author events, workshops and manuscript services
Upcoming workshops
ONGOING: R & R Retreat JOURNALING and ARTS Workshops @ Kripalu Center, Stockbridge, MA
Weekly memoir, collage, poetry, nature writing and singing classes offered to registered Kripalu guests.
Please send a message via the contact page for details about hosting a private writing retreat in your home for friends. Like a house concert with pens.
Private writing guidance
I offer friendly and honest feedback and/or editing services for your writing projects (short stories, novels, essays, blogs, etc.). See the CONTACT page and shoot me an email to chat about this.
Why and how I teach
As a creative writing adjunct professor at Rutgers University (2002-2010), I taught fiction and non-fiction courses to students with rich stories to tell. I now serve as writing faculty for Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers; the stories I hear continue to hold fascination.
In addition to traditional writing workshops in fiction and non-fiction (in which members read one another's writing over the course of several meetings), I offer non-traditional classes (day, weekend or week-long). Please see "Past events," below, for details. I believe in creating a safe, supportive environment in which writers can feel free to be messy and bold. I believe in honest kindness and kind honesty. I like to make jokes. I can't promise they'll be funny. I'll never force you to share words that need to remain private. I consider it my privilege to hold space for your creative efforts.
For more information, please get in touch via the CONTACT page.
Testimonials
Kind endorsements from class participants:
"Lara is tough but tender."
"This instructor is kick-a$$. Love her!"
"Lara is a very focused and compassionate teacher."
"She rocked the house! It was perfect. I just want to see her sing!"
"I like that you're in the world, Lara Tupper."
"Lara is a world class writer and teacher."
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[Lara] is an inspirational presenter."
"I recently took your class, The Traveling Mindset, which was terrific! Your workshop offered me permission to write. Thank you for your kind guidance." -Amy, Kripalu Center
"Your workshop has helped me stay connected to myself—I’m now writing every day. I think I can speak for all of us [in class] when I say you are a great mentor. Thank you for your kindness and care." –Elaine, Kripalu Center
"I had a breakthrough, thanks to you-- I truly enjoyed your weekend workshop. It was calming, centering, inspiring and affirming. It was exactly what I needed." - Kathleen, Genesis Center
"Thank you again for your wonderful and evocative workshop on Gratitude Journaling. The freedom and trust with which people wrote and shared their work is a testament to the safe atmosphere that you created." -Gloria, Kripalu Center
"Thanks for a great class - it was one of the highlights of the weekend for me. What made it nice was the gentle community building, the short and easy 'go-around-the- room' at the start, and brief, meditative centering." -David, Kripalu Center
"Thank you for the workshops you offered today. I appreciate you bringing your gift to others and I resonate with the energy you share in your teaching. Best to you!" - Janel, Kripalu Center
"Everyone was singing your praises! You had a great crowd. You have such a lovely down to earth sincere presence and open manner, it was a pleasure to meet you in person and to be a part of your workshop."
"We loved the collage workshop - in fact, [my wife] has done it a number of times since then with close friends and her sister. Breakthrough stuff. Thanks for opening that door for her!" - Ned Leavitt, founder, The Ned Leavitt Literary Agency
"See what R and R at Kripalu and one hour with you can do? Thanks, Lara, for initiating this first of many writing journeys that will find their way to the world of readers." - Bill, Kripalu Center
“Lara Tupper is a teacher with the ability to bring forth the very best in her students. In only a two hour session at Kripalu, Lara turned a room full of people (about 72) into confident writers – pros and novices alike. We wrote from the heart, soul and depth of past and present feelings. The sharing of our stories made all of us believe in our own creativity, abilities and in ourselves.” - Berkshire Festival of Women Writers representative Lorrin Krouss
"The writing class was my favorite. She is amazing!"
"Ms. Tupper, who presented the writing workshop on New Year's Eve, ran a fantastic session and stimulated an urge to write fiction that I'm very excited about."
Past workshops
Kripalu's Best of the Berkshires Week: The Berkshire region has long been an enticing place for writers. Learn about four prominent authors who lived and wrote nearby: W.E.B. Du Bois (of Great Barrington), Nathaniel Hawthorne (of Stockbridge), Herman Melville (of Pittsfield), and Edith Wharton (of Lenox). In this informal writing workshop, we'll read brief excerpts from the authors, consider their ties to the area, and try some brief writing exercises of our own. No prior writing experience necessary.
