upcoming classes & events
The process of “waking up” spiritually can be jarring, isolating, and even scary. In this summer-long class, we’ll read three “spiritual awakening” memoirs and write generatively about our own initiatory processes, studying the craft challenges specific to this type of storytelling.
How do negative energies, ancestral curses, dead family members, and other spiritual phenomena impact what’s possible in your writing process? Join me for a lecture and Q&A at the intersection of shamanism and writing—and free yourself to move forward.
The creative writing classroom is not an explicitly healing space—yet writers regularly bring their stories of trauma into workshops. In this 6-hour intensive, learn when writing heals and harms, gain tools for mentoring writers on trauma narratives, discuss classroom best practices, and assess your own self-regulation skills.
Inspired by Chanel Miller’s Brainstorm Series appearance at The Center for the Arts in Jackson Hole? Get started writing your own story by joining author Katherine Standefer and the Community Safety Network at Teton County Library for a two-hour trauma writing workshop.
Join Kati for 45 minutes of writing prompts and community-connecting conversation at the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes Foundation Conference hosted at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.
All humans die. To focus on this fundamental truth can be macabre-- yet death exists hand in hand with some of our most powerful, precious, and beautiful experiences. In this 6-week nonfiction class, we'll explore the craft of writing about death, noticing the narrative structures and syntax that effectively hold brutal experiences.
Join us for a facilitated book club conversation about Lightning Flowers with Kati at Violet Volumes Bookstore in Victor, ID.
Join Kati and the Teton Science Schools for a book talk and conversation on the iconic porch of conservationist Mardy Murie’s cabin on the historic Murie Ranch.
Although writing can be healing, crafting and publishing our most difficult stories can make trauma worse. In this 3-week workshop hosted over Zoom, learn how the physiological processes of trauma and shame interact with a writing process and use tools adapted from clinical practice to begin safely generating your own work.
All humans die. To focus on this fundamental truth can be macabre-- yet death exists hand in hand with some of our most powerful, precious, and beautiful experiences. In this 6-week nonfiction class, we'll explore the craft of writing about death, noticing the narrative structures and syntax that effectively hold brutal experiences.
Although writing can be healing, crafting and publishing our most difficult stories can make trauma worse. In this 4-hour workshop hosted over Zoom, learn how the physiological processes of trauma and shame interact with a writing process and use tools adapted from clinical practice to begin safely generating your own work.
The creative writing classroom is not an explicitly healing space—yet writers regularly bring their stories of trauma into workshops. In this 4-hour intensive, learn when writing heals and harms, discuss best practices, and assess your own self-regulation skills.
In this 9-hour virtual intensive, learn tools for drafting activating trauma scenes, break down the micro-level craft choices essential to writing about rape or molestation, and get clear on what it means to you to add your voice to the cultural conversation, all with the support of an intimate community of like-minded survivors.
Although writing can be healing, crafting and publishing our most difficult stories can make trauma worse. In this 4-hour workshop hosted over Zoom, learn how the physiological processes of trauma and shame interact with a writing process and use tools adapted from clinical practice to begin safely generating your own work.
Our most powerful stories can be the most brutal to write, leaving us frustrated, emotionally activated, and stuck. What gets in the way? How can we push forward without damaging our mental and physical health? In this 4-hour workshop hosted in-person by Paonia Books in Paonia, Colorado, we'll build a toolbox for unlocking urgent stories that have so far resisted telling.
Although writing can be healing, crafting and publishing our most difficult stories can make trauma worse. In this 2-hour workshop hosted by the Deschutes Public Library, learn how the physiological processes of trauma and shame interact with a writing process.
Our most powerful stories can be the most brutal to write, leaving us frustrated, traumatized, and stuck. What gets in the way? How can we push forward without damaging our mental and physical health? In this 8-week nonfiction class online through Catapult, we’ll build a craft toolbox for unlocking urgent stories that have so far resisted telling.
