Step Into Your Power, Shape Your Story – Workshops at We Are Urban Haiku with Anya Pearson
At We Are Urban Haiku, we don’t just teach writing—we liberate stories, nurture bold voices, and cultivate creative spaces that honor the power of BIPOC, femme, queer, and marginalized storytellers. With Anya Pearson, playwright, poet, educator, and changemaker at the helm, our upcoming offerings are a deep dive into story as resistance, healing, and transformation.
Whether you’re stepping into writing for the first time or returning to your craft with fresh eyes, these workshops are for those who want more than the MFA machine can offer. They’re for writers who want to write with heart, truth, and radical freedom.
🎭 From Page to Stage: A Playwriting Workshop for Writers & Actors
with Anya Pearson
Begins: Summer 2025
You’ve got the story. Now let’s bring it to life.
Whether you’re a writer eager to learn the fundamentals of playwriting, or an actor ready to author your own roles, this workshop offers the tools and support you need to turn stories into performance-ready scripts.
What You’ll Learn:
The structure and rhythm of theatrical storytelling
Creating layered characters with stage presence
Dialogue that resonates in both silence and sound
How to move from idea to first draft to performance-ready piece
Why It’s Powerful:
This course demystifies the world of theatre and empowers marginalized artists to write their truth boldly, unapologetically, and for the stage.
🔥 Embodied Narratives – Seedlings (aka “Embers”)
with Anya Pearson & Lex Macnab
Begins: Fall 2025
“Embers” is where sparks become flames.
This 13-week generative workshop is designed for raw creation, not perfection. Whether you’re exploring memoir, poetry, hybrid work, or fiction, “Embers” gives you a structure of support and inspiration to write your heart out.
Workshop Format:
Weekly Wednesday night sessions
Week 1: Introductions & collective co-working
Weeks 2–13: Two writers bring seven pages of new material weekly
Four rounds of creative generation and shared feedback
The Goal: Write as much as you can, boldly and without apology.
Perfect for:
Writers hungry to build new work
Artists seeking an inclusive and empowering container
Creators who want accountability without the rigidity of tradition
📚 Embodied Narratives – Fall 2025 Cohort
Begins: Fall 2025
Where healing meets literature.
Where resistance meets form.
Where traditional models fall away and your story takes center stage.
Embodied Narratives is the flagship offering from We Are Urban Haiku. Rooted in the practice of Ethnoautobiography—a decolonized, anti-racist approach to writing from lived experience—this workshop is for authors working on book-length projects who crave authentic, nourishing, community-based feedback.
In This Workshop, You’ll Get:
A space that resists traditional MFA critique culture
Deep attention to your whole self as a writer
Feedback that honors both your voice and your vision
A community that challenges with care and uplifts with truth
This is for you if you’re working on:
Memoir or autobiographical writing
Hybrid or genre-bending book projects
Personal narratives infused with culture, resistance, or reclamation
🌱 Why Writers Choose Us
Rooted in Liberation – No gatekeeping. No white gaze. Just you and your truth.
Anti-MFA, Pro-Community – We replace institutional rigidity with sacred, communal creation.
Accessible Excellence – World-class teaching without the elitism.
Led by Anya Pearson – An award-winning artist, known for fusing radical pedagogy with heart-centered guidance.
At We Are Urban Haiku, storytelling is ceremony. Your pen is sacred. Your truth is power.
👉 Explore our full list of workshops and get started at www.weareurbanhaiku.com
