SNS | 7-26-25
Join us online for an evening of literary performance and open mic readings
Featuring: C. Prudence Arceneaux + Michelle Patton
Theme: Stars
(scroll down for writing prompt)
Hosted By: Hollie Hardy
Saturday, July 26, 2025
6:00pm Pacific Time
(8:00pm Central time)
Online Event
Free Admission
Sign Up in Advance to Get on the Open Mic List
The theme is optional | Time limit is not optional
Please plan ahead and keep your reading to 3 MINUTES MAX
Scroll down for monthly writing prompt
Join Event on Zoom
Meeting ID: 839 5740 4701
Passcode: 665391
Author Bios
C. Prudence Arceneaux, a native Texan, teaches English and Creative Writing, and is the Department Chair of Creative Writing, at Austin Community College, in Austin, TX. Her work has appeared in various journals, including The Academy of American Poets’ Poem- A- Day, Limestone, New Texas, Hazmat Review, Texas Observer, Whiskey Island Magazine, African Voices and Inkwell. She is the author of two poetry chapbooks —Dirt (2018 Jean Pedrick Prize) and Liberty — and newly released collection Proprioception.
Get the book: https://www.tamupress.com/book/9781680034028/proprioception/
Michelle Patton received an MFA in Creative Writing from California State University, Fresno. She won the Ernesto Trejo Award for poetry in 2003 and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poems have been published or are forthcoming in Rattle, The Atlanta Review, Southern Poetry Review, Calyx, Zyzzyva, Prairie Schooner, Cutbank, and others. She teaches English at Fresno City College.
Read some poems from her forthcoming first book, Horoscopes for Emergencies on the Poetry Super Highway: https://www.poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/poetry-from-michelle-patton-and-bob-mcafee/
Write with Friends! Register for The Write-In!
LET’S WORK ON THE THEME TOGETHER!
Join me the week before SNS, on Saturday afternoon, July 19, for the monthly Write-In, a generative online workshop with Hollie Hardy.
Write-In Details/ Sign Up
July Writing Prompt: Stars
Whether we’re talking about the night sky, horoscopes, gold stars, or movie stars—this month’s theme invites mystery, metaphor, imagination, and wonder. Take some inspiration from the stars.
SOME IDEAS
Write about literal stars—space, constellations, the sun, dead stars, black holes, the unknown, vastness and splendor.
Take a night walk. Or get out a lawn chair and sit outside one night, look at the sky, name things, let your mind wander and follow your thoughts onto the page.
Write about a camping or hiking trip where the dark sky lets you see way more stars than usual. Describe that sense of wonder.
Write from the point of view of an astronaut in space, perhaps looking back at Earth, or beyond to new horizons.
Draw metaphorical connections between distant stars and life on earth, how does the macro of space illuminate the micro of dailiness?
Write about a celebrity—a movie star, musician, journalist, politician, famous writer, a popular historical character, a star teacher—this might be a fictional portrait, a true story, an epistolary poem (love/hate letter), satire, dream, fantasy, tabloid, passing allusion, etc.
Write a poem or prose piece in the form of a horoscope
Write about a time when you shone, or were the star of something, or received a gold star. What happened? Why was it complicated?
Or something else! As ever, the prompt is optional, just a few ideas to jump start your pen.
INSPIRATION
Dead Stars by Ada Limón
My God It’s Full of Stars by Tracy K. Smith
I Know a Silent Movie Star by Michael Palmer
Astronomers Locate a New Planet by Matthew Olzmann
2 Poems from Horoscopes for Emergencies by Michelle Patton
Ode to Patrick Swayze by Tishani Doshi
How to Measure Distance by Charlotte Pence
Starship Somatics: An Invitation by Petra Kuppers
Stars over the Dordogne by Sylvia Plath
Stargazer by Dara Wier
Star Dust by Kay Ryan
Write More: If you like the SNS writing prompts, consider signing up for my subscription service, Praxis Poetry: Weekly Prompts for Poets. Learn more and sign up for inspiration, accountability, and community!