Join me in this live, two-hour class and discover the Five Things I’ve Learned about storytelling’s power and magic, and all that happens when readers encounter stories that help them get safely through to the other side.

Hi Everyone!

My name is Danté Stewart. I am a writer, poet, and minister and it is my pleasure to invite you into this creative experience “Five Things I’ve Learned about the Power of Narrative.”

It was the famous and late author Toni Morrison who once said that the storyteller’s job is to “ponder the actual and imagined the possible.” As a writer, my work attempts to do just that: to go to the places where people find it hard to go, to spot the magic in the very ordinary unfolding of their lives, and – by inviting readers to encounter those stories – to help each of us get safely through to the other side.

There is the craft — scene, character, arc, action (all of which we will explore!). And then there is the deeper meaning, the deeper experience; of spotting the magic, being aware when story is happening and what is happening to us.  And, most importantly , there’s finding ways to reproduce those narratives in our world, which is so desperately in need of better and deeper story telling.

In two-hour class, I’ll share with you some of the narratives that have most shaped and grounded and taught me. You will learn what I mean by “all good writing begins in desperation and ends in empathy.” You will encounter the likes of Louise Glück, James Baldwin, Ted Chiang, Richard Powers, and Maya Angelou. You will encounter fiction, nonfiction, poems, and journalism. And in the end, you will encounter the most important art in story: yourself.

You won’t be the same once you leave this class. I can’t promise you will be a better writer but what I can promise is a deep and lasting experience with narratives — our own true power.

You ready?! Let’s get on with our journey now, so many stories await us.” 

-Danté