A lovely article about my book Words and Wonder, writing, inspiration, and more was published in the Miami New Times. It’s always a gift to get support from the media, and below is an excerpt:
Happy New Year = Happy News!
I’m pleased to announce that my very FIRST book of nonfiction, WORDS AND WONDER: A GUIDE TO BECOMING A CREATIVE WRITER, will be published on MARCH 1, 2022!!!
I wrote this book for aspiring writers, creatives, story lovers, and anyone else who simply wants to try something new. With my 10 + years of experience as a writer, editor, coach, and teacher, Words and Wonder reveals some of the basic tools I believe everyone must have to foster a more creative life. Additionally, I answer the top questions from writers of all ages and abilities such as:
-how to find the time to write
-how to find inspiration
-whether or not to get an MFA
-how to get published
-and more!
There are also personalized and fun hacks for tapping into the flow state and many, many “De Greff Doors,” or journaling prompts.
My hope is that my book will allow you to get out of your own way and bring more writing into your life from a place of excitement rather than fear (which, by the way, is super normal and common, even with established authors!)
Can’t wait for y’all to read it. Enjoy a little excerpt below, and if you haven’t already, subscribe to the newsletter to be in the know for tour dates, readings, workshops and more for 2022!
Happy to announce that my micro nonfiction essay “Coastal Prairie Trail” will be published in the second issue of Islandia Journal! It’s now available for preorder (delivery early November).
Featuring:
-Cryptids of the Caribbean #2
-Three essays about hidden figures from South Florida's past
-Poems about Miami Vice and Tootsie's
-Photographic journeys through (sub)tropical space & time
-AND MORE....
Postcards designed by Side x Side kids
3 years ago with partners Elia Khalaf and EXILE Books, we came up with the idea for Side x Side, a pen pal/mail art project to connect kids from different neighborhoods in Miami. We knew it would be challenging to plan, coordinate, and bring to fruition during a pandemic, and for a year we had to put everything on hold…
Fortunately, this summer in June and July, we were able to bring Side x Side back to kids in Liberty City at the and Opa-Locka, at a time where art and writing and play is needed more than ever! Here’s what happened:
24 kids got to empower themselves and their communities through mail art, creative writing, and expression
7 workshops were held where we led them through writing prompts, stamps and postcard creation
24 kids became new friends, published writers, and had their art on display at EXILE Books in Little Haiti…plus a pizza party!
SO much thanks and gratitude to the team, and our partners at the OLCDC and Tacolcy, and Oolite Arts. Scroll down to see some of what went on summer of 2021, and stay tuned for a gallery show and zine of these young artists and writers’ work, which will very soon be made available to YOU!
Kids opening their pen pal letters!
Working hard on stamps made with linoleum and ink
Pen Pal writing
Side x Side pen pals meet IRL!
Side x Side art and letters on display at EXILE Books!
Side x Side artist sees their work on the walls
A close up of a letter
Happy summer for all! XOXO Side x Side
Whether you live in an urban area or in the countryside, this workshop aims to get you out of your head and into nature. We will write about the natural world, yes, but also our place in it and how we can protect our home for generations to come. We will use examples of writing across various genres, from poetry and essayettes to novel excerpts and feature articles, from authors such as Robin Wall Kimmerer, Richard Powers, Rachel Carson, Natalie Diaz, and Helen Macdonald.
In class we will discuss different ways of looking at and interacting with the outside world, techniques for writing about nature, and what constitutes nature writing. Each week there will be a new nature writing assignment that will require you to, in some way, leave your home (even if it is simply sticking your head out the window) and share your findings with the group. This class is both interactive and active and will include research, observation, and contemplation. It’s also a chance for you to have some time to come home to yourself in the great outdoors, or, if you prefer, to build community with your friends and family as you rediscover place.
This course is open to all writers of any genre who are interested in writing about nature. Prior workshop experience is not necessary, but all members of the class must come to class prepared to discuss the readings, be willing to share their own writing and nature writing, and be generous in their responses to their peers’ work.
We will meet weekly on Mondays at 7:30 P.M. U.S. Eastern Time.