In this 3-hour virtual memoir seminar hosted by Literary Arts and the Portland Book Festival, students will explore how the contradictions in their personalities—the gaps between dirty laundry and grace—are the most interesting space, and how careful and brave craft choices allow us to write into our most gorgeous, complex selves.
All humans die. To focus on this fundamental truth can be macabre-- yet death exists hand in hand with some of our most powerful, precious, and beautiful experiences. In this 6-week nonfiction class, we'll explore the craft of writing about death, noticing the narrative structures and syntax that effectively hold brutal experiences.
Take advantage of Kati’s trauma writing doula experience in a lower-cost, asynchronous format. Over six weeks on WetInk, you’ll assess what’s getting in the way of your writing, connect with the resources you need to move forward, and find a narrative toehold in your project—ultimately stepping forward into your necessary writing transformation with power and momentum.
Join Katherine Standefer for a virtual reading, book talk, and Q&A hosted by the Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Foundation. The EKR Foundation continues the work of the famed Swiss psychiatrist who developed the now-famous Five Stages of Grief. In this event, Katherine shares her experience living in relationship to death as a young person.
Join Kati at the Jackson Hole Writers Conference, where she’ll deliver the Nonfiction Keynote, teach a workshop, and consult on manuscripts. For nearly three decades, the Jackson Hole Writers Conference has brought together writers of all levels from all walks of life to share ideas, hone craft, and form community.
In a world full of sexual trauma, silencing, and shame, writing about sexuality can be intimidating. Yet your experiences carry the medicine we all need. Join writer Katherine Standefer and feminist psychologist Tracy Sidesinger for an intimate, joyful retreat designed to help you tell your sexual story. Dig into desire, improve your sex scenes, organize your experiences, gain skills for safely engaging trauma on the page, and benefit from time to write deeply, with the rare community that only crystallizes when we do the brave, magical work of owning our stories together.
At this panel at #AWP22 in Philadelphia and online, nonfiction writers Aggie Stewart, Grace Talusan, Katherine Standefer, and Alden Jones offer strategies for pacing emotionally-charged material in trauma memoirs.
Our beating hearts are easy to take for granted until they no longer work. Join authors Katherine Standefer and Florence Williams at Tucson Festival of Books as they share their journeys into healthcare and science to heal their broken hearts.
Our beating hearts are easy to take for granted until they no longer work. Join authors Katherine Standefer and Florence Williams at Tucson Festival of Books as they share their journeys into healthcare and science to heal their broken hearts.
In this 3-hour virtual memoir seminar hosted by Literary Arts and the Portland Book Festival, students will explore how the contradictions in their personalities—the gaps between dirty laundry and grace—are the most interesting space, and how careful and brave craft choices allow us to write into our most gorgeous, complex selves.
Although writing can be healing, crafting and publishing our most difficult stories can make trauma worse. In this 3-hour workshop with author and trauma specialist Katherine Standefer, learn how the physiological processes of trauma and shame interact with a writing process. Together, we’ll discuss some of the embodied blocks writers experience, touch into the craft problems common to this material, and explore tools for moving forward at the right time and with the right pace.
The creative writing classroom is not an explicitly healing space—yet writers regularly bring their stories of trauma into workshops. What are our obligations to these students as instructors? In this 6-hour intensive, learn when writing heals and harms, discuss syllabus best practices, identify craft issues common to trauma writing, consider how feedback lands in an activated nervous system, and assess your own self-regulation skills.
All humans die. To focus on this fundamental truth can be macabre-- yet death exists hand in hand with some of our most powerful, precious, and beautiful experiences. In this 6-week nonfiction class, we'll explore the craft of writing about death, noticing the narrative structures and syntax that effectively hold brutal experiences.
The creative writing classroom is not an explicitly healing space—yet writers regularly bring their stories of trauma into workshops. What are our obligations to these students as instructors? In this 6-hour intensive, learn when writing heals and harms, discuss syllabus best practices, identify craft issues common to trauma writing, consider how feedback lands in an activated nervous system, and assess your own self-regulation skills.
