so very virtual - 07.14.2026
it's time for summer school 🎒
so very virtual is a free newsletter featuring opportunities, events, and resources that are fully virtual, remote, or hybrid with an online option.
🔍 Please look into events and opportunities to decide whether they are right for you. Send any concerns to theeclarel@substack.com.
🎟️ All prices listed are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.
📋 To submit a listing, email theeclarel@substack.com.
📚 If you’re new, start with this pandemic resource roundup.
Thanks for reading!
Virtual Events 🎟
Gatherings that are either fully online or hybrid with an online option
The Rise of Vertical Series: Opportunity, Disruption & the Future of Storytelling with Black Film Spapce — TODAY, Tuesday, July 14th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM ET // $15
MORNING, AFTERNOON, NIGHT: Writers Bootcamp with Jaclyn Backhaus — July 13th, 14th, and 15th // $45 per session
Unpolitics Gathering — 2026B — July 13th through 17th // Free
Making Your Horror Short Film with Yoko Okumura with Sundance Collab — July 14th through 17th // $395
Repurposing Rapamycin: A Report On the First Biomarker-Driven Treatment Trial for ME/CFS with Solve M.E. — July 14th at 6:00 PM ET // Free
The Plot Wheel: More than Just Structure with Pipeline Artists — Wednesday, July 15th at 7:00 PM ET // $35
BLACK/GAY/stuck at home: JACKIE’S BACK with Foreground — Wednesday, July 15th from 9:00 to 11:00 PM ET // Free
Liberation Foundations 2026 Training Series with the Reproductive Freedom Fund of New Hampshire — July 15th, 22nd, and 29th and August 5th // Free
Spoonies Unite! A virtual market & soiree with La Vida de Brujx — Saturday, July 18th from 2:00 to 5:00 PM ET // $1 to $15 with no one turned away for lack of funds
Crip Film Club: We Year by Sop with Artist Q&A with RestFest Film Festival — Sunday, July 19th from 10:00 to 11:30 AM PT // Pay-what-you-can beginning at $1 with limited full scholarship tickets
Orion Presents The Deep Dive: Our History and Future with the World’s Largest Mammals with Orion Magazine — July 21st at 2:00 PM ET // Free
Budgeting & Saving for a World on Fire with Chosen Collective — Tuesday, July 21st at 6:30 PM ET // Sliding scale from $15 to $100
BIPOC Sci-Fi Lab Virtual Table Read with Justice for My Sister — Wednesday, July 22nd from 9:00 to 11:00 PM ET // Free
Urban Mythmaking: Finding the Fantastical in the City with Wen-yi Lee with Girls Write Now — July 23rd from 6:00 to 7:15 PM ET // Free
BODY POETREE: An art and poetry workshop on loving and celebrating the body as a tree with RestFest Film Festival — Friday, July 24th from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM PT // $10 with pay-what-you-can and full scholarship options
July Crip Arts Gathering with RestFest Film Festival — Sunday, July 26th at 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM PT // $10 with pay-what-you-can and scholarship options
Stress Management with Being Air-Aware with Public Health Action Network and Air Support Project — July 26th at 5:00 PM ET // Free
Crafting Solidarity: A Disabled QTBIPOC Pride Party! Livestream — Sunday, July 26th from 6:00 to 11:00 PM ET // $0 to $15
Directing: Building an Intentional Frame with In the Cut — July 27th and 28th from 6:00 to 8:00 PM PT // $60
Toward Trans Possibilities: Transgender Storytelling with Isabel Sandoval with Sundance Collab — Wednesday, July 29th from 1:00 to 2:00 PM ET // Free
Write Your Collection: A 4-Week Chapbook Intensive with Button University — Sundays in August from 2:00 to 4:00 PM CT // $100
Hot Off the Presses: A Career Chat with Editors from The Drift, Bustle, and Travel + Leisure with Girls Write Now — August 4th from 4:45 to 6:00 PM ET // Free
Dealing with Uncertainty and Chronic Illness-Workshop with Marisa Renee Lee — August 14th at 12:00 PM ET // Free
Eating Our Poems: Writing About Food with Literary Liberation — Sunday, August 16th from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM ET // $99 with scholarship seats available
ADHD Growth Summit with Shimmer — August 18th through 27th // $89 early-bird until July 15th
Fall 2026 Virtual Open House with GrubStreet — August 24th from 6:00 to 7:00 PM ET // Free
Beginning Songwriting Class ~ Upper Limb Differences & Hand Disabilities with Eli Conley and Lee Swanson — Begins Tuesday, September 1st // Sliding scale from $50 to $476
creating with our bodies with Reinventing Creative Process — Begins Sunday, September 6th // Sliding scale from $200 to $700 with payment plans, 1 full scholarship, and reduced rates for those facing financial hardship available
What Was Passed Down: Writing Essays from Instinct, Memory, and Lineage with Literary Liberation — Saturdays, September 12th through 23rd from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET // Sliding scale from $129 to $189 with scholarship seats available
Space & Time for BIPOC Writers with GrubStreet — Begins October 15th // Free
Neither Here Nor There: Writing The In-Between with Literary Liberation — Saturday, October 17th from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM ET // $79 with scholarship seats available
Poetry Workshop for BIPOC Writers: Writing from the Archive with GrubStreet — Begins November 2nd // Free
Identity and Invention: Blurring Genres to Write About Ourselves for BIPOC Writers with GrubStreet — Begins November 3rd // Free
Literary Criticism: A Love Letter with Literary Liberation — Saturday, November 14th from 3:00 to 6:00 PM ET // $99 with scholarship seats available
Online Opportunities 🛋
Fellowships, jobs, programs, and more
Editorial Assistant with OutHistory — Apply by July 15th.
The Gift of Attention: A Poetry Workshop with Erin Coughlin Hollowell with Orion Magazine — Apply by July 15th
Traveling at Home: A Writing Workshop with Erika Howsare with Orion Magazine — Apply by July 15th.
Sankofa Summer School 2026 — Begins July 20th.
Socialist Summer School with The People’s Forum — Begins July 21st.
Creative Incubator for LGBTQ+ Writers with Lambda Literary — Apply by July 22nd.
Severe ME Artists Project 2026: Call for Entries with #MEAction — Submit by July 24th.
Short Animation Fellowship with the Titmouse Foundation — Apply by July 31st.
Remote Resources 📘
Support and info for these pandemic times
tired from Jackie Torres
The Precautionary Principle from Public Health Action Network and Air Support Project
Take Action Locally in the Fight for Public Health from People’s CDC
Thank You for Masking Podcast Merch from Alyson Hardwick
herb of the sun audiobook from Jay Délise
“We Year” by Sop from RestFest Film Festival
Crip News v.231: What is Disability Pride Month? from Crip News
Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?: A Disability in Dystopia Anthology
Monthly Webinar Recordings from Seeding Sovereignty
Read the Rainbow: 15 Titles to Bring Pride 🏳️🌈 into Focus from Literary Liberation
Community Prompt #18: Inner Monsters from Literary Liberation
About Justin
Justin Clarel is a pro-mask and anti-COVID writer, theatre artist, and educator creating Black trans and queer stories to build a better world. Keep up with their adventures at @theeclarel and theeclarel.com.