Additional note: We will be hosting this course’s text content on a specialty writing course platform, Wet.Ink, rather than the PowerSchool Learning platform we use for most Writers.com courses.
By the end of this 6-week class, students will:
Have a strong sense of what nature writing can be, and how you can craft your own style to work with or against what has come before.
Understand the many shapes nature writing can take, and how nature writing is about feeling, emotions, and above all else, stories.
Discuss and contemplate questions such as: How do I interact with the natural world around me? Who is Indigenous to this land and is that reflected in the way my town/city is organized? How can I honor and protect the flora, fauna, and original people of the place I call home?
Write and revise several pieces of original nature writing content and learn where and how to publish them, if so desired.
Above all, we’ll explore and bloom as a writing community and have fun all the while.
We’ll look at several examples across various genres to begin to see how wide the world of nature writing is and discover how integral the environment has been on writers, and vice versa. We will also brainstorm, free write, and lay down roots for our first pieces, and you’ll be given your first nature writing assignment to be completed outside of class.
After our nature writing check in (did you find a new plant? Notice something you hadn’t before? Get inspired by bird song?), we’ll use model texts that focus on flora to serve as inspiration in the form of either the epistolary, ode, memoir, or hybrid dealing with our local flora. You’ll become an intrepid researcher and botanist, and also get your second nature writing assignment.
After our nature writing check in and optional sharing (what was your favorite flower? Did you have an emotional connection to any flora you came across?), we’ll use model texts that focus on fauna to serve as inspiration in the form of either micro fiction or micro memoir. Whether you want to tell a true story or make one up is completely up to you, and you’ll also get your third nature writing assignment.
After our nature writing check in and optional sharing (is there an animal you misunderstood and now feel differently about? What animals are endangered in your state?), we’ll discuss and look at the role of humans within the natural world, and how respect for our indigenous people goes hand in hand with respect for the land. We’ll also discuss how and why stories are one of the most powerful tools of change, and we’ll work on writing our own centered around the theme of union and wholeness within the natural world, and what connection and well-being looks, smells, sounds, feels, and tastes like. You’ll also get your fourth nature writing assignment.
After our nature writing check in and optional sharing (are there any stories that affected you as a child that centered around the natural world? Did you find one from another culture? Make one up you can share with your own kids?), we’ll return to our notes and writing over the last month and choose a piece for revision and/or expansion. Time will be spent editing and examining our subject matter, narrative, word choice, messages, and more. Additionally, over the next week, you’ll be tasked with reworking this piece in order to share it out loud during the last class. Feedback will be given, and I will provide tips on how to do so in a constructive and positive manner.
In our last class we will share our work out loud and offer brief feedback to each other, and discuss how we have discovered, or rediscovered, the importance of nature and developing a healthy relationship with our kin. Time will also be spent discussing how to submit your work to literary magazines/journals/newspapers, if you are so inclined, and options for expanding shorter pieces into a series, collection, or book.
I’m so excited to announce that I will be co-leading a Yoga, Writing, and Nature Retreat with Joan Varini of Sun Warrior Yoga this fall! Details are below, and please email or schedule a call for detailed pricing info and/or questions. Space is very limited, so reserve your spot ASAP!
The Sweet Escape: Yoga-Writing-Nature
Sun Warrior Yoga and De Greff Writers Weekend Retreat
When: Sept. 30th-Oct. 3rd
Where: Mt. Dora, Florida
Do you need a quick getaway that will relax your body, calm your mind, restore your spirit and inspire creative expression? Charming Mt. Dora is less than a four hour drive north from Miami. This quaint historic town and her many lakes, springs and lovely hikes is the perfect backdrop for an easy writing and yoga getaway.
The talented author and teacher Dana De Greff and Joan Varini of Sun Warrior Yoga will be guiding retreat participants through a four-day sojourn consisting of energy and mindfulness focused meditation and yoga practices, fun, relaxing nature adventures and writing exercises intended to aid in rehabilitating, inspiring and enlightening weary bodies and souls. No writing or yoga experience necessary? Space is limited so reserve your spot today.
