Jenn Givhan
CREATE | INSPIRE | EMPOWER
Let’s CREATE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL, COMMUNITY!
Revise Like a Mother: How to Revise Your Writing for Publication, my free craft talk via authors publish
Writing from the Upside Down – Stranger Things, Duende, & Subverting Expectations, another free craft talk via authors publish
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
Writing from the Upside Down – Stranger Things, Duende, & Subverting Expectations
Virtual Craft Chat with Novelist Jenn Givhan, The Writer’s Center, 2025
John Hopkins Young Apprentice Writers’ Program, Mentor, 2021-2022
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
Jubilee & No Gods No Monsters: A Reading with Jenn Givhan & Cadwell Turnbull
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
Community of Writers, Palisades Tahoe, 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