The Vital Spark
A free, generative writing workshop open to all
Lonsdale Public Library, Lonsdale, MN, Nov 21, 2026
Lonsdale, MN
Sat, Nov 21, 2026
2 pm - 4 pm
Lonsdale Public Library
1006 NE Birch St, Lonsdale, MN 55046
About the Workshop
This free, generative fiction writing workshop is the first in what will be a series of 6 free writing workshops taking place across this winter at the Lonsdale Public Library. The workshops are applicable to everyone from the first-time writer to writers with a more developed practice, and writers are able to attend all or join at any point in the series. The Nov 21 workshop will feature creative prompts to inspire new story ideas and craft discussions to help writers broaden their approaches to fiction writing.
All participants will leave the workshop with the beginning of a new short story or essay, with subsequent workshops continuing on topics and tools to reach the end of their manuscript. This format is designed to help writers sustain a creative practice and receive mentorship beyond the scope of a single class.
Space is limited within the workshop venue, and an RSVP is required to participate. To RSVP, simply email your name to minnesotawriters@gmail.com. You can also click any of the RSVP buttons on this page to send the email. Registration closes 24 hours before the workshop, with a deadline of Nov 20 at 2pm.
Nov 21 Workshop Overview
What do we mean when we talk about the creative spark?
Inspiration is often our entry point into generating new work—the engine that ignites our words and propels the evolution of a piece of writing. This pulse of energy might be a mystery, a question, a scene from our past we still can’t make sense of. It could be a secret, a belief, or an overheard conversation. Maybe it’s a news headline or an old photo. Often, these sparks come from paying close attention: to both ourselves and the surrounding world. They contain a kind of heat. They refuse to be left alone. They are our best allies in the creative process, and there are ways to fuel them, nurture them, and increase our reception of them.
In this workshop, we’ll explore tools to help us mine our surroundings for electrifying sparks of inspiration. We’ll learn how to take a kernel of truth and expand it into a fictional world replete with rich characters and settings; explore how experimentation and curiosity can help us write beyond our initial impulses to arrive at new discoveries; and learn how our daily lives offer infinite portals into deeply imaginative work.
Some of the questions we’ll ask across the workshop include: What awaits us beneath the surface of the familiar? How can mystery and obsession deepen and embolden our writing? Where do wondering and uncertainty bring us that familiar terrain cannot? Above all, the workshop will guide participants in paying close attention to ourselves and the world as an access point to greater creativity.
About the Instructor
Lara Palmqvist is a fiction writer, screenwriter, teacher, and literary critic. As cited by Variety, her work has been called “attentive, original, poetic, and mythological yet grounded.” Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Ploughshares, New Ohio Review, The Southampton Review, Bellevue Literary Review, and Southern Indiana Review, among other publications. In the past year, her work won the Goldenberg Prize in Fiction, a prestigious Humanitas Prize, and the Discovery Prize from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She is also the recipient of fellowships and awards from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Saari Residence in Finland, the Sozopol Fiction Seminars in Bulgaria, and the U.S. Fulbright Commission, through which she taught graduate-level creative writing courses in Ukraine. She holds an MFA in fiction and screenwriting from the Michener Center for Writers and lives in Millersburg, a rural township in Southern Minnesota.
Funding Acknowledgement
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.