Our four day, four night retreat includes the following:
-Quaint, shared cottage-style housing
-Meditation, Pranayama and Asana yoga practices
-Writing exercises, prompts and guidance to inspire written self examination and creative expression
-Nature walks, kayaking and visits to neighboring springs
-A trip to the local farmer’s market
-Co-op style meal preparation
-Evening fireside actives
(Note: Does not include transportation to and from Mt. Dora, FL)
For more information or to reserve your spot, contact Joan or Dana at:
joanvarini@gmail.com
danarevadegreff@gmail.com
Payment info:
(Payment plans available)
*A non-refundable $300 deposit will reserve your spot
*Full payment due by September 8th
*Partial refund may be available depending on participation; after September 15, no refunds will be issued
*Total cost between $1100-$1800, depending on bed size/ occupancy and early bird pricing (see below)
Room price breakdown:
-1300 triple (1 room, 2 beds available) early bird
-1400 regular price
-1400 double (1 room, 1 bed available) early bird
-1500 regular price
-1500 queen (1 room, 1 bed available) early bird
-1600 regular price
***If bed shared, 1000/pp early bird
***If bed shared, 1100/pp regular price
-1600 king (1 room, 1 bed available) early bird
-1700 regular price
***If shared, 1100/pp early bird
***If shared, 1200/pp regular price
NOTE: Early bird pricing ends August 14
“The land knows you, even when you are lost.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
Whether you live in an urban area or in the countryside, this 6-week class aims to get you out of your head and into nature. We will write about the natural world, and our place in it, using model texts across various genres from authors such as Robin Wall Kimmerer, Rebecca Solnit, Rachel Carson, Barry Lopez, Natalie Diaz, and Helen Macdonald. Discussions in class will focus on different ways of looking at and interacting with the outside world, techniques for writing about nature, and what constitutes nature writing. Additionally, each week there will be a new fieldwork assignment that will require you to, in some way, leave your home, record observations, and share your findings with the group.
This class is both interactive and active and will include reading, research, observation, writing, and contemplation of questions such as: How do I interact with the natural world around me? Who is Indigenous to this land and is that reflected in the way my town/city is organized? How can I honor and protect the flora, fauna, and original people of the place I call home? What does it mean for humans and nature to coexist in a responsible, loving, and equitable manner? And how do we make the outdoors a place of true belonging?
This course is open to all writers of any genre who are interested in writing about nature. Prior workshop experience is not necessary, but all members of the class must come to each session prepared to discuss the readings, willing to share their own writing and fieldwork, and be generous in their responses to their peers’ work.
*** This Austin Bat Cave adult writing workshop is limited to 15 students and open to writers of all levels. To enhance the nature-writing experience, participants will receive a special workshop kit including Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a waterproof, tear-proof notebook by Field Notes, and more. ***
This is a very special one day class on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, from 6-8 pm CT, with the Austin Bat Cave! Details below:
Toni Morrison once said: “There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” Most, if not all, people have fears. Of failure, of family, of events from their past. And for writers, the truth is that what we fear the most is oftentimes exactly what we need to put down on paper. Through prompts, readings, and discussion, author Dana De Greff will guide you in naming, releasing, and using your fears to generate ideas for new work. No experience is necessary—all you need is a love of words, a willingness to let go of fear, and a desire to embrace creation and creative liberation.
This Austin Bat Cave adult writing class is limited to 30 students and open to writers of all levels.
Everyone loves the idea of writing a novel… until they start it. This new course breaks down what you need for your first draft of a novel, how to outline your book before you start it, and methods for developing plot, characterization, world-building, point of view, and more. Taught through The Writing Barn, initial classes will be dedicated to organizing your novel so that, if/when you’re stuck, you’ll have a blueprint to return to and methods to push past the rut!
CLASS STARTS TUESDAY, MAY 25, 2021 AND RUNS THROUGH TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2021., 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM CT.
