Songs of daybreak, nightfall, and the stillness in between: A writing lab with Claudia Castro Luna

$50.00

The order of things may well be that there is no order, only constant shifts and transitions. What’s more, these passages from one thing to another often show up quietly before sound and words. We make as we go, sensing the world with our hands, inquisitive eyes, and ever agile hearts. Sometimes we ourselves are the ones triggering the shifts in the energy we witness. Sometimes we only get to watch the great reveal at the end of a long metamorphosis. In this lab guided by Claudia Castro Luna, we’ll practice writing the swelling and waning of things. We’ll explore writing the ineffable, the ephemeral, the long, beautiful wake of changing things.

We’ll approach this writing practice from three vantage points. First, by reading and discussing short works from a variety of writers who’ve taken on the flux and transit of things. These writers come from diverse backgrounds: we’ll read indigenous poets from the Americas, contemporary American writers, and older voices from other continents. Secondly, we’ll strengthen our observation muscle by writing the things we sense in real time. Lastly, we’ll explore the intersection between place and interior weather.

Thursday, December 3, 2026
12:00-1:30 PM Central Time
Live online

The order of things may well be that there is no order, only constant shifts and transitions. What’s more, these passages from one thing to another often show up quietly before sound and words. We make as we go, sensing the world with our hands, inquisitive eyes, and ever agile hearts. Sometimes we ourselves are the ones triggering the shifts in the energy we witness. Sometimes we only get to watch the great reveal at the end of a long metamorphosis. In this lab guided by Claudia Castro Luna, we’ll practice writing the swelling and waning of things. We’ll explore writing the ineffable, the ephemeral, the long, beautiful wake of changing things.

We’ll approach this writing practice from three vantage points. First, by reading and discussing short works from a variety of writers who’ve taken on the flux and transit of things. These writers come from diverse backgrounds: we’ll read indigenous poets from the Americas, contemporary American writers, and older voices from other continents. Secondly, we’ll strengthen our observation muscle by writing the things we sense in real time. Lastly, we’ll explore the intersection between place and interior weather.

Thursday, December 3, 2026
12:00-1:30 PM Central Time
Live online

This is a live, participatory lab and it will not be recorded. A meeting link will be emailed a few days prior to the lab. Cancellations must be made 48 hours prior to the lab and will be charged a $10 cancellation fee. We offer partial scholarships for our labs. Apply here by November 1.

Claudia Castro Luna is an award-winning poet and writer, an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate fellow (2019-2020), WA State Poet Laureate (2018 – 2021) and Seattle’s inaugural Civic Poet (2015-2018). She is the author of Green the World, One River, A Thousand Voices, Cipota Under the Moon, and Killing Marías. The latter two titles were shortlisted for the WA State Book Award in poetry, 2023 and 2018 respectively. Castro Luna is also the author of the chapbook This City. Her most recent non-fiction is in There's a Revolution Outside, My Love: Letter from a Crisis and in Memory's Vault: The Poetic Heart of Fort Worden. Castro Luna's memoir, The Flowers Along the Way is forthcoming from Curbstone, fall 2026. Born in El Salvador, Castro Luna lives in English and Spanish, and writes and teaches in the Seattle Metro area on unceded Duwamish lands. Watch Castro Luna's Poetry of Place talk at TEDxUofW and the PBS Newshour segment featuring her and her signature project, Seattle Poetic Grid.