Workshops

  • You can view workshop details below.

  • All workshops are “pay what you can” ($30 suggested - but please do not let any financial barriers prevent you from registering! Simply fill out the “other” option).

    • If you cannot pay, shoot us an email at info@sistersfob.org with whichever workshops you would like to attend and we will confirm your registration!

  • All workshops are 90 minutes long.

  • All workshops are capped at 20 participants.

  • To sign up for a workshop, please fill out the registration form on this page. Once you hit ‘continue’, you will be prompted to select which workshops you are signing up for. $30 is recommended per workshop, but you can use the “other” field to pay what you can!

Notions of wealth: A generative writing workshop exploring poverty and creativity

Friday, Sep 13th, 4:00p - 5:30p

Location: Space in Common (351 W. Hood Ave, Sisters OR 97759)
Facilitated by: Chris/tina Vega (they/them) & tina ontiveros

In her memoir, A House of My Own, Sandra Cisneros says that, “privacy for self-exploration belonged to the wealthy.” When the body has access to limited resources, how does the mind find space to create and explore? When you find yourself in a time of insufficiency, what hidden resources are available to you?

Join authors tina ontiveros and Chris/tina Vega —both of whom grew up in poverty —  for a generative writing workshop exploring these themes and the economic impact of poverty on our writing practices, storytelling, and personal narratives. In this 90-min workshop, participants will engage with writing prompts and storytelling practices that encourage them to acknowledge and release stigmas associated with poverty, and encourage a reclamation of narratives of power, dignity, and alternative notions of wealth. Workshop participants can expect to leave with several writing “seeds” that can serve as the base for future, thoughtful writing in essay, poetry, memoir, and/or hybrid genres.

This workshop is intended to expand the lens with which we all view and discuss notions of poverty and wealth. All are welcome, regardless of where they fall on the economic spectrum or whether or not they have lived experiences of poverty.

Writing workshop for parents

Sunday, Sep 15th, 9:30a - 11:00a

Location: Space in Common (351 W. Hood Ave, Sisters OR 97759)
Facilitated by: Chris/tina Vega (they/them)

Get your tired & beautiful self off the couch and come to a writing workshop for (creative) parents. Publisher and poet Chris/tina Vega will guide participants through a generative writing session meant to rekindle the imagination, get participants writing, and explore the connections between our writing and parenting practices. Workshop activities will include an iteration of the literary game Sugar, Porridge, Spoons, guided writing prompts about the intersection of parenting and creativity, and free writing exercises.

Poetry of Belonging: A Workshop for the Poetry-Curious

SOLD OUT - email info@sistersfob.org to be added to a waitlist

Sunday, Sep 15th, 3:30p - 5:00p

Location: Toriizaka Art (222 W. Hood Ave, Sisters OR 97759)
Facilitated by: Beth Wood

You belong to language, and language belongs to you! Do you have memories of trying to connect to old poems in school, but feeling confused and uninspired? Consider this your invitation from poet/singer-songwriter Beth Wood to think about poetry in a different way. Poetry is everywhere! And poems can lead us to healing, preserve and convey stories, and help us process emotions while connecting with others. In this 90 minute interactive workshop, we'll engage in wordplay with writing exercises and games and share our work in a supportive space. We'll pause to appreciate the magic of words on the page and spoken aloud. All levels of writing experience are welcome. 

About the facilitators:

Tina Ontiveros was raised below the poverty line by a single mother. As a writer and a teacher, tina’s work explores class, generational hardship, and marginalization of the poor. Her memoir, rough house, was a PNBA Bestseller, a national Indie Next Pick, an Oregon Book Award finalist, and 2021 Pacific Northwest Book Award winner. tina teaches writing and literature at Columbia Gorge Community College.

Chris/tina Vega (they/them) is the publisher at Blue Cactus Press, where they make books that spark dialogue about liberation. Chris/tina is also a two-spirit Chicana poet from the borderlands of Texas & New Mexico. They live on Puyallup and Nisqually Land. They believe revolution starts at home. Chris/tina published their sophomore poetry collection, Vega, in 2023 through Blue Cactus Press.

Beth Wood is an award-winning songwriter, poet, joyful singer, teacher, and believer in the power of word and song. Beth has released fifteen albums, three books of poetry, and a collection of funny stories from the road. Beth’s poetry book Ladder To The Light is the winner of the 2019 Oregon Book Awards People’s Choice Award and was a finalist for the 2019 Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry. Her dream is to build community through music and poetry, and to move something with her art, whether it’s a swirling emotion or a curious mind or tapping feet. Beth’s teaching practice includes creativity and song coaching as well as leading and facilitating workshops, classes, and retreats. Her musical philosophy is that there are no wrong notes.