Topics Covered:
A novel questionnaire to help get you started if you need ideas
Outline and writing methods
Character development exercises
Activities on setting and style
Tips on building scenes and creating conflict
Dialogue practice and techniques
Methods for incorporating backstory, flashbacks, and transitions
Tips for next steps beyond the first draft such as crafting a query letter, finding an agent, and publishing
Who Should Take This Class?
Anyone who has ever wanted to write a book
Anyone who has started a book and couldn’t finish it
Anyone who wants to learn a new skill set
Anyone who loves writing and reading
Anyone who wants to gain a community of fellow writers
Anyone who wants to create and learn in a safe and nurturing environment
This course is for those who want to take their writing to the next level in a small, intimate setting, and meet other like-minded individuals, this is the course for you. Prior to each meeting, participants will read each other’s chapters or stories (around 15 pages each) and give feedback to the author, creating an organic group to offer constructive criticism, tips, and motivation. There will also be optional prompts and condensed craft lectures tailored to issues that organically arise from each week’s readings.
This course is designed with the goal of generating pages and having eyes on those pages, and is best for those who are well into a draft of a book, or looking to revise a story, essay, or creative-nonfiction piece for publication.
Classes are weekly every Sundays, June 6-July 18 (off for July 4), 12-2pm EST. Six (6) classes in total.
Note: This workshopped is geared towards those with workshop and/or publishing experience and is capped at 10 people.
I'm floored, amazed, and humbled by the notification today that I've been nominated for a 2021 Pushcart Prize for my short story "Storms" from the Winter 2020 issue of the Jabberwock Review
Thank you so much to the editors; my very first nomination couldn't have come at a better time!
You can read an excerpt below and purchase the WINTER 2020 issue HERE .
If you want to hold yourself accountable, gain a serious writing community and learn from a seasoned writer, editor, and educator in a nurturing, and inspiring environment, this is the program for you. There are 3 tiers available, depending on your goals, level of commitment, and time.
*Note: If you cannot attend a webinar or workshop, these will be recorded for you to review when you can.
Want to learn more? Visit the EVENTS page and hope to see you in December!
I’m pleased to announce that my short fiction piece “The Seventh Chakra” has been published by Cosmonauts Avenue as part of their Summer 2020 issue! Here is an excerpt:
Read the rest HERE.
Honored to be featured as an “Inspiring Local” on VoyageMIA in July 2020! Read part of the interview below, and get the full scoop HERE.
Dana, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My first memories are not where I was born, here in Miami, but in Lagos, Nigeria, where I moved with my family when I was four years old. After two years there, we went on to Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire for three years, and then Doula, Cameroon for one. When I was ten, we returned to Miami, and I remember that move being more of a culture shock than going to West Africa. Those years, I’m sure, influenced my love of travel, learning about different cultures, languages, and food. As an undergrad at FSU, I studied English and minored in film studies and Spanish literature; for a time, I thought I wanted to be a screenwriter (and I still want to write a screenplay… one day!), but before I could get any work in those areas, I moved to Spain to teach English. I did not write a lot while I was there, but I definitely had many adventures, including walking for almost two weeks on the Camino de Santiago.
I returned to the US to get my MA in English from UT Austin, with the idea of staying on to get a Ph.D. and teach English literature. That didn’t happen (mostly because I was sick of school and intimidated by the amount of work my friends in the Ph.D. program were doing) but I did get my MA and attempted to write my first novel… which I abandoned about 100 pages in. From 2012-2013, I lived and taught English in the Future Patagonia Park in Patagonia, Chile. Again, not much creative writing was done there, but a lot of living and learning. When I returned to the US at the end of 2013, this time it was home to Miami. For the next two years, I worked as a freelance journalist, copywriter, and editor. I grew as a writer but felt my dream of writing books slipping away, so I applied for an MFA in creative writing at the University of Miami and got in. I graduated in 2018 with a full novel draft and a determination to never stray from the writer’s path again. While at UM, I also received a 2016 Knight Arts Challenge Grant for PageSlayers, which provides free creative writing camps for kids based in in Opa-Locka and in partnership with the OLCDC.
