Workshops with Yellow Arrow Publishing
Yellow Arrow workshops are supportive, generative, small-group sessions offered online. Each workshop is led by a talented and supportive instructor. Writers of all levels and genres are encouraged to join! Workshops are fantastic for emerging writers seeking an encouraging community of creatives, or for experienced writers looking for inspiration for new drafts. Workshop enrollments are intended for women-identifying writers unless stated otherwise.
If you’re not sure which workshops you want to enroll for yet, you can commit to making time for your creative journey by purchasing a Gift of Writing card now and use it to sign up for individual classes as you like. The Gift of Writing cards also make incredible gifts for the other writers in your life! You can purchase one here.
Best yet, the voucher never expires. And it is good for all workshops and classes!
Please consider donating a spot in one of Yellow Arrow Publishing’s workshops to a writer with financial hardship. When you donate a space, we’ll share with our community that we have free slots open and identify writers with financial hardships who are interested in participating.
If you are interested in attending one of our workshops but find the cost prohibitive, join our No-Cost Workshop Wait List. When a no-cost space becomes available, we will contact you!
2026 Fall Workshop Schedule
august Submissions Workshop
If you’ve ever thought about submitting work to Yellow Arrow, this workshop is for you! In this special free session, we will offer inspiration and writing prompts around the next journal’s theme (Keep an eye on our blog for the official theme announcement).
Take some time to escape into your creativity on the page. And hopefully, by the end of this session, you’ll have a piece of writing that you can polish and send our way for consideration.
When: August 6, 6:00-7:00 p.m. EST
Where: Zoom (link provided after registration)
Class Size: 15 participants
About the instructor:
Annie Marhefka is a writer in Baltimore, Maryland; she is the recipient of the 2024 Eunice Williams Nonfiction Prize, has been featured on The Slowdown Show, and nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Annie is the Executive Director at Yellow Arrow Publishing, a Baltimore-based nonprofit empowering women-identifying writers. Annie has received support from the Maryland State Arts Council, Gullkistan Center for the Arts, Martha’s Vineyard Institute for Creative Writing, and Tin House. She has a BA in creative writing from Washington College and an MBA, and is an MFA candidate at the University of Baltimore. She has authored two collections, Strangers We Know By Heart with Garden Party Collective and Baltimore, a travelogue memoir, for the Writer in Sites series by Scrawl Place. When Annie is not writing, she is usually trying to find her way back to the water. Follow Annie on Instagram @anniemarhefka and at anniemarhefka.com.
Register here.
Poetry is Life
In each class we will read and discuss new poets and old favorites who have written gems on our monthly theme. We will continue to study and gain inspiration from women poets. Past themes have included writing about nature, grief, protest, and more. In the class you will write and share new work. You will come away from each session with three or four drafts. Participants will have the opportunity to share work with their cohort and the instructor between sessions.
When: 11:00 am-1:30 pm EST
September 12, October 3, November 7, December 5
$35/session or $115 for all 4 sessions (Sep-Dec)
You are strongly encouraged to register for the full 6 sessions. However, you are invited to attend one session at a time as you are available.
Where: Zoom (link provided after registration)
Class Size: 15 participants
About the instructor:
Ann Quinn is the poetry editor for Yellow Arrow Journal and conducts writing workshops at The Writer’s Center, for Yellow Arrow, and at writer’s conferences throughout the country. Ann holds an MFA in poetry from Pacific Lutheran University and lives in Catonsville, Maryland with her family. Her award-winning work can be read in Poet Lore, Potomac Review, Little Patuxent Review, Vietnam War Poetry, Haibun Today, and other journals and is included in the anthology Red Sky: Poetry on the Global Epidemic of Violence Against Women. Her chapbook, Final Deployment, is published by Finishing Line Press. Visit her at annquinn.net.
Register here.
writing through darkness: Creating Powerful Poetry and Prose During Difficult Times
Join writer and editor Elaina Battista-Parsons for a prose and poetry course about taking your pain and anger and turning it into commanding and powerful text. We will journal, list, have discussions, and consider information from a mentor text called, Feeding Your Demons by Tsultrim Allione, an American Buddhist leader who unravels Tibetan wisdom in ways that can inspire words on the page. This course is a way to transform some of our anguish in present times into written pieces that provide a path for healing. We can create something beautiful out of ruins.
When: 6:30 pm-8:30 pm EST
October 8, 15, 22
$30/ session or $75 for the 3 session bundle
Where: Zoom (link provided after registration)
Class Size: 15 participants
About the instructor:
Elaina has seen her poetry, essays, and short stories published across dozens of literary journals. She’s also served as Editor in Chief for installment number two of a micro fiction anthology called 50-word Stories of 2023, while also acting as an acquisitions reader for Vine Leaves Press in the genres of memoir and historical fiction. She is also an active member of the Ocean County chapter for NOW: National Organization for Women.
Over the course of the last two years, Elaina has continued to devote her time to a few very important purposes—her favorite being The Toms River Arts Community (TRAC), bringing to fruition one of her final graduate projects that began as a hypothetical. In June 2025, Elaina collaborated with a two Jersey Shore high schools to collect and curate poetry, paintings, and textiles for a Queer Art Exhibition currently displayed in one of the main gallery windows in downtown Toms River. Future art exhibits for TRAC will call upon Elaina’s writing skills for informational panels and object labels. Elaina also served as communications coordinator for the Trans Equity Coalition’s community social calendar in 2024: a grassroots resource for transgender and nonbinary individuals in New Jersey.
