Vines
• January 14th @ 7pm Workshop with SPARK Director Halley Cotton
• January 15th @ 7pm Gardening meets Slam Poetry and More with Brian Voice Porter Hawkins
• January 16th @ 10am Keynote Conversation with Patti Callahan Henry

 

SPARK August 2019