Moving forward, I am now focusing on smaller-scale projects with PageSlayers, the most recent of which is SIDE x SIDE, a mail art project in collaboration with artist Elia Khalaf, EXILE Books, and the Little Haiti Cultural Center and which will take place summer 2021 and was funded by Oolite Arts through an Ellies Creator Award in 2019. SIDE x SIDE will showcase the connections between Opa-Locka and Little Haiti through mail art, where participants create works for their pen pals in other cities, then meet in person to create a zine together. (Learn more here: https://oolitearts.org/grant/dana-de-greff/)
Currently, I am a Visiting Professor of English at St. Thomas University and have taught creative writing classes with Books & Books in Miami, as well as online through the Loft Literary Center, and now on my own through zoom. I am working on getting my first novel, The Odyssey Hotel, published, and am also at work on my second novel, Everyday Mysticism. I have also published a chapbook of poems, Alterations, which was selected by Dan Vera and Ron Mohring as Number Eight in the Rane Arroyo Chapbook Series. I’m the recipient of the 2018 Lillian E. Smith Writer-in-Service Award, and the 2017-2018 Literary Artist-in-Residence at the Deering Estate and I’ve been accepted or awarded scholarships from Tent: Creative Writing, the Tin House Summer Writers’ Workshop, The Key West Literary Seminar, the Lemon Tree House Residency in Tuscany, and Hedgebrook. My work appears in or is forthcoming from The Citron Review, Cosmonauts Avenue, PANK, Origins Journal, Philadelphia Stories, Hawai’i Pacific Review, and Gulf Stream Magazine and I am represented by Writers House.
In July 2020 I was featured as part of Locust Projects newest blog series “Closer Look” which revisits some of their past WaveMaker Grantees. PayeSlayers received a Cycle 4 WaveMaker Grant in 2018, and some of the interview is below. To read the full interview, click HERE.
Interview with Dana De Greff, PageSlayers Founder and Executive Director
Tell us about your WaveMaker project:PageSlayers, a 2016 Knight Arts Challenge winner, is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of artists- and writers-of-color in South Florida. We partnered with EXILE Books with Elia Khalaf to produce SIDE X SIDE in 2018, a dynamic, interactive correspondence art project that engaged with young artists and writers in Opa-Locka and Little Haiti. We aimed to bridge our respective Miami-Dade neighborhoods together by means of mail art, highlighting their unique experiences and neighborhoods. Inspired students between the ages of 8 to 10 years old living and attending public school in Little Haiti and Opa-Locka were paired with each other as pen pals, creating correspondence art – stamps, envelopes, and other snail-mail memorabilia – while learning about life in another diverse community through the lens of a new friend. These students expanded their literary horizons beyond community borders and instilled in themselves a civic sense of pride from where they read, write, live and play.
Going back to the 1960s, mail art, also known as postal art and correspondence art, has been used for exchanging art, collages, drawings, and the written word. We were drawn to this medium because it allows for spontaneity, creativity, and is inclusive in its nature; all you need is access to a mailbox! One of the most appealing aspects of mail art is its egalitarianism – through the postal service, students can connect and circumnavigate issues such as transportation, economic status, and lack of meeting spaces. Both the communities of Opa-Locka and Little Haiti are predominately communities of color and immigrants, and both have strong ties to literature and art, which is why we thought they would be an excellent pairing. These two areas have also been in the process of major cultural, economical, and artistic revivals since the fifties and sixties.
We began our pilot program working with PageSlayers Summer Camp, which was part of the Opa Locka Community Development Corporation overall summer camp programs, with a group of about 15 students, and another group of about 15 students in Little Haiti through Gang Alternative, Inc. Over the course of about 6 weeks, we met with each group multiple times, leading workshops on letter writing, stamp making, and more to create a unique pen pal project. EXILE provided basic templates/graphic design and guidelines that will help to spark dialogue and generate collaborative content between students in Opa-Locka and Little Haiti, which included special envelopes, paper designs, and writing prompts about what makes the students neighborhood’s unique.
I’m excited to announce that my flash creative nonfiction piece entitled “This is How You Say Conflict” has been published in the 2020 Summer Issue of The Citron Review.
