Previous Urban Writing Haus Workshops
June 2026 “Interior City” Workshops
Workshop #1 — Self-Portrait in Fragments with Joy Waller
Come assemble a self-portrait from memories, objects, contradictions, and fragments of everyday life.
We are rarely reducible to a single story. Instead, we reveal ourselves in pieces… Grocery lists, scraps of dialogue, train stations, bittersweet memories… In this workshop, we’ll explore how writers create vivid portraits of the self without relying on straightforward autobiography. Through guided exercises, discussion, dedicated writing time, and a supportive sharing circle, you’ll leave with new writing that captures identity not as a fixed story, but as a living collage.
This creative writing workshop is led by Joy Waller, co-founder of Moon Hotel Press, co-host of Drunk Poets See God, editor at Tokyo Poetry Journal, and co-founder of Urban Writing Haus creative writing workshops. Author of poetry collections Pause :: Heartbeat and Cosmic Nervosa. joywaller.com
Workshop #2 — Decadence: Too Much? Never! with Brian Wood-Koiwa
Most of us have been told our entire writing lives to cut, trim, and simplify. In this workshop, we will have a lighthearted celebration of maximalism, baroque language, and ornate excess to give you the freedom to go deep purple in your prose and verse. We will use the Decadence movement as our inspiration and channel their infamous war cry ‘Art for art’s sake’. Through guided exercises, discussion, and dedicated writing time, you will leave with the confidence to buck the gatekeeping system and celebrate writerly excess.
This creative writing workshop is led by Brian Wood-Koiwa, co-founder of Urban Writing Haus creative workshop series; author of the UrbanWeird serial novels Flowers Wilt, Weeds Thrive and Conspiracy of False Citizens; and literary and technical editor. He is also a photo walk guide here in Tokyo. urbanweird.com
Workshop #3 — Feelings as Atmosphere with Joy Waller
Every emotion changes the architecture of the world around us. The way anxiety flickers intermittently in fluorescent lights… Or nostalgia howls through train announcements and the beep of the rice cooker… And desire pulsates in neon-streaked puddles at midnight.
In this workshop, we’ll explore how writers can transform emotions into atmosphere through sensory detail, symbolism, rhythm, setting, and image. Through guided exercises, dedicated writing time, and shared reflection, you’ll create new work that captures emotional experience not through direct confession, but through the environments, objects, and textures that carry feeling for us.
This creative writing workshop is led by Joy Waller, co-founder of Moon Hotel Press, co-host of Drunk Poets See God, editor at Tokyo Poetry Journal, and co-founder of Urban Writing Haus creative writing workshops. Author of poetry collections Pause :: Heartbeat and Cosmic Nervosa. joywaller.com
May 2026 “Writing the City” workshops
Workshop #1 - Mythologizing Tokyo with Joy Waller Sat. 9 May 2026
A creative writing workshop led by Joy Waller, co-founder of Moon Hotel Press, co-host of Drunk Poets See God, editor at Tokyo Poetry Journal, and co-founder of Urban Writing Haus. Author of poetry collections Pause :: Heartbeat and Cosmic Nervosa.
Come explore and create the myths & symbols that make up your own personal version of the world's most intoxicating city.
Tokyo is already a myth—layer upon layer of story, symbol, and meaning embedded in every neighborhood, every shrine, every neon-lit backstreet. In this workshop, we’ll learn to read these layers and write our own. Through guided exercises, a treasure hunt in the surrounding streets, and dedicated writing time, you’ll leave with the beginning of your own personal Tokyo mythology.
Workshop #2 - Weirding the Urban Mundane with Brian Wood-Koiwa Sun. 17 May 2026
A creative writing workshop led by Brian Wood-Koiwa, co-founder of Urban Writing Haus, author of the UrbanWeird serial novels Flowers Wilt, Weeds Thrive and Conspiracy of False Citizens, and a literary & technical editor. He also offers guided photowalks in Tokyo.
Come and get a bit weird with the mundane. Not everything in The City is neon psychedelic, rumbling trains, and the constant hubbub of the human mass.
In this writing workshop, we will slow down a bit and appreciate the mundaneness of The City. However, the mundane does not have to be boring. Far from it.
We will practice weirding the mundane through our writing by learning how to skew our perspective.
Workshop #3 — Conbini as Sacred Space with Joy Waller Sat. 23 May 2026
A creative writing workshop led by Joy Waller, co-founder of Moon Hotel Press, co-host of Drunk Poets See God, editor at Tokyo Poetry Journal, and co-founder of Urban Writing Haus. Author of poetry collections Pause :: Heartbeat and Cosmic Nervosa.
Come discover the holy symbols and rituals of devotion that elevate the conbini from mere convenience to a personal sanctuary of worship.
The conbini is a ubiquitous presence in Tokyo: always open, always stocked. Always there. But what if these neon-lit establishments offered not just coffee and snacks but also literal portals to the divine? In this workshop, we’ll enter the conbini as pilgrims rather than customers. Through guided exercises, a group visit to a nearby conbini, and dedicated writing time, you’ll leave with new writing that crafts a sacred experience in the most ordinary corner of Tokyo life.
Note that this workshop will include a brief walking portion.
Workshop #4 — Ensouling the City with Brian Wood-Koiwa Sun. 31 May 2026
A creative writing workshop led by Brian Wood-Koiwa, co-founder of Urban Writing Haus and author of the UrbanWeird serial novels Flowers Wilt, Weeds Thrive and Conspiracy of False Citizens, and literary and technical editor. He is also a photo walk guide here in Tokyo.
In this workshop, we will focus on the premise that cities, especially megalopolises like Tokyo, are living entities who begin life as a creation of humanity but mature into their own being-ness.
We will imagine ourselves in conversation with Tokyo by asking ourselves questions such as what personality does this city, or any city you have experience in, possess; what are its fears and desires; and anything else your imagination can conjure—with the help of this mega-being muse we call Tokyo (would it even call itself that?).
June Workshop Series Happening now!
Meet Your Hosts
Joy Waller
Joy was raised in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada and spent her young adulthood on Vancouver Island. She currently resides in Tokyo, Japan, where she serves as an editor at the Tokyo Poetry Journal and co-hosts the long-standing open mic series Drunk Poets See God. She is also the co-founder of Moon Hotel Press and the monthly Urban Writing Haus creative writing workshop series. Her fiction & poetry have appeared in numerous publications, including Best Canadian Stories 2021, and she is the author of poetry collections Pause :: Heartbeat (2019) and Cosmic Nervosa (2024).
Visit www.joywaller.com for more info.
Brian Wood-Koiwa
Brian was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania in the US but knew he really belonged in cities—the bigger the better. He was thus destined to settle in the megalopolis of Tokyo over 20 years ago. He is the co-founder of the monthly Urban Writing Haus creative writing workshop series; author of the serialized UrbanWeird dark fantasy novels Flowers Wilt, Weeds Thrive and Conspiracy of False Citizens; literary and technical editor; and founder of Tokyo Photo Explorations.
Visit the following for more info:
UrbanWeird Chronicles (fiction); BWK Editorial Services (editing); Tokyo Photo Explorations (photo walks)