Happy Ink: Crafting Poetry and Prose from Simple Pleasures // with Kimberly Gomes

What’s something every poet and writer uses for inspiration?

Heartbreak, the past, and pain - am I right?

But maybe you want to build a writing practice that doesn’t rely on ultra highs and crazy lows to create. If you’re ready to mine inspiration from simple pleasures and the everyday, then this workshop is for you. 

In this two-week generative series, we’ll get inspiration from other writers and dive into pleasureful writing prompts to help you use creativity to enhance everyday living. Writers will walk away with new poem/prose pieces, as well as writing exercises to explore the local community while gathering inspiration for new material.

Kim is a natural teacher, sharing her own discoveries with a genuine enthusiasm that inspires action. The way she shared her openness to trying new techniques and her curiosity approaching new themes unblocked me from avoiding those things I'm "not good at." I'm a poet and I started writing a novel after a call with Kim because I saw it as entirely possible for the first time. She makes you believe in yourself while you try new experiments on paper and then, new experiences in life. -Lara

Week By Week

Week 1: We’ll dive into a poetry session designed to awaken your senses and spark inspiration. We’ll study selected poems, generate new material from interactive writing prompts, and walk away with exercises to keep creative juices flowing during the week. 

Week 2: We’ll shift to prose and study how acclaimed essayists mine inspiration from the everyday. We’ll explore how to jumpstart writing from emotions and everyday scenes often forgotten about and have some time for optional sharing.

After our class wraps, writers can participate in a free and optional 3-day challenge to craft and share new works from simple pleasures.

Who Should Take This Class

This class is for all levels of writers and aspiring creatives! If you’re a poet, prose writer, or songwriter who needs a break from the pain and wants to fuse more joy into your life through creativity, then join us! 

It’s also for folks who are brand new to writing and looking to bring more pleasure into their lives and write their first pieces in the process. If you’re feeling like you want to get your spark back, this class is for you!

One thing about working with Kim in creative spaces is that she is safe. When you are already being vulnerable in your creation it is so essential to have someone like Kim who can create a safe space for you to explore and come into your highest creative self! -Thomas

Format

Course materials will be delivered through two live virtual sessions with recordings and coursework available after our class. 

Sessions will be held on Sunday March 9 and March 16 from 11am-12pm PT |12-1pm MT | 1-2pm CT ET |2-3pm ET | 7-8 PM UTC.

About the Facilitator

Kimberly Gomes is a writer, musician, adventuress, and creativity coach. She’s the author of poetry collection, Love Notes the Body (Dancing Girl Press, 2019), travel novel, A Road of Her Own (Red Light Lit Press, 2025), spoken word-musical album, First Bloom, and is currently writing a collection of personal essays. Her novel was a semi-finalist for the 2022 Black Lawrence Press Prose Book Award. Her work was named a top personal essay of 2021 by Entropy Magazine and featured in a variety of journals, as well as the San Francisco Chronicle and Sunset Magazine. A natural hype woman for budding creatives, she’s excited to be teaching virtual and in-person creative writing workshops this spring with Transformative Language Arts Network and the Santa Cruz Public Library. Learn more about her offerings and writing at https://kimberlygomes.substack.com and @writeon_kim.