🌿 Writing from Wherever You Are
Format: Single-session, 90-minute generative workshop
Dates:
Thursday, May 29 — 7–8:30pm ET / 4–5:30pm PT
New! Saturday, June 14 — 1–2:30pm ET / 10–11:30am PT
Cost: USD $25–$100 sliding scale
Cap: 25 participants
No matter where you are - geographically, emotionally, creatively - there’s a way back into language.
This workshop is an invitation to pause, breathe, and gather words amid personal, political, and ecological upheaval. We’ll work with poetry prompts and mentor texts to write from the grief, the hope, and the rhythm of being alive now.
No need to know what you’ll say. Just come ready to write.
🆕 The Saturday session was added by request, for those who can’t make a weekday time.
Best for: Writers at any level seeking grounding and creative momentum.
🌎 Global Poems: A World Poetry in Translation Workshop
Format: 4 sessions (biweekly) — Read, discuss, and write
Dates: Fridays — June 13, 27, July 11, 25
Time: 6–8pm ET / 3–5pm PT
Cost: USD $100–175 sliding scale
Cap: 20 participants
Come travel the world by poem. Together we’ll explore translated poetry from across cultures - from ancient haiku to modern Palestinian verse, from Bedilu Wakjira to Myriam Moscona to Raúl Gómez Jattin - and consider the mysteries and power of language in motion.
Each session blends reading, discussion, and optional writing exercises. We’ll think about translation as crossing, kinship, imagination, and loss - and where our own writing fits into that terrain.
Expect: Playful rigor, gorgeous/devastating language, cross-cultural currents, and a deeper connection to your own creative instincts.
Best for: Poets, translators, and curious writers at all stages.
🌳 Writing With the Land: Embodiment, Place, and Form
Format: Single lecture (+Q&A)
Dates: Thursday, June 12
Time: 7–8pm ET / 4–5pm PT
Cost: USD $10-30 sliding scale
Cap: 30 participants
Place is not a backdrop - it’s a collaborator.
In this lecture and conversation, we'll explore how writers root their work in the physical world while experimenting with structure, form, and voice.
Drawing from poetry and prose by Tiana Clark, Rivers Solomon, Vievee Francis, Lucas de Lima, Julián Delgado Lopera, and others, we’ll look at landscapes as forces that shape imagination, language, and memory.
Best for: Poets, fiction writers, essayists — anyone writing, across genres.
🧱 Poetry Manuscript Studio
Format: 3-session generative + revision intensive
Dates: Tuesdays — June 3, June 10, June 17
Time: 6–8pm ET / 3–5pm PT
Cost: USD $125–200 sliding scale
Add-on: $40 optional 1:1 feedback
This discounted rate is only available to studio participants. You’ll receive light written notes on a small selection of poems or a project excerpt, plus a 30–45 min Zoom consult.
Cap: 12 participants
Description:
Make real progress on your manuscript this summer - in good company.
We'll focus on strategy and transformation, not page-by-page critique. Sessions blend craft talk, generative prompts, and peer feedback, designed to keep momentum up without overwhelming you. A small cohort means real attention to your work and goals.
Especially for: MFA students and independent poets ready to grow or reshape a project.
✍🏼 1:1 Consultations: Poem Feedback & Creative Mentorship
Format: Individual sessions, rolling availability (2–4 per month)
Cost: USD $75–150 sliding scale
Cap: 2–4 slots per month
Description:
Looking for close reading, application prep, or revision insights? I offer focused, generous 1:1 support on a few poems, a batch of pages, or creative direction.
Options:
Single Poem Feedback ($75) - Line edits + paragraph of craft notes, sent via email (no meeting).
Zoom Consult ($100) - 45-minute live discussion of a few poems or a creative problem (no written feedback).
Mini Manuscript Consult ($150) - Up to 7 pages; written feedback + 45-min Zoom call.
Sessions are designed to give you clarity and momentum, not overwhelm you. Perfect for preparing submissions, opening up revision, or shaping voice.
👉🏼 To request a 1:1 consultation, please fill out the request form first. I’ll be in touch within a few days to confirm availability and next steps. Please wait to send payment until after your request is approved.
💸 Payment Info
Please submit payment via:
Venmo: @baezbendorfpoetry
PayPal: @baezbendorfpoetry
Workshops: Once I receive both your registration form and payment, I’ll confirm your spot and send workshop details.
1:1 Consultations: Please wait to send payment until after I’ve confirmed your consultation. You’ll receive instructions with your confirmation email.
✨ Sliding Scale Philosophy
I offer sliding scale pricing to make these workshops accessible while honoring the labor behind them.
Not sure where to land? The midpoint of the range reflects the true cost of the workshop. The lower end is there for students, low-income writers, and anyone who needs it. The higher end helps support access for others - and keeps this model sustainable.
🔔 Refund & Waitlist Details
Workshops:
All workshop sales are final.
If you cannot attend, you may transfer your spot to someone else with at least 24 hours' notice. Please reply to your confirmation email with the new participant’s name and email.
If a workshop fills, registration will close and a waitlist will open if possible.
In rare cases, a workshop may be canceled if minimum enrollment is not met. If that happens, full refunds will be issued.
1:1 Consultations:
All 1:1 sales are final.
You may reschedule once with at least 48 hours' notice, and must complete your session within 30 days.
Missed sessions or late cancellations are non-refundable.
You may transfer your spot to someone else with at least 24 hours' notice.
✨ What Past Participants Say
“Oliver’s session was a model for what a visitor can do in a short period of time… even normally-shy students felt comfortable asking questions and sharing their work.”
“Oliver challenged me in ways I didn’t think possible. I learned how to take words I thought unworthy and make lyricism out of them.”
“The learning environment was by far the best virtual class setup I have had. Clear, flexible, and engaging.”
“Oliver’s lecture encouraged a relationship of reciprocity with the land — to write with place, not just about it.”
“This class made me want to run away from residency and just write. So generative, so inspiring.”
“Oliver’s talk lit me up. His deep noticing and tenderness toward the land and language gave me new ways to see and write.”
Questions?
Feel free to reach out through my contact form.
I’d love to write, breathe, and imagine with you this summer.