Many thanks to the editors and I hope you enjoy.
The new Winter/Spring 2020 issue (40.2) of issue of Jabberwock Review is here! So pleased to have my short story, "Storms," included, and congrats to the other contributors as well.
If you’d like a copy of the issue, you can order one here.
Last night I received a grant from Oolite Arts to work on a mail art project with Elia Khalaf and EXILE Books for SIDE X SIDE which will show “the connections between Opa-Locka and Little Haiti through mail art, where participants create works for their pen pals in other cities, then meet in person to create a zine together.”
Read more here and check out all the other wonderful Miami winners! Stay tuned for more info on this project in 2020!
I was recently accepted into the Lemon Tree House residency program in Tuscany from September 21 – October 5, 2019. It's a wonderful opportunity to have 2 weeks of uninterrupted writing work time, in a place I've never been and part of a prestigious program.
The time and space would help me finish edits of THE ODYSSEY HOTEL (my first novel) for another round of sending the manuscript out to editors. I am also at work on a second novel, so I will be very busy and make so much use of the time!!!
The funds will be used to pay for part of the residency. Here's a bit about the program:
"The Lemon Tree House is an artist residency program designed to encourage the creative, intellectual and personal growth of emerging and established artists, musicians and writers in beautiful Tuscany. Its aim is to support creative process in a unique and historically rich environment, allowing devoted time, dialogue and space for creative work, as well as providing interesting opportunities for cultural exchange and development. Writers and artists have the best of both worlds- the freedom to work in peace during the day, with the option to meet up with the group for cocktails, dinner and artist talks with featured Artists and Writers-in-Residence in the evening. Located in a tranquil hamlet in the Cetona foothills, residents have access to the full grounds, as well as a workspace in their private rooms. "
Two full weeks of isolated artistic time with the benefit of one-on-one sessions with in-house instructors and international authors & artists, conversational exchange with fellow attendees. Past guest lecturers include Giller-nominated Sarah Selecky, Italian author Pietro Grossi, Canadian painters Sarah Cale, Ryley O'Byrne and French visual artist Christian Gosselin, Michael Salu: creative director and writer from the U.K., New York Times bestseller Ibi Kaslik, winner of the Paris Literary Prize for her first novel: Rosa Rankin-Gee, American writer and comic artist Nadja Spiegelman, award-winning authors Pasha Malla, Craig Francis Power and Greg Brownderville, journalist/novelist Cheryl Tan and the 2018 winner of the Dayton Peace Prize, author Hala Alyan."
I would be so grateful for your help. Everything counts, and from this writer to you, THANK YOU!
DONATE HERE
I’m happy to share that my short story, “Storms” is a 3rd-place winner in one of Glimmer Train’s last Fiction Open. Out of a thousand stories, I feel honored to have been chosen and am grateful to Susan and Linda. Thank you! From their website:
“Glimmer Train continues to actively champion emerging writers. The magazine is represented in recent editions of the Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, New Stories from the Midwest, the O. Henry Prize Stories, New Stories from the South, Best of the West, New Stories from the Southwest, Best American Short Stories, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading.”
Stay tuned for news (hopefully soon) on how you can read “Storms” for yourself!
Last week, the book release and reading for ALTERATIONS published by Seven Kitchens Press at Books & Books in Coral Gables was amazing. Thank you to everyone who came!
ALTERATIONS @Miami Girl Magazine
Special gratitude to Miami Girl Magazine for the beautiful photographs, Mitchell Kaplan for coming straight from the airport to support the release, and all my friends, family, and new faces who came out. For a full recap, please visit Miami Girl Magazine. And to buy ALTERATIONS click HERE.
Signing books @MiamiGirlMagazine
It’s a thrill to announce that my poetry manuscript "Alterations," was selected for this year’s Rane Arroyo Chapbook Series, along with “Mix Tape for a War,” by Guillermo Filice Castro. Both chapbooks will be published this summer as #8 and #9 in the series by Seven Kitchens Press.
Stay tuned for release date, and thank you to Dan Vera and Ron Mohring for the opportunity. Can't wait to see it in print!
