wild
writing
A personal invitation to both women and men to join a small group Wild Writing class, online or live in Alameda CA …
That’s right…
We’re going to Wild Write together. It’s a way to connect our wild voices + our wild lives, diving deep and writing together.
Wild Writing is a timed writing process that we use to tell our stories to uncover the themes we want to write about.
Using poetry to move us into our writing, we write three times in one session, writing as fast as we can, pen never leaving the page. By writing quickly we are able to push past our inner critic and our ego and all the ways we stay trapped in looking good. This gives us a chance to move into a less self-conscious, loose groove where, if we’re lucky we may stumble into the fertile imagination that lingers within us, conjuring up stories and memories that are waiting to be written.
After we write we read our work aloud. We don’t critique, we just listen. We do this several times within the session. This technique, while very therapeutic, is also a wonderful way to jumpstart any good writing project because it helps you get to the chewy nougat of what you are trying to say. We keep the groups small, no more than 8 writers. It’s intimate and powerful.
In addition to the classes I teach, and for the second year in a row, we are bringing on four very fine Wild Writing teachers for this class series, women who I had the pleasure to train in the last few years, and who I have every confidence in.
If you’ve been curious about what it would be like to be in a small, devoted group of Wild Writers who not only write together every week, but who read their work aloud to one another, please consider joining a class beginning in April 2023. These women are beautiful writers who have been studying with me for a number of years, people I trust and love writing with.
They’ll be teaching for 27 Powers, and will share Wild Writing exactly as I do. Please read their bios below. Their classes are offered on different days + times, and are 10-week sessions.
Please contact us if you have questions!
Susan Vespoli
I am a devout believer in the power of writing to heal/transform/illuminate. After many years running a Montessori school, I earned my MFA in poetry and nonfiction.
In 2018, I discovered Laurie and the Wild Writing method and thought, eureka! This is what I’ve been looking for. I so believe in the power of this practice. After finishing the Wild Writing Teacher Training in 2019, I began to lead virtual writing circle workshops based on Wild Writing for writers.com. I love watching people bloom as they let their words flow unedited into their journals.
I continue to write my own essays and poems, most of which emerge in rough form via the Wild Writing technique. My work has been published in Rattle, Nailed Magazine, Anti-Heroin Chic, Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse, and others. I have two poetry books, Blame It on the Serpent (Finishing Line Press, Jan. 2022) and Cactus as Bad Boy (Kelsay Books, Aug. 2022), and two chapbooks by Dancing Girl Press.
I live in Phoenix, Arizona with three mostly mellow rescue dogs: Frida, Sasha, and LuLu.
Kimmy Moss
Up until discovering Wild Writing in 2020, I spent the majority of my life sprinting around a soccer field or track, in pursuit of high performance and peak physical fitness. I was a two-sport Division I NCAA athlete at George Mason University, where I earned both my BA and MA in Communication. I’ve coached competitive soccer and strength & conditioning, taught Communication to college students and English to high schoolers, and even created LA’s first comprehensive breathwork, ice bath & sauna program, Breath & Exposure.
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During the 2022 Wild Writing Teacher Training, Laurie nicknamed me “Teenage Sunshine in a Bottle.” About that… it’s so accurate it’s pretty funny. I’m a high-voltage human with an infectious spunk, a lover of language and public speaking, and a fierce protector of holding interpersonal space. All this to say, no amount of trophies or titles I’ve ever accumulated are worth a fraction of the peace of mind I unlocked when I finally retired from perfectionism, thanks to Laurie’s guidance, and the magical practice that is Wild Writing.
So, consider me your Authenticity Doula, reporting for duty! Wild Writing is the most impactful, nourishing, and best contributor to holistic health that I’ve ever come across. I look forward to sharing it with you.
Tammy Delatorre
I love writing – it’s my most natural mode of expression and solace during dark times. Whenever something difficult is going on, the blank page serves as my reliable confidant. I found Laurie Wagner in 2010, and I’ve been inspired by her Wild Writing technique, using poetry to open us up to our own stories.
I grew up on the Big Island of Hawai’i and now live in Los Angeles. As an Asian American, I find culture and a sense of place are important to my writing. I’ve taken many musings that I started in Wild Writing and shaped them into poems, essays, creative nonfiction, memoir, short stories, and hybrid pieces.
I’ve completed and sold my first memoir and am now working on my next book projects. I earned a Steinbeck Fellowship, a grant from the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, a partial fellowship to the Summer Literary Series in Tbilisi, Georgia, and a Writing by Writers Residency. Author Cheryl Strayed selected my essay, “Out of the Swollen Sea,” for the Payton Prize. I am a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee and twice recognized for Notable Essays in the Best American Essays. My writing has appeared in Los Angeles Times, Good Housekeeping, Salon, Vice, The Rumpus, and many other venues.
