For The Barbershop Writing Group, which starts Thursday. Only a couple of spots left. Take some time to work on your writing, learn some elements of craft, and participate in a public reading at Joe’s Barbershop in July. Click here for more details.

- Slow leak in front left tire: patch or fork over for new ones?

- Find a few dozen chairs for reading series, priced cheap. *cough*

- Partner up with Books, Inc to sell books at the reading series

- Do we need a microphone?

- Find last reader for first reading series event

- Send out two-week warning for Barbershop Writing Group: three spots left

- Keep working on the Group’s curriculum

- Give feedback on friend’s beautiful new novel manuscript

- Fast-forward through American Idol to get to Adam Lambert

- Draft seven of memoir: Figure out how to make soap opera of freshman year college less of a soap opera. On the page, if not in memory.

- Stop eating Easter candy at midnight

- More. Cardio.

- Warn people about possible dogpoet downtime while upgrading to latest version of WordPress

- Conquer world. Use new powers to find a cabin in the woods where you can’t even see the neighbors

I have a few irons in the fire now: the book; the reading series; the workshop; and I’ve made it to the third round of hiring for a new writing job, too. All this and a quick trip with the Manly Fireplug and some of his family, to Carmel, a very pretty resort town down on the coast that doesn’t let you eat or drink on the streets. Whenever I end up someplace surrounded by the wealthy I feel a little bit like an anthropologist, observing the habits of the locals as they golf and shop at Bulgari.

I’ve been hearing from more people interested in the workshop, so I’ve gone ahead and planned out the dates. There’s still room left, so if you’re interested, read on:

The Barbershop Writing Group

I will be leading a private, eight-week writing workshop starting in May of 2009. Drawing upon my own experiences as a writer, as well as my experiences with the MFA program at Columbia University, I’ve focused the curriculum on the memoir and fiction genres, though other genres, and all levels of experience, are welcome. Each week we will look at an element of craft (character, theme, scene, dialogue, etc) and discuss the work of two workshop participants in a relaxed, focused atmosphere. At the end of the eight weeks, participants will have the chance to take part in a public reading at Joe’s Barbershop, in the Castro district.

Maybe you need a little more structure, or feedback for your writing, or maybe you just need the company of a few other writers now and then. Maybe you don’t even feel qualified to call yourself a writer, but you’re willing to take a risk and try to put down a story or two. Maybe you want to pursue work that will bring added meaning to your life.

If you live in the Bay Area and think you might be interested in taking the workshop, send me an email. Feel free to spread the word to your friends.

Workshop Details:
Thursday nights, 7:00-9:30 pm
Eight Weeks, starting May 7th (skipping June 4th), ending July 2nd
Location: A comfortable home with a view in Corona Heights, above the Castro, near Buena Vista Park
Cost: $280

About the Instructor:

Michael McAllister, a veteran of writing workshops, attained his Master’s in Fine Arts from Columbia University, where he was awarded the Hertog Fellowship and the Dean’s Fellowship for his writing. He’s been published in various literary magazines, like The James White Review, Long Shot, Evergreen Chronicles, and Fourteen Hills. The Minnesota Center for Book Arts published a limited-edition chapbook of his poems, Jack on Jack on King on King, designed by the book artist Inge Bruggeman, in 1996. He is currently finishing a memoir, an excerpt of which appeared in the anthology From Boys to Men, from Da Capo Press, in 2006. He has authored the blog, Dogpoet.com, since 2001.

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“Michael McAllister has a natural gift for literature. He is a talented writer, a careful reader, and a sensitive listener. He puts his fellow writers at ease, and his humble, modest nature hides the fact that they are in the presence of a truly wonderful writer.”

- Brian Eule, author of Match Day: One Day and One Dramatic Year in the Lives of Three New Doctors

“Michael McAllister is a master storyteller. He knows the grand and humble aspirations and failures of his characters, how they speak to one another, and how they move about in the world. These are the sensibilities he brings to others’ work—a sharp eye for story and a keen sense of character. But above all, he listens—to the writer’s intentions and to the work itself.”

-Miranda Weiss, author of Tide, Feather, Snow: A Life in Alaska