Elaina is a writer, teacher, and graduate student. She wrote a short memoir collection of essays and poetry (Italian Bones in the Snow) and a short story collection (Heart and Salt) both published by Vine Leaves Press. She loves ice cream, antiques, dogs, and actively advocating for LGBTQ+ community. She’s a graduate student through CUNY in Museum Studies. Her newest memoir about growing up with sensory dysregulation in the 1980s and 1990s called Chomp, Press, Pull is a full-on immersive encounter. She loves ice cream, antiques, and fabric patterns.
Register here.
June Jordan and the Protest Poem
June Jordan believed in the concept of “Poetry for the People” and demonstrated this through her staunch dedication to protest poetry. In this course, we’ll spend time with political poetry and examine its artistic purpose. What can be achieved through the protest poem that differs from other poetic forms? How might one’s identity shape their relationship to political poetry? Participants should walk away with a clearer understanding of how to incorporate personal politics into poetry. The ideal participant is beginner to intermediate.
When: September 17, 7:00-8:30 p.m. EST
Where: Zoom (link provided after registration)
Class Size: 15 participants
About the instructor:
Musu Bangura is an artist originally from Washington, D.C. and currently residing in Chicago, Illinois. They are the author of the essay-book “…Considers Lil’ Kim’s Hard Core.” Their work has been published in New Delta Review, Apogee Journal, Southeast Review, and more. In 2020, they were selected as a 2020 Best of the Net Poetry finalist. Musu is a teaching artist at the Chicago Poetry Center, and has served as a judge for three years at Poetry Out Loud’s City and Metro Regionals. Musu can be found gazing at Lake Michigan or under a weighted blanket.
Register here.
Bear Fragments
Illuminating a “truth” for your reader—that tingle, or gut punch, or nausea, or warmth, etc. —is part of a writer’s magic. Practicing your magic formula, ensuring that your meaningful goals land with your reader, takes both technique and also some amount of artistic play.
With a focus on Christine Byl’s flash nonfiction piece “Bear Fragments”, as well as other excerpts, this session is part generative workshop, part craft study. After our session you’ll have familiarized yourself with new tools to reach your reader beyond plot (like structure, detail, and musicality) which can be applied to your work in creative ways.
When: September 5, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm EST
Where: Zoom (link provided after registration)
Class Size: 15 participants
About the instructor:
Lillian Deja Snortland’s poetry, essays, features, creative nonfiction, and short stories have appeared in Postscript Magazine, OUCH! Magazine, Goucher Magazine, Yellow Arrow Publishing, and Amplify Arts publications, as well as been performed at Voxel theater and exhibited at the Temporary Arts Centre in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Her essay “The Tragedies of Ecstasy” was nominated for a 2025 Pushcart Prize through After the Art literary magazine.
Her work moves within the intersection of internal social anxiety and external visceral transformation, often situated in surreal liminal spaces and featuring the permeability of the physical body. She loves collaborating with teams in any creative medium, including film writing/production (having participated in the Baltimore 48 Hour Film Project and the Maryland 72 Film Fest), tabletop role-play, and musical jams.
Originally from Eugene, Oregon, Snortland graduated from Carleton College with a B.A. in Classical Studies and a Minor in French/Francophone Studies, and has an M.F.A in Nonfiction from Goucher College. She enjoys lounging in parks, zooming via public transit to Baltimore cultural events, and hosting thematic parties in her apartment.
Register here.
Hit the stage: Your work out loud
You’ve done the work on the page, now it’s time to hit the stage. Whether it’s an open mic or an intimate reading among your peers, sharing your work out loud is one of the most immediate ways to draw readers in. But how do you make sure that your words land once the mic is in your hand. This workshop will offer you some practical strategies for planning for your first reading. We’ll talk about choosing pieces to read, preparing for the venue, pace, and so much more. You’ll also have a chance to practice reading. By the end of the workshop, you’ll be ready for your first or next reading. You only need to bring yourself and a few of your favorite pieces (yours or one from your favorite writer).
When: October 26, 6:00-7:30 p.m. EST
Where: Zoom (link provided after registration)
Class Size: 15 participants
About the instructor:
Raychelle Heath (she/her) is the Co-director of the Unicorn Authors Club where she also serves as a Sanctuary coach and Curriculum coordinator. She also works as the Workshop Programming and Curriculum Manager for Yellow Arrow Publishing. Outside of her work, she is a poet, artist, teacher, yoga and meditation guide, and podcaster. She holds a BA in languages with a focus in Spanish, an MFA in poetry, and is a VONA alum. While Raychelle primarily writes poetry, she considers herself a storyteller. Her work explores the multi-faceted experiences of black women in the world. She is also an avid traveler and often weaves her travel experiences into her work. She has been published in various places including Travel Noire, Fourth Wave, Feelszine, Yellow Arrow Journal, The Brazen Collective, and Community Building Art Works. When she is not writing, she is engaging with the wellness community as a certified Kripalu Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and Mind Body Meditation instructor.
Register here.
Putting Together A ChapBook
The chapbook has been around since the 16th century, and it has recently experienced a surge in popularity. But what exactly is it? And how do you put one together? In this 2-hour workshop, Yellow Arrow chapbook author Matilda Young will share some standout examples, and they will share some recommendations for how to create your own poetry chapbook. You will hopefully leave this workshop with some inspiration and concrete tools you can use to build your own. (Participants in this workshop will need to bring 5-10 of their own poems on the day of the workshop.)
When: November 7, 12:00-2:00 p.m. EST
Where: Zoom (link provided after registration)
Class Size: 15 participants
About the instructor:
Matilda Young (she/they) is a writer with an M.F.A. in Poetry from UMD. They have been published in several journals, including Anatolios Magazine, Breakwater Review, and Entropy Magazine’s Blackcackle. Their debut chapbook, Drift, is being published by Yellow Arrow in October 2026. She enjoys Edgar Allan Poe jokes, haphazard suburban birding and being obnoxious about the benefits of stovetop popcorn.
Register here.