Generative Creative Writing Workshop: Writing Through the Obscure
Featuring: Guy Billout’s Surrealist Dream State

Step into a dreamlike world where minimalism meets the unexpected. In this immersive workshop, we’ll explore how celebrated French artist and illustrator Guy Billout captures a sense of surreal escapism through sparse, striking imagery and surprising twists.

Through guided discussion and hands-on writing exercises, you’ll discover how unexpected turns of phrase—like unexpected visuals—can challenge perception and inspire fresh, powerful ideas. By the end of the session, you’ll walk away with your own original scene, crafted in the spirit of Billout’s unique style.

About the Facilitator:
Nikoletta Gjoni is a writer based outside Washington, D.C., with work featured in the 2023 Rising Stars London Independent Story Prize anthology. Her fiction has been nominated for the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Microfiction. She is a 2024 Salty Quill Writers Retreat scholarship recipient and will serve as a 2026 writer-in-residence at the Château d’Orquevaux in France. Outside her writing life, you might find her in Gettysburg each October—ghost hunting with dowsing rods in hand.

Uncover the beauty in the sparse. Embrace the unexpected. Write through the obscure.