Workshop: Steal This Line—Text Remix for the Bold and Curious

Great writing often begins by borrowing—images, lines, voices, even rhythms. In this playful, low-pressure workshop, author and translator Niloufar Talebi guides participants through a series of creative prompts inspired by existing texts—from classic poetry to street signs to song lyrics. You’ll learn how imitation, adaptation, and “creative theft” can unlock your own original voice. No experience necessary—just a willingness to experiment, remix, and surprise yourself. You’ll leave with fresh writing and a new way of seeing language all around you.

Niloufar Talebi is an author, translator and interdisciplinary artist. She is the editor and translator of Elegies of the Earth: Selected Poems by Ahmad Shamlou, which is part of this suite of projects on the poet that includes the hybrid memoir, Self-Portrait in Bloom, an opera (Abraham in Flames, with composer A. Vrebalov), the video-poem Funeral Address and a TEDx Talk. Talebi is the editor and translator of Belonging: New Poetry by Iranians Around the World, and her multimedia projects include ICARUS/RISE, The Persian Rite of Spring, Fire Angels, The Plentiful Peach and Epiphany. Talebi is a Fulbright Scholar and the recipient of translation prizes including a National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship for her translations of Shamlou’s poetry. She teaches Creative Writing and Creativity at Stanford Continuing Studies.

Space limited. Seats available first come, first served.

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Niloufar Talebi - Website | Niloufar Talebi - Instagram