Creative Writing

Two-Day Letterpress Workshop

February 28, 2026
Two-Day Letterpress Workshop
 Sat February 28th & Sun March 1st, 2026
10am to 4pm each day
Location: The Codex Foundation, 1331 Seventh Street, Unit D, Berkeley, CA

Open to Berkeley undergraduate & graduate students
Limited enrollment, capped at 8 students
Spots given on a first-come, first-served basis
Cost to participants underwritten by the Arts Research Center

Applications open Monday January 26, 2026 at 1pm (...

Beth Piatote

ARC Director, 2020 ARC Fellow – Poetry and the Senses

Beth Piatote is a creative writer, playwright, and scholar. She is the author of two books, including the mixed-genre collection, The Beadworkers: Stories (Counterpoint 2019), which was long-listed for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and the PEN/Bingham Prize, and short-listed for the California Independent Booksellers Association “Golden Poppy” Prize for Fiction. The Beadworkers was named the winner of the 2020 Electa Quinney Award for Published Stories. Her full-length play...

Love Poems: Writing Workshop with Margaret Ross

February 6, 2026
Love Poems: Writing Workshop
with Margaret Ross Friday, Feb 6, 2026
1pm – 3pm
Hearst Field Annex D23 (map) UC Berkeley is lucky to have poet Margaret Ross in residence as the Holloway Lecturer in Poetry for the spring 2026 semester. She will be leading a two-hour poetry workshop at the Arts Research Center on Feb 6, 2026, free & open to Berkeley students. Application is first-come, first-served.

Layli Long Soldier: Poetry Reading + Conversation with Solmaz Sharif

April 1, 2026
Read more about Layli Long Soldier's work at the Poetry Foundation here

Aisha Kazi

Student Communication and Events Assistant

Aisha Kazi (she/her) is a student at UC Berkeley, double majoring in Media Studies with a concentration in Digital Studies and English Literature. Alongside her studies, she is pursuing the Berkeley Certificate In Design Innovation at UC Berkeley, and has a strong interest in design especially as it pertains to the "Human First" approach. Her work focuses on digital media, education, through her work at CreaTV San Jose, Learning Unlimited, and Splash at Berkeley. She is passionate about anything design, storytelling, and cultivating a space for people to be creative in their respective...

Christina Rivera: MY OCEANS | Book Talk & Reading

October 29, 2025

Read more about Christina Rivera's work here.

Isabel Allende, in Conversation

November 5, 2025
Read more about Isabel Allende's work on her website, here.

Poetry & the Mythic Imagination: Jennifer Reimer and Aimee Suzara

October 16, 2025
Poetry & the Mythic Imagination:
Jennifer Reimer & Aimee Suzara
Poetry Reading and Conversation Moderated by Erika Higbee Thursday, October 16, 2025 6:00pm Location: Arts Research Center, Hearst Field Annex D23 Free & open to the public Presented by the Arts Research Center with support from the Dean's Office of the Division of Arts & Humanities and co-sponsored by the Dept of English, Asian American Research Center, and the Center for Race & Gender

...

D.A. Powell

Poet and Professor at the University of San Francisco
D. A. Powell gave a Visiting Writer Reading at the Arts Research Center in April 2021, part of the Spring 2021 Flash Reading Series. If you are interested in contacting this artist, please find them on their website.

Born in Albany, Georgia, D. A. Powell earned an MA at Sonoma State University and an MFA at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His first three collections of poetry, Tea, (1998), Lunch (2000), and Cocktails (2004), are considered by some to be a trilogy on the AIDS epidemic. Lunch...

Ted Purves

Artist, Writer, and Founder of the Social Practice Program at CCA
Ted Purves was a Visiting Artist Panel Participant at the Questioning Aesthetics Symposium at the Arts Research Center on March 13, 2015. If you are interested in contacting this artist, please find them on their website.

Ted Purves was an independent artist, editor, and curator. His work has been exhibited and published in many venues and journals throughout California, as well as in New York, Boston, Albany and several cities in Germany. Purves has won funding from the Creative Work Fund in San Francisco and the Headlands Center for the Arts and been an artist-in-...