Jenn Givhan
CREATE | INSPIRE | EMPOWER
Let’s CREATE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL, COMMUNITY!
I am so excited to share my decade+ experience teaching, mentoring, and coaching poets and writers, high school and college students, girls, femmes, women, and marginalized folks! I’ve given readings, talks, and workshops nationwide, on topics ranging from body image, entrepreneurship, and personal empowerment, to poetics, novel crafting, and succeeding in the publishing industry. Students, faculty, and staff often share with me how inspiring and empowering my talks are, and I’m often invited back to speak for subsequent events. As a Latina woman who grew up on the Mexicali border, my own story is part and parcel of my vision of success and why I believe so deeply in helping others reach their goals, particularly those from marginalized communities. I would love to help your folks, your students, or your team create their best selves, reach their wildest dreams, and polish their most beautiful creative work!
What Folks are saying about my workshops & Classes
“Jenn not only possesses talents as an accomplished writer and educator, she has an innate ability to connect with her students and make them feel safe, supported, and valued. She demonstrates a broad knowledge and understanding of various cultures, backgrounds, and personalities. I always felt supported and respected for who I am as a student and as an individual.
Beyond her empathy and positive attitude, she is an excellent educator. Her methods of teaching inspired me to get in touch with my creativity and I generated more works in her class than ever before. The confidence and skills I learned from Jenn continue to boost me as a writer. I regularly refer to the materials from her class when I need a refresher or inspiration.”
“Thank you. Loved the workshop. Jennifer brought to light something that I kept hidden in my mind for decades. I feel comfortable to know that I can write stories about these ideas now. What a relief – a new freedom.”
“Jenn has such a lovely spirit and welcoming presence that lifts others up and empowers them to kick ass. Her work is consistent and eye-catching, and I have no doubt that many a creative soul will find themselves drawn to her unique magic.”
“Jenn’s approach was great, very authentically her. She helped me get some clarity about how I can be authentically me, as well.”
“Jenn is AMAZING! Nothing in this course felt hokey or far-fetched. This wasn’t about a snake oil cure to make you the most successful writer of your generation. It was Jenn sharing her experiences as guidance as we travel through our inner selves. It was familiar, comfortable and felt less like a workshop and more like conversation amongst comadres.”
“I’m so happy the Universe led me to finding out about Jenn, as a writer, as a witch, as a woman. This course has been an amazing growing experience.”
“Jenn’s creative approach to pedagogy blew my mind! She framed our class as an exploration of the underbelly, those dark and vulnerable places within us that often stay buried beneath time and trauma. Jenn ushered us into this challenging work with deep care and attention to our tender spirits. In the process, I found myself accessing fonts of inspiration that continue to inform the new work I’m creating long after they end of her class.”
past COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
National Endowment for the Arts Award in Poetry Judging Committee
National Review Panel for the City of San Antonio Poet Laureate, Gemini Ink
Latinx/Indigenous Poetry Student Mentor
Blueshift Speakeasy Poetry Mentor
Adroit Poetry Mentor
past PROFESSIONAL READINGS, CONFERENCES + LECTURES
How to Revise Your Writing for Publication, Authors Publish, 2022
John Hopkins Young Apprentice Writers’ Program, Mentor, 2021-2022
Writing from the Upside Down – Stranger Things, Duende, & Subverting Expectations, Authors Publish, 2021
Soul Creativity, 2021
Motherhood & Poetry: a Reading/Roundtable, 2021
Witches of the Apocalypse, Skylight Bookstore Crowdcast, 2021
Corridas, Cumbias, y Chicana Poetics: Embodiment of Cultural Trauma & Resilience, 2021
Visiting Professor, MFA in Creative Writing and Poetics at University of Washington Bothell, 2021.
Words Together Worlds Apart, Women’s History Reading, 2021.
Bower Writers House/Cutthroat Magazine, Puro Chicanx Anthology Reading, 2021.
Red Wing Public Schools, Inspirational Speaker, 2021.
Virtual Literature Week, Diablo Valley College, 2021.
MexicanAmerican Chicana/o Latinx Studies Department Cerritos College, 2021.
Body of Art, 2020.
Mark Twain House Fiction Reading, 2020.
Visiting Speaker, California State Fullerton, 2020.
Brazos Bookstore Poetry Reading with Leslie Contreras Schwartz, 2020.
North Hennepin Community College, 2020.
Writer’s Den with Polk County Public Access Television, 2020.
South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, 2020.
Bookshop.org Latinx Heritage Panel, 2020.
Central Connecticut State University, 2020.
Cerritos College, 2020.
JUBILEE from Blackstone Publishing, Book Launch hosted by Red Headed Stepchild, 2020.
Womanhood and Fiction Panel, Triangle House, 2020.
Current Latinx Poetics: Literature, Language, and Loss, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX, 2019.
Crossing the Lines: Diversity and Difference, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, CA, 2019.
Workshop Leader/Reading, Red Earth MFA Program, OK, 2019.
NYC BookExpo/BookCon, NY, 2019.
AWP Women’s Caucus panel presenter, Portland, OR, 2019.
Resistencia: Writers Across Borders Symposium presented by Chicanx Studies Department and UNM Lobo Slam, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 2018.
Lion Rock Visiting Writer Series, Central Washington State University, WA 2018.
Indiana Review Blue Light Visiting Writer Series, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 2018.
The Nelson/Boswell Visiting Writer Series, New Mexico State University, NM 2018.
Indiana Review + Muzzle Magazine Reading, Busboys and Poets, DC, 2017.
Poetry Barn Reading, Busboys and Poets, DC, 2017.
Duke City Writers Resist, Center of Peace and Justice, Albuquerque, NM, 2017.
National Poetry Month Visiting Writer Series, California State University, Fullerton, CA 2017.
1888 Center Visiting Writer Series, Chapman University, Chapman, CA, 2017.
Beyond Baroque Poetry Reading, Venice, CA, 2017.
Pleaides Press Visiting Writer Series, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO, 2016.
Featured Reader/Speaker, East of Eden Poetry Readings, 2015
Latinx Scholarship Recipient, The Frost Place Poetry Conference, Franconia, NH, 2015.
Squaw Valley Community of Writers, Squaw Valley, CA, 2015.
North American Review Bicentennial Creative Writing and Literature Conference: “Joy is So Exhausting: The Poetics of Contemporary Motherhood,” University of Northern Iowa, IA, 2015.
Tupelo Press Truchas Perfect Ten Conference, Truchas, NM, 2013.
National Latino Writers’ Conference Scholarship Recipient, Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, NM, 2012.
NCWCA (Northern California Writing Center Association) Conference: “Negotiating Spaces: Feminist Papers versus Feminist Tutorials.” Gavilan College, CA, 2009.
Modern Drama Conference: “Crossing the Language Barrier: Coalescing the Mind/Body Split and Embracing Kristeva’s Semiotic in Margaret Edson’s Wit.” Loyola Marymount University, CA, 2008.