Our Writing Groups
Select a class below to find out more and enroll.
Laughing to Keep from Crying: A Generative Writing Workshop on Humor with Ben Niespodziany
February 20- 22, 2026
About the Course
The comedian and TV show host Milton Berle once said, “Laughter is an instant vacation.” Now more than ever, we could all use a good laugh. An escape from the doom scrolling, from the news cycles, from the terrors outside our windows.
In this highly generative writing workshop (my fourth with Bending Genres, if you know, you know), we’ll be discussing the many ways to include humor in poetry, prose poetry, microfiction, and flash fiction. Tips and tricks to help you incorporate humor into any type of literary medium. From Matthew Olzmann’s mantra of “Start with a joke, end with a prayer” to the conceptual narrative humor of Zachary Schomburg and Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi to the more laugh-out-loud humor of Russell Edson and Jack Handey and Jennifer L. Knox. Other authors we’ll be reading include Mark Leidner, Rachel B. Glaser, Richard Brautigan, John Maradik, and S.E. Smith. With an excessive amount of examples, we’ll also feature an excessive amount of writing prompts. Enough prompts for you to choose to work on and share over the weekend with plenty of extras to take home with you (virtually) after the workshop is over. We’ll be laughing, chuckling, cackling, howling, and roaring away. Who knows, we might even invite a chortle or two.
Modern life can be stressful and overwhelming, and in this weekend workshop, we’ll offer an escape from reality for a little bit, looking at ways to use your imagination and disconnect as well as ways to turn your stressors and anxieties into something funny and expressive on the page. It’ll be a safe and welcoming space to be goofy and silly for a little while. Anything can happen. Pack your Groucho glasses. Bring a Slinky. We’re going to have fun.
About the Instructor
Bio: Benjamin Niespodziany is a Chicago-based poet, editor, and reading series host. His writing has been published in HAD, Wigleaf, Autofocus, Conduit, Pithead Chapel, and various others. Along with having published two books (one of poems with Okay Donkey and one of microfictions with X-R-A-Y), he hosts the Neon Night Mic reading series in Chicago and recently launched Piżama Press. You can find more at neonpajamas.com.
Online Roundtable
BG Editor-in-Chief Robert Vaughan leads this four month program in an informal online setting. Participants receive a monthly “lesson” and writing prompts, monthly one-on-one sessions with the instructor via Zoom, and together with their group, receive and offer feedback on their writing exercises.
Writing Retreats
Each year we offer week-long, in person writing retreats. You will have the opportunity and inspiration to explore the unique challenges that writers face in writing a new piece each day. The Writing Retreat is ideal for writers of all levels of experience, from previously published to novice writers who are ready to launch into new terrain.