Saturday + Sunday, August 24-25
See full schedule below!
Only $25 for the full weekend
Your registration fee will give you access to a RSVP link (emailed to your separately) to sign-up for as many of the mini-workshops as you'd like (capacity permitting), along with a $25 credit to apply to a fall workshop of your choice.
All sales are final.
Join Story Parlor for a weekend full of mini workshops showcasing some of the classes on the horizon for the upcoming season. Come meet the instructors, get a feel for their offerings, and network with other creatives in the community.
Your registration fee will give you access to a RSVP link to sign-up for as many of the mini-workshops as you'd like (capacity permitting), along with a $25 credit to apply to a fall workshop* of your choice.
*The only exclusions are the Creativity and Personal Mythology and Hero’s Journey courses, which are hosted by the Great Smokies Writing Program through UNCA.
Saturday, August 24
10:00am-11:00am | Meet the Facilitators Breakfast and Q&A
11:30am-12:30pm | Writing from the Top of Your Head with Nina Hart
3:00pm-4:00pm | Writers’ Room for Novelists with Jacqui Castle
4:30pm-5:30pm | Improv Happy Hour Class with Tom Chalmers
6:00pm-8:00pm | Student Showcase featuring participants from past Story Parlor classes
Sunday, August 25
10:00am-11:00am | Creativity + Personal Mythology with Erin Hallagan Clare
11:30am-12:30pm | Writing Horror with R. Lyon Bergh
2:00pm-3:00pm | (New!) The Art & Craft of Storytelling for the Stage with Erin Hallagan Clare
3:30-4:30 | 2025 Creative Facilitator Training Info Session (no pre-registration required)
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Anyone interested in a quick boost to their creative work and spirit
Folks interested in learning more about upcoming classes and facilitators at Story Parlor
People looking for connection and the collective energy of a creative community
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R. Lyon Bergh
R. Lyon is a writer, actor, and filmmaker currently living and creating in Asheville, NC. He (or she) expresses creative storytelling through poetry, song, short & long-form prose, short & long-form screenwriting, oral storytelling, comedy improv, and just about any other way that (s)he can find. He received his undergrad from Wilmington University in Marketing with a strong concentration in Creative Writing. Following that, he was a finalist for the High Residency MFA Creative Writing Fellowship at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, studied Meisner Acting at the New York Studio for Stage and Screen, and is a proud alumni of Asheville School of Film. Lyon is a certified Inward & Artward Creative Facilitator.
Early recognition was for a submission to the Wilmington Drama League’s One Act Play Festival, where he received multiple awards including Best Director and Best Original Stage Play. More recently, he was published twice in the WNC Woman magazine and has earned recognition for contributions to the 48hr film project in Asheville.*
Jacqui Castle
Jacqui Castle is an educator and novelist living and writing in Asheville, North Carolina. Castle received her MFA in Fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has been published in a variety of local publications including Mountain Xpress, WNC Woman, Asheville Grit, and Explore Asheville.Her novel The Seclusion, which School Library Journal called “A must-have for all libraries and fans of scifi,” garnered Castle the title of 2020 Indie Author of the Year through the Indie Author Project (a collaboration between Library Journal and Biblioboard). Jacqui currently teaches creative writing through the Great Smokies Writing Program and Redbud Writing Project.
Jacqui is the owner of Lit Local Mini Bookshops, which bring the work of local authors to Asheville establishments. When not writing, Jacqui can be found hanging out with her kids and consuming far too much caffeine.
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Erin Hallagan Clare
Erin Hallagan Clare is the Founder and Artistic Director of Story Parlor, a narrative arts space dedicated to multidisciplinary storytelling based in Asheville, North Carolina. She is a certified creativity coach and holds a Masters in creative psychology, as well as a graduate certificate in Applied Mythology. A writer and storyteller, she has told stories at The Moth, Listen to This, Testify, One Page Salon, NC Writers Network and more, and is a Moth Story Slam Champion. Her writing can be found in Psychology Today, Thrive Global, and others, and she is a contributing author to The Coach’s Guide to Completing Creative Work published by Routledge.
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Nina Hart
Nina Hart is the founder of "Writing from the Top of Your Head" workshops. She offers writing workshops and 1:1 first draft book coaching, and is a certified KaizenMuse Creativity Coach and Gateless Method writing facilitator. Her workshops have also been inspired by the work of Paulo Freire and his philosophy of education for liberation and the work of Brene Brown, among others. Her first collection of surreal short fictions called “Somewhere in a Town You Never Knew Existed Somewhere” was a finalist in Foreword Reviews’ IndieFab Book of the Year Awards. Nina spends her time as a right-brained, highly sensitive, creative entrepreneur. She is passionate about helping writers find their voice and reclaim the hooligan kid spirit that most people have buried under an “adult” veneer. Nina considers herself to be an improvisational writer – she was a blocked writer until she rediscovered the curious part of herself who could play, experiment, and explore. She offers online workshops, writing retreats, and 1:1 coaching.
You can check out her website and join her newsletter here: www.writingfromthetopofyourhead.com.