The American Dream: Writing to American Art

Workshop Description

What does the American Dream look like? How have artists portrayed the nation's aspirations, contradictions, struggles, and possibilities? In this generative writing workshop, we'll explore paintings by artists such as Thomas Cole, Winslow Homer, George Bellows, Edward Hopper, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Using the Amherst Writers & Artists method, we'll draw inspiration from these works to discover our own narratives of identity, belonging, place, and possibility—in prose, poetry, or hybrid forms. No experience necessary. All genres welcome.

Workshop Details

Winter 2027
Dates: January 5, 12, 19, 26
Four sessions with Barbara Krasner on Zoom
Tuesdays from 6:30 to 8:30 P.M. (ET)
$215

Register for Dreamworlds: Writing to Surrealistic Art

Workshop Facilitator

Barbara Krasner has been a certified AWA workshop facilitator since 2013. Her literary work has appeared in more than seventy literary journals. Her love of ekphrastic writing has helped through a period of chronic illness and has resulted in many literary works, including poetry published or forthcoming in The Ekphrastic Review, MacQueen's Quinterly, Main Street Rag, Last Stanza Poetry Journal, The Jewish Writing Project, and elsewhere. Her ekphrastic poetry collections include Poems of the Winter Palace (Bottlecap Press, 2025), The Night Watch: Poems (Kelsay Books, 2025), Insomnia: Poems after Lee Krasner (Dancing Girl Press, 2026) and the forthcoming The Wanderers (Shanti Arts, 2026). She is the author of several fabulist short stories and is at work on a poetry collection in response to artwork by female surrealists.

Comments

 “Barbara is an excellent facilitator!  As a novice writer I was hesitant that her workshops would work for me, but I needn’t have worried.  Each session is a safe space, and she creates a helpful and supportive community.”—Diane Jacobs, Florida

I had the pleasure of joining Barbara Krasner and other students for her ekphrastic writing program through River Heron Review. She was a phenomenal instructor: knowledgeable in the topic and generous in providing extensive resources for those interested in learning more or getting published. Barbara created a safe and welcoming environment, encouraging each of us to share our work and offer positive feedback to others. She, like the rest of us, read her work after each writing prompt, again contributing to an environment of collaboration equity and safety.Out of this program, I generated several poems a few of which have since been published.

I would recommend this class to anyone who would like to explore, ekphrastic writing. I for one got far more out of it than than the price of admission. Kirk Lawson

Questions: editors@riverheronreview.com

Refunds: Up to one week prior to the workshop start date, full refund minus $15 processing fee. After that time, there are no refunds.

Workshop sessions are not recorded, nor are there make up sessions.