The Joy of Constraint: 4 Weeks

Most writers think creativity comes from complete freedom. This workshop argues the opposite. By embracing unusual constraints—writing with only one vowel, telling stories backward, erasing existing texts into poems, or inventing impossible rules—participants will discover how limitations spark originality, sharpen craft, and silence the inner critic. Fusing equal parts literary experiment, creative game, and writing workshop, each session offers fresh challenges that encourage risk-taking, surprise, and the delight of making something no one expected. Open to all genres.

About the instructor:

Jen Clements (she/her) is a multi-hyphenate writer and arts administrator whose work blends creative forms. Her writing has appeared in journals including Barrelhouse, Hippocampus, Word Riot, Psychopomp, and The Intentional, and her plays have been produced by Capital Repertory Theatre, Theater Alliance, the Federal Theatre Project, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, among others. She is the recipient of multiple artist fellowships from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Jen holds an MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Slovakia in 2006.