Artist Roster

Caleb Curtiss is an award-winning, multi-genre author and educator. He is author of the poetry collection Age of Forgiveness (Sundress 2023), and the hybrid genre chapbook, A Taxonomy of the Space Between Us (Black Lawrence 2015). He serves as poetry faculty at the Vermont College of Fine Arts’ MFA Program in Creative Writing and teaches writing classes in Newark, Wilmington, and the greater Philadelphia area. His poetry, fiction, and essays appear in New England Review, Southern Review, Gettysburg Review, International Poetry Review, and American Short Fiction. His work has been recognized by the Poetry Foundation, the Black River Chapbook Competition, and the Delaware Division of the Arts, which named him an Established Artist Fellow in Poetry.

Flash Memoir Studio: Writing the Self in Short-Form

My program is a writing-centered creative aging experience for adults 55+ who want a structured, welcoming way to explore memory and identity through short personal essays. The approach is built on three core tenets that keep the work accessible while still serious: Anne Lamott’s permission to generate “shitty first drafts” so participants can write without self-censorship, Natalie Goldberg’s insistence to “be specific” so the writing stays grounded in lived detail, and n-1 revision as an organizing method that helps writers discover what matters by subtracting one major element at a time. The audience includes both first-time writers and experienced writers who want community, momentum, and a process that respects the complexity of a long life without requiring anyone to perform it.

Each session functions as a studio: participants spend most of the time writing, then sharing small excerpts for supportive, craft-based feedback, then leaving with a clear revision plan to complete between meetings. New participants can join on a rolling basis because every session offers a complete loop: a short generative prompt, one practical craft focus, and a revision assignment that can be applied to either a new draft or an existing piece. The coherence across the full series comes from repeated practice with the same three moves, draft quickly, specify precisely, revise through subtraction. N-1 revision is introduced as a set of optional experiments, such as cutting the explanatory paragraph to let a scene carry meaning, removing backstory to sharpen the present moment, or subtracting summary in favor of one concrete image. This creates a consistent shared language in the room even when participants are at different stages.

By the end of the series, participants will have drafted multiple flash essays and revised at least one piece into a polished, shareable work, with support for shaping that piece for an audience. The program culminates in a community performance: a public reading where participants present a short essay aloud in a structured, welcoming format, with options to read themselves, have someone else read, or share in print only. The expected outcome is both artistic and social: a small portfolio of writing that feels true to the participant’s voice, a repeatable revision practice they can continue using, and strengthened social bonds built through sustained listening, encouragement, and the shared accomplishment of presenting new work to the community.

Democracy Beyond the Ballot BoxThis program is available either as a single-session community writing event or as a two-event series, designed for Delawareans 16+ (or adults only, depending on the host site) who want a structured way to tell true stories of democracy in action. The focus is not elections. It is “democracy beyond the ballot box,” meaning the everyday moments when people in workplaces, neighborhoods, schools, congregations, mutual aid networks, unions, parent groups, and informal cohorts come together, argue, negotiate, organize, protect one another, and act in their shared interest. Participants may work in either genre, drafting a short poem or a flash essay/memoir, and the program welcomes all experience levels, including people who do not think of themselves as writers but have lived experience of collective action.The process uses three core craft tenets that make strong work possible in a short window and that remain coherent across either format. First, participants generate a fast “shitty first draft” to get material onto the page without self-censorship, choosing either a narrative scene or a poem built from images, phrases, and turns of thought. Second, they revise toward Goldberg’s “be specific” principle by replacing abstract civic language with concrete actions, sensory detail, and exact moments of choice, what was said, what was done, what it felt like in the room. Third, they use n-1 revision as a practical tool for clarity by subtracting one major element that obscures the core, such as cutting an explanatory passage, removing broad backstory, eliminating a secondary storyline, or stripping out generalized statements so the central images or scene can carry meaning. Participants spend most of the session writing, then share short excerpts in a supportive, craft-based exchange that stays focused on what is working and what the writer wants the piece to do, and they leave with a brief revision plan to complete after the event. In the two-event version, this same first gathering functions as Event One, and participants also receive a simple rehearsal checklist to prepare their revised work for sharing.The program culminates in performance, either immediately or as a return event. In the single-session version, the final portion of the workshop becomes a structured public reading where volunteers share a 1 to 3 minute excerpt, with options to read themselves, ask a facilitator to read, or simply submit their work for inclusion in a group compilation if the host site wants to create a small chapbook or web feature. In the two-event version, Event Two is a return gathering focused on bringing revisions back to the room, receiving a final round of supportive feedback aimed at clarity and impact, and rehearsing for an audience with attention to pacing, breath, and presence. The series then culminates in a public performance where participants share a 1 to 3 minute excerpt of their revised poem or flash essay/memoir, with the same participation options. The expected outcome, in either format, is writing that is vivid, grounded, and civic-minded, alongside a public moment that makes visible how democratic life is practiced through collaboration, disagreement, care, and shared responsibility in everyday Delaware communities.