(Optional)Pre-Conference Workshop  

Unlocking Your Creativity

Sunday, June 11, 2023 

10:00 am - 12:00 pm 

Limited space

As writers who often work “inside the box,” with assigned writing projects, formats that are almost always dictated to us, and periods where it seems impossible to muster up a different way to spin the same old thing, it’s time to unlock our powers to think creatively, inside the frameworks we have been given.

Join this unique hands-on workshop on Sunday, June 11, 2023 from 10 a.m. to noon, hosted by Asheville’s own Story Parlor business owner Erin Hallagan Clare. Hosted at the ACE Conference hotel, this workshop is aimed at exposing creativity and new ideas, identifying what's in our way, and creating a toolkit and roadmap for sustainable practices to move us into momentum and motivation. Dealing with subjects like obstacles, overwhelm, generating new angles on old things and much, much more, we hope you leave infused with a renewed creative spirit for writing.

Workshop space and Saturday night hotel rooms within the conference block are limited. Workshop space will be filled by the first 20 participants registered through the ACE website who indicate their preference for attending the workshop. All those who signed up will be notified by April 4 of their status either as a participant or as a waitlisted individual so travel plans can be finalized. Hotel room block rates for Saturday night will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis by booking through the hotel as outlined on the ACE conference website. This workshop opportunity is free of charge for ACE Conference participants thanks to your ACE President, the ACE Board, and the 2023 ACE Conference Committee.

Questions about this workshop can be sent to Lesa Vold, Media Relations and Writing Learning Community Vice-Chair, at lvold@iastate.edu.

Workshop Presenter Bio:

Erin Hallagan Clare is the founder and Artistic Director of Story Parlor, a multi-disciplinary arts space featuring storytelling and the exploration of the human condition. Launched in 2015 (formerly known as “Story Bar”), Story Parlor offers community-driven events and workshops designed to bring audiences and artists together through the universal language of creativity.

Erin received her BA in Film and Theatre from Temple University, and is currently studying for her Masters in Psychology with a Creativity Studies specialization. In 2019, she was certified as a Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach, leading to the launch of her coaching practice, Inward & Artward. A sister project to Story Parlor, Inward & Artward offers clients individual support in cultivating a sustainable relationship with their creativity by bringing awareness and attention to their habits, worldview, and intuition.

Prior to these projects, Erin served as the Creative Director of the Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference, in addition to producing the PBS and NPR-affiliated project, On Story. She is on the board of the Austin Film Festival and serves on the Public Art, Community Events, & Festivals Committee with the Asheville Area Arts Council’s Arts Coalition. Her early career was spent in the Philadelphia theatre scene, teaching writing classes at the Graduate School of DC, and managing an equestrian center in Rock Creek National Park. In kinship with her experience as a Creativity Coach, Erin is an accredited Enneagram Practitioner as well as a certified yoga teacher through the Yoga Alliance with over 450 hours in trainings. At the request of her soul, Erin is a writer and storyteller, and regularly teaches creativity and storytelling-based workshops.

Erin believes everyone has a story to tell, and that we are all creative. She is dedicated to making a difference through the transformative power of the arts. 

Click here to register