Inexplicably, it is nearly 2025, which means a few things for Blue Stoop. - Our staff (a.k.a. Taylor and I) will be on a much-needed break from December 21 through January 5. Expect an auto-reply if you email us during that period, and delays in adding new items to the community calendar. If you want to add a December or January event to the calendar, send it in by 12/20, 4:00pm (ET).
- Our community access fundraiser auction will close this Friday at 10:00am (ET). Bid now for your chance at winning a photoshoot, query critique, pottery class, pet portrait, and so much more. Some items may not get sent until after we return from break. Same deal with the digital resources we promised to those who donate to the general campaign fund. Thank you for your patience!
- Spring classes will open for enrollment in early January. Keep an eye on our class page for a sneak peak in the coming days. Also, if you took a class with us this fall, please, pretty please, fill out that feedback form we sent you. I'm not too proud to beg.
- After this Wednesday, 12/18, public programs like Thursdays on the Stoop (TOTS) and Creative Coworking will go on a brief hiatus until mid-January or so. This break will give us time to get our ducks in a row re: scheduling, reviewing applications, etc. Speaking of which, if you'd like to share a literary skill or guide community members through a writing prompt, pitch us a TOTS workshop!
- Last but not least: Looking for a holiday gift for a special writer in your life? Consider a Blue Stoop gift card! Digital gift cards = no postal service delays = no stress. The math is mathing, as they say.
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Taylor and I had a good chat about our first year of co-directorship, including lessons learned, imposter syndrome, misconceptions about Blue Stoop, and our dreams for 2025. Is it a podcast? Taylor says it isn't, but I'll leave that to you to decide. Is it funny? Again, it's subjective, but we are both fairly silly people. Will we ever make a second episode? No way to know, so enjoy it while it's here! |
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Need a transcript for accessibility? Let us know and we'll provide one ASAP! |
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- Wednesday, 12/18, 3:30 – 5:30 pm ET: The final Creative Coworking of 2024. Creative Coworking is a generative, virtual drop-in session with peers. Stop by for a few minutes or stay for the whole session — it’s totally up to you. Use this time to write, edit, read, daydream, or whatever best serves your literary life. We will open and close the session with 10 minutes to check-in about our writing goals, obstacles, etc. (FREE/VIRTUAL)
- Friday, 12/20, 10:00 am ET: Blue Stoop's Community Access auction closes! Place a bid for a chance to win a fiction critique, tarot reading, kayaking excursion and more!
- Friday, 12/20, 4:00 pm ET: Last chance to submit events to our Community Calendar before we leave for winter break!
- Saturday, 12/20 – Sunday, 1/5: Winter break! Blue Stoop will be closed for winter vacation. Spring classes will open for registration in January and kick off in February. Stay tuned!
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In solidarity, Julian Shendelman
Co-Director P.S. Looking for more local literary connections? Check out our community calendar and resource pages. |
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Got an event, organization, business, or book to promote? |
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BEYOND THE STOOP Here's a quick excerpt from our community calendar. Adding an event is quick, easy, and free! |
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~~~~~~~~~ Event title Atop An Underwood #7 at Philly Typewriter Start time 12/18/2024 6:00pm Location Philly Typewriter, 1735 East Passyunk Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19148 Description We return to Philly Typewriter with jazz poems, stories of summer travels, and songs of gratitude. We’ll channel the counterculture of the Beat Generation in community and spoken word. In addition, the typewriters will be set up to write an original scroll like Jack Kerouac’s On The Road together. All are welcome. Aspiring beatniks, dharma bums, and general poetry lovers encouraged. Come for the featured readers and stay for the open mic. This will be a casual night, with lots of warmth and good fun. A perfect community to try your hands at a typewriter and find your voice in a poem. Featured performer includes: Karen Smith Drums Refreshments will be provided. Bring your friends. Link Contact info dreampoetforhire@gmail.com Cost Free ~~~~~~~~~ Event title Solstice Afternoon: Reflections on Rhythms With Poet Jena Osman Start time 12/21/2024 12:00pm Location Wharton Esherick Museum, 1520 Horse Shoe Trail, Malvern, PA 19355 Description Join us on Saturday, December 21st from 1:00-2:30PM in the 1956 Workshop as we round out a wonderful year focused on the theme of rhythms with award winning Philadelphia-based poet Jena Osman. Jena Osman has authored numerous poetry collections, with her latest collection A Very Large Array (2023) spanning three decades of poetic and intellectual exploration. At WEM, the solstice marks a time for reflection, meaningful conversation, and community. Jena Osman’s poetry is grounded in historical and archival materials that she transforms into new forms of storytelling that shed light on our present moment. The selection of works Jena Osman will be reading draws our attention to the rhythms of history and locale, while asking us to think critically about the rhythms of our daily lives today. Osman’s poetry covers topics from the Mummers, Philadelphia statuary, and Walt Whitman’s phrenology readings to the history of physiology, photography, and capturing human rhythms. Questions and conversation with the poet will be interspersed throughout the reading. The Studio will be open in the half-hour leading up to the reading in the 1956 Workshop beginning at 1:30. Light fare and refreshments will be provided! Link Contact info info@whartonesherickmuseum.org Cost $25 per person. $20 for WEM members ~~~~~~~~~ Event title Marathon reading of Midwinter Day Start time 12/21/2024 1:00pm Location Lot 49 Books, 408 East Girard Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125 Description Marathon reading of Bernadette Mayer's Midwinter day, an epic poem about daily routine. Contact info ebssanderss@gmail.com Cost Free ~~~~~~~~~ |
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1315 Walnut Street, Suite 300
Philadelphia, PA 19107, United States |
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