Calendar

The week's events

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Mar 31(1 event)

8:30 am: Two-Day Storytelling Workshop with Author M. Leona Godin (in-person)


Mar 31

Where: Lighthouse HQ, 1155 Market, San Francisco, 11th Floor
Cost: $100

Saturday, March 30 & Sunday, March 31

During this intensive weekend workshop, writer and performer Leona Godin will guide students through writing and performance exercises to craft personal narratives. We’ll consider creative non-fiction for the page and for the stage, for example the personal essay, Moth-style storytelling, and memoir. Students will also be encouraged to prepare a short piece for performance during the public story slam Saturday afternoon.

About the Instructor: Dr. M. Leona Godin is the author of There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness (Pantheon, 2021), and the founder of Aromatica Poetica, an arts and culture laboratory for the advancement of smell and taste. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Playboy, O Magazine, Literary Hub, and others. Her storytelling appearances include: RISK!; Story Collider; The MOTH Mainstage; TALE; and Turn Me Into Gold (Back Pocket Media). Her first storytelling solo show, “SIGHTED PEOPLE SUCK!,” Debuted at Under St. Marks Theater in November 2023 and she’s currently performing “Becoming Blind (as a Bat)” at Olfactory Art Keller. As a New York Public Library 2023-24 Diamonstein-Spielvogel Fellow, she’s working on a series of essays about image description and photography.

Saturday Schedule:
• 10:00 AM: check-in, introductions, and notes on short, personal narrative. Beginning, middle, and end, sure, but what else makes a compelling story? How do you make the personal universal? We’ll talk about elements that can guide your choices when crafting a story. What’s the difference between an anecdote and a story? A premise and a story? How do I show, not tell?
• 12:00 PM: Lunch
• 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM: Writing is a solitary business, except when it’s not! Oftentimes authors are called upon to read their work. This may present some challenges to some newly low-vision writers. However, whether you are a seasoned public reader or brand-new, whether you’ll be reading your own work or asking someone else to read for you, we’ll talk about how to select and prepare an excerpt. For those who would like to try their hand at Moth-style storytelling, we’ll talk about how to remain loose while still being mindful of the time. Storytelling in front of a live audience is also a great way to gain reader fans. We’ll listen to and discuss some examples.
• 4:00 - 6:00 PM: Storytelling Slam (see below)
• 6:30 PM: Dinner

Sunday Schedule:
• 8:30 AM: Breakfast
• 9:00 AM: Spinning out the story. We’ll consider strategies for connecting stories to create longer narratives. We’ll discuss nonfiction forms such as the lyric essay and memoir and consider how different genres allow different facets of a story to emerge. We’ll also talk about publishing: how to submit your work; where to submit your work; how not to be crushed by disappointment. And finally, we’ll talk about how to develop a sustainable and sustaining daily writing practice.
• 11:30 AM: Pack up and check out of rooms
• 12:00 PM: Lunch
• 1:00 PM: Workshop ends

RSVP online for Two-Day Storytelling Workshop with Author M. Leona Godin or to Sabrina Bolus at SBolus@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7607.

Apr 1(1 event)

9:30 am: The Business of Blindness: Coffee with Mike (online)


Apr 1

What does it mean to be blind or low vision? Mike Cole, a veteran of all things blindness, leads this call-in forum to discuss the day-to-day ins and outs of blindness—from daily living in your home environment to navigating the vast expanse of bureaucracies.

RSVP for The Business of Blindness online or contact Andrew Martinez at AMartinez@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7642.

Apr 2
Apr 3
Apr 4(1 event)

11:00 am: Museum of Craft & Design MAKE Art Activation (in-person)


Apr 4

Nearly every month, the Museum of Craft and Design brings their Mobile Make Art programming direct to Lighthouse HQ, at 1155 Market, 11th floor in San Francisco, featuring projects inspired by their latest exhibition on view at their Third Street museum and adapted for eyes-free crafting. This season, two new exhibits will be on view, including one exploring robot assisted art and artworks from the Pacific Northwest. Visit each month’s MAKE activation to discover a new project every time.

RSVP to Maia Scott at MScott@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7608.

Apr 5
Apr 6

The events for the upcoming week are read aloud on our event hotline every Friday, which can be accessed by calling 415-694-7325. For more information about visiting the Adaptations Store, head to our shop page.

The LightHouse is scent-free. Please abstain from wearing colognes, perfumes, or other scented products. Additionally, coffee must be securely lidded at all times and citrus should not be peeled on the premises. Thanks for supporting our efforts to respect chemical sensitivities!

SDS safety dataClick here for our cleaning product safety data sheets (SDS) and ingredient information.

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