About BK’s teaching

I’d love to come and teach a custom designed class for you.  If you have 10-15 friends who would like to take a class, please contact me. We’ll find the venue and work out the details. If you’d like me to come in for a larger venue, I can do that, too. I teach up to 400 people at a time.  I also teach at conferences and writing festivals across the US and Canada. Contact me if you’re interested in bringing me in.
I also offer public speaking (not workshops) and readings.  Let me know if you want me to come to your town.  Generally, my schedule fills faster than I can keep up with.

Testimonials

“BK Loren is one of the most creative and energetic teachers (of writing or of anything else) I have ever had.  Her teaching is skilled and practical.  She is extremely knowledgeable of both the craft and the industry of writing and is devoted to her students.”  R. P. Finch, author of the novel, Skin in the Game, Livingstone Press, forthcoming 2013

 

 

BK stretches me to think hard and dig deeper into the psyche of  my characters and  the arc of my unfolding stories.  A superb writing coach and a terrific  person, she has helped me greatly!
Carl Glickman, Educator and author of more than a dozen books

“BK motivated me to drop everything but my writing over the course of the week.  As a result, a story I’d been tossing around in my head for over a year finally came to fruition.  BK also made me feel more responsible toward some of my lazy writing habits, and she did this subtly, with gumption, rather than embarrassment. Unlike other classes I’ve had, there’s nothing mundane about her teaching! She is definitely on the top of teachers I’ve had at Iowa, or anywhere.”Jacinta Kehoe, Writer, Covington, LA

There are as many kinds of writing instructors as writers. Unfortunately, too many of both aren’t worth the time or money spent discovering they weren’t worth either.

BK Loren breaks the mold. Fresh, innovative, edgy, BK makes a workshop crackle. She wakes up your brain, shakes out all your oh-so-certainties, then hits your rethink button. The more time you spend with her, the more time you want to spend with her because what she does for you and for your writing really is that good.  –Judy Deck, Writer.

 

What can I say?  I love BK.  Yes, she is a brilliant and gifted teacher.  Yes, she is a brilliant and gifted writer.  But more, she somehow invests hope in even the most frightened and frozen writer that they too can make a mark, one small mark perhaps, but a mark on the page.  I have been blessed to attend some of her writer’s workshops and it is because of her that I have the nerve and desire to write. She’s damn smart too.  And funny.  And she teaches with absolute integrity for the literary process.   I will race to the front of the line to attend any class that BK teaches. Terry Meyer Stone, Writer (Wine Trails Magazine and others) and Vineyard Goddess. Co-Creator of seejaneink.com

BK Loren is an outstanding teacher.  I know this not only as a former student, but as a teacher myself.  All the innovative exercises I adapted (aka, “blatantly stole”) from her were a huge hit with my Northwestern students.  She is my mentor and my dear, dear friend.  So let’s keep this whole thievery thing on the down-low, shall we? Regina Stewart, Writer (Dharma and Greg, and 17 years worth of other screenplays and teleplays)

 

You can think of BK as a conductor. She brings disparate strands of your writing together and helps you weave them into a melody that you never even thought you’d heard. She’s honest, yet careful and pays attention  to details that you hoped she’d miss because the rewrite is going to be so hard, but you do it and it’s wonderful. She has brought out the best in my writing and has encouraged me to dare and go beyond safe limits. If you get the chance to work with BK your writing will be forever changed. Mine has. Jane Ades, Port Washington, NY

Bk led me to write more deeply and to bring out the emotional experience of my characters, not just their actions and encounters.  I couldn’t have gotten to the raw emotion without her support and encouragement.  Her ability to keep me engaged and energized every day is an experience I will never forget.  I left my week with her at the University of Iowa a more passionate writer. Susan Leaf-Brock

There’s a kind of magic that happens when you work with BK.  Suddenly experiences you thought were ordinary–a drive to the supermarket; overheard bits of dialogue; subtle shifts of aroma–inform your writing.  That’s just one of the shifts that take place.  In BK’s classes, we become explorers.  We are not taught, but we learn.  Her talent as a teacher is truly and indelibly unique.Doreen Piellucci, Dallas, TX 

 

Powerful, dynamic, fun, and energetically contagious!  BK Loren is my writing guru.  I have taken a seminar with her at Southern Methodist University and attended a whirlwind weekend workshop in Boulder, Colorado, with her and both experiences infused my writing and my mind with fresh ideas, clear delivery and an injection of creativity!  It took a few days to recover, but I’m much better for it.  Her ability to help students think far beyond their current ability and do it with nurturing ease has kept me following her for years.  I sing the praises of this woman all the time!  Take all her courses and don’t look back!  Kay Goodman, Creativity and Life Coach, Dallas, Texas

 

When BK Loren teaches writing you have the opportunity to do more than home your skills.  She creates a safe environment where you are willing to take a leap of faith, go exploring down a path you’ve barely noticed and see where it takes you.  Her eclectic teaching style ranges from Zen-like calm to joyful, get up and dance exuberance. Susan Booker, Colorado

 

In BK Loren’s class, we learned to use “words as clay.”  She showed us how to omit the “connective tissue,” and get down to the bone.  One person in the class gained so much incentive and insight from what she learned that she is now writing articles for her hometown newspaper.  Various participants have said this was one of, if not the best writing class our organization (Writer’s Exchange) has ever offered.  The only downside?  It was too short.Maria Weber, Artist and Writer

 

In BK’s class, we shared and reviewed our pieces honestly and openly – without the ego-interference that happens in other classes.  BK’s focus was on our growth as writers.  Her focus wasn’t on the pinnacle of publishing; it was on the process, the passion, the climb.  Take a class with BK if you have the opportunity. You’ll become a better writer—you’ll climb.  ~Ellie Searl, www.elliesearl.com, www.elliesearlstories.com, www.publishista.com

 

Tuve la oportunidad de tener a BK Loren como profesora este año en el “Summer Writing Festival” en Iowa. Puedo decir que BK es una profesora increíble, pero lo mejor que puedo decir de ella es que es una profesora  super apasionada que irradia en sus clases una energía contagiosa. Sus clases fueron creativas, originales, ágiles, nos animó a conectarnos profundamente con nuestros sentimientos y con nuestro “escritor interior”, y el resultado fue sorprendente. Soy argentina y nunca pensé que iba a poder escribir tanto en tan poco tiempo. Y encima lo que escribí, en una lengua que no es la mía, me gustó. Además fue muy estimulante y me dejó con la sensación de que realmente era capaz de escribir algunas cosas “leibles”. Muchas gracias BK por esta experiencia de aprendizaje increíble. Espero poder volver a estar entre tus alumnos, porque no solamente aprendí muchas cosas, también me divertí muchísimo.  Patricia Paz, Buenos Aires

 

BK’s love of writing and the creative process are downright contagious.  She supports writers with knowledge of the art and craft of writing, compassion, and humor. I worked with her in a 5-day workshop for which she produced a detailed syllabus that was, all by itself, worth the price of admission.   Jane Armbruster, Writer, Oakland, CA