Mollie McNeil
The day I wandered into Laurie Wagner’s Wild Writing class ten years ago in Berkeley, California, a new career for me as a writer, teacher and workshop leader was jump-started. Initially, I found riffing off lines of poetry and sharing my fresh words with others daunting and uncomfortable. I was a self-conscious perfectionist and my doctoral program in English left me bruised from nonstop critique. But once I relaxed and trusted the nonjudgmental format of the class, beautiful things began to happen. Writing quickly forced me to let my hair down, explore new ideas, joke around, ask questions and take risks. Soon, writing became easy, fun and freeing. By the end of the class, sharing intimate stories in community became as energizing and creative as dancing or singing.
Through Wild Writing, I found my authentic voice, zeroed in on key personal themes, and eventually turned my emotional truths into fictional characters. I have now published seven short stories, a personal essay and am just finishing up a novel. None of this would have happened without the confidence I gained in my Wild Writing classes. And as a side bonus, I made good friends who have shared their flourishing writing journeys with me.
Wild Writing Classes
Dates for the next series of classes will be announced in June 2023.
Wild Writing (Women-Only) ONLINE :: Sundays, 10-11:30am PT
10-weeks with Mollie McNeil (beginning Sunday, April 2nd)
Cost :: $447 or 2 x $223.50
Wild Writing (Women Only) ONLINE :: Tuesdays, 9-10:30am PT
10-weeks with Susan Vespoli (beginning Tuesday, April 4th)
Cost :: $447 or 2 x $223.50
Wild Writing (Women + Men) ONLINE :: Wednesdays, 4-5:30pm PT
10-weeks with Kimmy Moss (beginning Wednesday, April 5th)
Cost :: $447 or 2 x $223.50
Wild Writing (Women-Only) ONLINE :: Saturdays, 1-2:30pm PT
10-weeks with Tammy Delatorre (beginning Saturday, April 8th)
Cost :: $447 or 2 x $223.50
Wild Writing (Women-Only) ONLINE :: Wednesdays, 8-9:30am PT
10-weeks with Laurie Wagner (beginning Wednesday, April 5th)
Cost :: $540 or 2 x $270
Wild Writing (Women-Only) LIVE :: Wednesdays, 10am-12pm PT (Alameda)
10-weeks with Laurie Wagner (beginning Wednesday, April 5th)
Cost :: $580 or 2 x $290
Wild Writing (Women-Only) ONLINE :: Thursdays, 8-9:30am PT
10-weeks with Laurie Wagner (beginning Thursday, April 6th)
Cost :: $540 or 2 x $270
Wild Writing (Women-Only) LIVE :: Thursdays, 10am-12pm PT (Alameda)
10-weeks with Laurie Wagner (beginning Thursday, April 6th)
Cost :: $580 or 2 x $290
Wild Writing (Women-Only) ONLINE :: Fridays, 8-9:30am PT
10-weeks with Laurie Wagner (beginning Friday, April 7th)
Cost :: $540 or 2 x $270
Wild Writing (Women-Only) LIVE :: Fridays, 10am-12pm PT (Alameda)
10-weeks with Laurie Wagner (beginning Friday, April 7th)
Cost :: $580 or 2 x $290
Comments from Wild Writing students …
~ Jill Salahub
“I look forward to the Wild Writing practice as it gives me space to clear my mind and move into my day with a fresh perspective. It’s like a different kind of meditation to me – thoughts come and as they do, I write them down and let them go as my pen move along the page. I listen to my mind and let it say what it wants, without judgment. In that regard, it’s a healthy exploration and allows me to dive into what is inside and wants to come out. The exercise itself is very powerful and can be a very healing practice. Laurie’s teaching and writing prompts are thoughtful and thought provoking.
~ Rebecca Baer
Kimmy is incredible, she is a wizard with energy and will make you feel so excited to write and spill your guts. I have done several Wild Writing small group classes with her and I cannot recommend her enough. Kimmy allows you to feel safe to come just as you are, she encourages freedom, peace, and gives you permission to own where you are at that moment in time. I am so grateful for my time with Kimmy and I hope you get to experience writing with her as well.
~ Amy
~ Sue Izzo
Susan set an easy and inspired tone for that first experience for me, and for every class I’ve been in with her since. She always shares wonderful poems and poets, at the same time as she shares herself and her humility. I look forward to each session because I never know what my pen will yield!
~ Carol Y