Experiential Literary Craft Classes
with Christina Rivera
ORBWEAVING A BOOK
Do you dream of a book (of essays, stories, vignettes, fragments), but need help finding a shape to cradle your vision?
In this workshop, we’ll break out of linear thinking and into the many dimensions that can hold a book—from conception to publication. We’ll discuss themes, portals, organizational tools, and story-holding shapes (many from nature, such as the orbweaver’s spider web, which lent structure to my book). Come to class with two or more essays, and together we’ll investigate how your themes are talking to each other and could further arc outward. The emphasis of this workshop will be on individual vision building and generative feedback. Prose writers of any genre are welcome, as the shape-finding techniques can be applied to many projects. Come to class with fragments and leave with a book vision that has touchable dimensions!
In this workshop, we’ll break out of linear thinking and into the many dimensions that can hold a book—from conception to publication. We’ll discuss themes, portals, organizational tools, and story-holding shapes (many from nature, such as the orbweaver’s spider web, which lent structure to my book). Come to class with two or more essays, and together we’ll investigate how your themes are talking to each other and could further arc outward. The emphasis of this workshop will be on individual vision building and generative feedback. Prose writers of any genre are welcome, as the shape-finding techniques can be applied to many projects. Come to class with fragments and leave with a book vision that has touchable dimensions!
I offered this class as part of Litfest at Lighthouse Writers in June ’26, but I’m currently collecting names and emails of people who are interested in a zoom version of this class. If that’s you (or if you’re an admin interested in offering this class), please get in touch: christinarivera.author@gmail.com
Christina Rivera is a Pushcart Prize-winning essayist and ecofeminist writer whose debut book, My Oceans: Essays of Water, Whales, and Women (Curbstone Books/Northwestern University Press), received a Silver NAUTILUS Award and the IPNE Gold Award, as well as a “Best Debut” designation from the Chicago Review of Books, and recognition as one of LitHub’s Notable Small Press Books of 2025. Before her author career, she worked for 17 years in international experiential education, including serving as Director of the Princeton University Bridge Year Program and designing and leading programs across six continents. Christina credits the fragmentation of her writing to her two young children and is also the grateful recipient of creative residencies at Millay Arts, Craigardan, and the Wellstone Center.
“Christina Rivera taught a class I was lucky to attend. She named it, 'Orbweaving a Book.' She is a teacher who was totally engaged and who obviously loves finding diverse ways to approach writing. She knew how to engage everyone in the room, and the atmosphere was friendly, welcoming, and yet a serious place to learn. That’s the description of a master teacher! I was an educator for over 40 years, and it always thrills me to be in a class with someone who is so excited and knowledgeable about the topic and so interested in every person present! I will take a class from Christina any chance I get!”
—Judith Sara Gelt
Litffest @ Lighthouse
Rivera writes about climate science with such heart, beautifully capturing the full range of joy to despair that comes with inhabiting a body that relates so deeply to other bodies in a world on fire. Part meditation, part call-to-action, Rivera’s work is exquisitely moving; I would plunge into the depths any day with her as my guide.
A "Best Debut We Read in 2025" and "so astute and moving."
“Honest and unflinching. But on this ocean planet, also healing.”
“A feminist manifesto as well as an environmental proclamation . . . Rivera sounds the siren about impending environmental collapse.”
“This collection is threaded with wonder, history, and heartache. In My Oceans, motherhood is not sentimentalized but shown as a transformative political power. Masterfully constructed and beautifully written, this book dwells in the depths—not only of oceans but of mourning, awe, anger, and action.”
"With great candor, anxiety, and awe, Rivera brings history and heartache as she explores early motherhood, ecofeminism, and both the science and moral crisis of climate change as it affects our oceans. With a warm and lyrical voice, these essays swim through outrage and mourning, but always remain buoyed by an abiding love."
“The candor and compelling urgency of these essays are themselves a demonstration of the galvanizing force of a woman’s voice, and the possibility for profound change if you listen.”
“In every sentence of this wonder of a debut, the reader experiences the tidal pull of its prose and an agile voice traversing original landscapes both physical and psychological, both beautiful and harrowing.”
“Rivera’s lyrical prose embraces the veracity of a researcher paired with the sensibility of a poet. I’ll return to My Oceans over and over to remind myself what matters most: compassion and the conviction that yes, this world not only must but can heal its wounds and evolve toward wholeness.”
Our judges called these essays "fresh, original, vibrant. The oceans within it
haunting. Womanhood, motherhood, and the natural world seamlessly
interwoven. A work of penetrating observation, both inward and outward.
A book that offers no definitive answers but that asks all the right
questions. Horrific, heartbreaking, rallying."