Four-day retreat with presenters Jeff Zimmerman, Lauren Behrman, Ken Nelson and Bobby Sweet. Find resilience and rewrite your story through open discussion, yoga and creative practices (journaling and song). Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Stockbridge, MA.
IS183 Art School, Stockbridge, MA: Less is more, as they say. Perhaps this is why Ernest Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words and called it his best work. In this light-hearted workshop we’ll look at tales from the popular Six-Word Memoirs series and compose our own. Warning: this writing practice is highly addictive! More artful than a tweet; less complicated than a sonnet. In honor of St. Valentine.
Setting Intention Through Journaling and Creative Expression, a four-day retreat: While the new year provides a fresh opportunity to initiate change in our lives, many of us could use support and a new way to manifest our desires. Join Kripalu faculty members Lara Tupper and Izzy Lenihan as they open up the creative passion that exists in all of us to better understand—and better act upon—the wishes you have for your life, both large and small. This program explores the catalyzing effect that journaling and other creative exercises can have in moving change and aspirations forward. Discover fun and engaging techniques designed to clear the clutter of the right brain, opening a path to skillful and intuitive action to achieve your goals. Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Stockbridge, MA
Tuesday, November 7, 2017: On Election Day 2017 (ie: the one year anniversary of Election Day 2016), join me for for a short and painless journaling exercise, completed at your leisure, wherever you happen to be. No writing experience necessary, just a willingness to consider positive intentions on this day. Part of the #ConciousnessAndCoffee movement, I invite you to spread the word and and prepare your favorite hot beverage. I'll post the specific writing prompt on the Facebook event page on November 7.
Bard College at Simon's Rock, Great Barrington, MA: Child's Play--“Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days,” said Flannery O’Connor. In this informal writing workshop, we’ll mine childhood details and draft sketches of past feats and foibles. We’ll look at published examples of writing about childhood (both from a child’s perspective and an adult’s perspective) and share our work in a supportive, friendly space. Please bring your writing tools (journal and pen or laptop) and a willingness to reminisce. berkshirewomenwriters.org.
Complete a series of writing exercises, hear recollections from others and learn tips for sustaining a writing practice at home. No prior writing experience necessary, just a willingness to recall past and present details in a supportive, friendly space. Genesis Center, Westfield, MA
A writing workshop for travelers near and far. Sheffield, MA
Yoga and writing, a four-day retreat co-taught with yoga teacher extraordinaire Cristie Newhart.
What are your true stories? And which stories can you let go of? Write and reflect on the beautiful Genesis Center grounds in Westfield, MA
Lenox Library, Lenox, MA, Welles Gallery: a memoir- writing workshop about mining childhood details.
Spectrum Playhouse, Lee MA - Write and share new work each week in this intimate and supportive writing circle.
Soak in fresh air and new writing ideas in the scenic Berkshire hills. Henry David Thoreau did his best thinking while sauntering through the Massachusetts woods; this workshop offers guided walks on Kripalu's trails, discussion of naturalist poems and essays and creative writing exercises designed to cultivate awareness. Thoreau, who walked with little regard for speed or purpose, provides an apt lesson in being present with what is. Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Stockbridge, MA
Past author events
McSweeney's, Tin House, Smith Mag, and the Rumpus present a night of comedy, music and readings. Amy Tan, Jonathan Ames, Ricky Moody and Six-Word Memoirists read their work. (Mine is about inapproriate internet time.)
A celebration of the "Who's Still Alive" issue at Piano's, Lower East Side.
The Rutgers University Libraries' exhibition will shine a spotlight on the superlative scholarship at Rutgers by highlighting the recent publications of university faculty. Publications will be added to the Rutgers University Libraries' collections when the exhibition closes.
Moderator for panel discussion with authors Varley O'Connor, Vyvyane Loh and James Reed.
The Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance hosts Maine writers for an afternoon of book signings and cool plants.
Lenox Library, Lenox, MA: Celebrate the power of women's words in honor of International Women's Day. Readers will share short excerpts from Writing Fire: An Anthology of Women's Words (Green Fire Press) and new work.
Becket Arts Center, Becket, MA: Excerpts and songs from Lara Tupper's novel, A Thousand and One Nights, with Bobby Sweet on guitar