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This writing workshop has 3 sessions. You can join individual sessions, or all three. Alembic is proud to host writer and teacher Dr. Nicholas Powers for three sessions on inspired autobiographical writing — a Friday night talk and two weekend workshop sessions. Nick’s bold approach to autobiography snatches writing away from the
publishing/award pyramid and places it back into everyday life — and into your hands. “Psychoactive autobiography” employs a variety of practices, including yoga, free writing, meditation, movement, and other mind change protocols. As we draw inspiration from these expanded experiences of self, writing the self becomes a spiritual practice that can cleanse the flesh of media noise and let your mind breathe again. The workshop exercises are tailored to meet our contemporary moment of fear and anxiety, and to transform those emotions into new creative forces.
Talk: Where is My Mind?
In this evening talk, Powers will introduce his approach to autobiography. What is your life story? Is it really your story or what others want you to be? In a time of political polarization and cultural fragmentation, the centuries-old practice of autobiography can anchor us to our bodies. In this talk, we learn about the history of autobiography and its transformational power from antiquity to modern times. Then we explore modern
psycho-dynamic theory, specifically John Bowlby’s attachment theory. This provides writers in particular with a new lens to see their history of love and loss, their rhythm of need, and how their attachment-style directs their growth. These ideas will all serve to
introduce the weekend sessions.
Materials:Writing pad, pen / personal anchors (photos, family heirlooms, etc.)
Links to the other events:
https://momence.com/l/9khOGrQm
https://momence.com/l/J1hJZRrq
Dr. Nicholas Powers is a 20-year Burner, a poet and literature professor, journalist and novelist. He has published four books and writes for Truth Out and The Indypendent. His first book in 2014, "The Ground Below Zero: 9/11 to Burning Man, New Orleans to Darfur, Haiti to Occupy Wall Street" is celebrated as an turn-of-the-centrury experimental memoir. His latest, "Black Psychedelic Revolution: From Trauma to Liberation" was published in 2025 by North Atlantic Books. Currently he is a resident poet at a jazz cafe.
Check him out:
https://truthout.org/authors/nicholas-powers/
https://indypendent.org/authors/nicholas-powers/ https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/black-psychedelic-revolution/
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Alembic, 2820 7th St,Berkeley, California, United States
Tickets
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