The HIV Writers Workshop, always offered free of any costs, is made possible by grants from the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and the West Hollywood Arts Division and private donations. The nonprofit organization, the André Burke Memorial HIV Writers Workshop was created to sustain the community based work of The HIV Writers Workshop. This 501(c)3 has the mission to facilitate the growth, functioning, and advancement of no-cost educational creative workshops, support the development of artistic pursuits of workshop members, and continue to facilitate the personal growth that fosters cultural empathy, gender, racial, and social equity in an environment of cultural humility.

It shall serve individuals regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, age, ableness or sexuality, people who are HIV positive, HIV negative and on PrEP, anyone affected or infected by HIV.  It serves an intergenerational community, an income challenged and differently abled community. It prioritizes outreach to the Senior, Black, Indigenous, People of Color and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex and other overlooked and marginalized communities and people impacted by HIV and AIDS.  It shall be modeled to serve the needs of communities where its’ services are invited, welcomed, helpful and useful.  It shall support those considered by the organization to be in need, distressed or underprivileged with its use of financial support or by other means, to aid the fulfillment of creative endeavors with regards to participation with our workshops or other creative pursuits. 

The HIV Writers Workshop brings individuals and communities together by sponsoring visits from guest artists who are from within and from outside the HIV community and bring writing workshops and other pedagogic experiences into physically distant communities that would benefit by engaging with the Workshop and its creative endeavors.

The Workshop’s functions include and are not limited to creating a safe space where people can use creative writing and the development of artistic projects to investigate the experiences in their lives for personal and community growth and healing. The workshop shall foster creative expression, addressing an ever-growing number of topics including intimacy, stigmatization, death, ageism, oppression, violence, drug use, alcoholism, addiction, recovery, homelessness, self-care, family, race relations, gender identity, spirituality, ableness, sexuality, cultural humility and literacy.

Don Tinling guides the Workshop and the organization’s support of creative pursuits. He aims to make the workshop self-sustaining in the future. He sees great value in the precious healing and creative development birthed in the Workshop that helped himself and many others thrive during the AIDS crisis.

The Workshop began as the AIDS Project Los Angeles Writers Workshop, founded by Irene Borger in 1990. The vision of the Workshop came to her in meditation at a Buddhist retreat. Dan Nussbaum took over facilitating the Sunday afternoon Workshops in 2000. The Wednesday evening Workshops left APLA which was then facilitated by John Fritzlen and then André Burke. It was renamed the HIV+ Writers Workshop and moved from various community-based service organizations like Being Alive LA and the LA LGBT Center. Don Tinling who started writing with the Workshop in 1996 was asked by the members of the workshop about who would take over the work when its facilitator André Burke died of AIDS related causes in 2007.  Don knew its value and has maintained the work ever since. As the AIDS epidemic changed so did the Workshop. Gone were the days someone in the Workshop would be connected to an IV pole taking a life sustaining infusion. He saw fit to rename it to the HIV Writers Workshop and open the room up to people who are HIV negative and on PrEP, anyone infected or affected, that’s everyone. The Workshop still maintains the importance of meeting people where they are including creating space for live saving infusions.