dealing with the hard sh*& in our writing lives:
writing around trauma, core wounds, and heartbreaks
How do we draw from, borrow, write into and through, re-member or re-imagine, our personal experiences, wounds, in service of alchemy, in service of meaning-making without retraumatizing or reopening our most deeply held wounds?
What tools, tricks, safeguards, and ripcords - can we put in place so that we can make the best possible art, art that changes the world - without costing ourselves too much?
How do we create sustainable practices along the way that allow us to emerge on the other side with our humanity still intact?
In this 6-week workshop, we will explore how to navigate the deep-dive into the depths of the darkest parts of our origin stories in order to speak truth to power, to tell stories with a raw authenticity and vulnerable specificity. We will generate material populated by complex characters in stories that vibrate with energy without losing ourselves in the process.
Online writing workshops for BIPOC writers:
These online workshops are designed to help you generate new material, refine an existing draft, or simply discover the permission to call yourself a writer while finding community.
WORKSHOP LEADER: Anya Pearson
With Guests Artists: Roxane Gay, Myriam Gurba, and Shayla Lawson.
WHERE & WHEN: This class will run online for six(ish) weeks beginning June 23rd
Introductions and Generative Session, June 23rd, 12-3pm PST/3-6pm EST
Craft Conversation with Roxane Gay, June 26th, 10am-1pm PST/1-4pm EST
Craft Conversation and Generative Session with Anya Pearson, July 11th 12-3pm PST/3-6pm EST
Craft Conversation with Myriam Gurba, July 18th, 12-3pm PST/3-6pm EST
Generative Session July 25th, 12-3pm PST/3-6pm EST
Craft Conversation with Shayla Lawson, Aug 1st, 12-3pm PST/3-6pm EST
Generative Session and Closing, Aug 8th, 12-3pm PST/3-6pm EST
ACCESS: We are dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices and empowering stories that truly reflect the diversity of our world. To uplift those most impacted by dominant culture, this course is held for folx identifying as BIPOC only with the goal of holding a safe space.
Cost: $350-650 (sliding scale—please read below)
Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Suggested Cost:
To create intentional space and support for BIPOC attendees, we ask that you pay in light of your financial privileges and with a JEDI spirit (!)
Here are a few guidelines:
$650 – you have reliable sources of food, shelter, and transportation; are employed or financially secure; have regular access to healthcare and savings; can spend recreationally at your discretion (e.g. enjoy a concert, new clothes, a great meal).
***Paying this amount also means you are able to support another BIPOC with limited resources who would like to join this course.
$500 – you have some debt like student loans or a mortgage that sometimes compromises stability with food, shelter, and/or transportation; are employed; have some access to healthcare and savings; can spend recreationally.
$350 – you have some debt that sometimes compromises stability with food, shelter, and/or transportation; are employed; have some access to healthcare and savings; can spend recreationally.
Contact us if you cannot afford to pay full price but would like to discuss payment plans, work-exchange/trade opportunities, or other options.
Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and the New York Times bestselling Hunger. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming and is also at work on television and film projects. She also has a newsletter, The Audacity and once had a podcast, The Roxane Gay Agenda.
Myriam Gurba
Myriam Gurba is the author of several books. Her most recent essay collection, Creep: Accusations and Confessions, is a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism. Her writing has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Paris Review and the Believer. She enjoys solving crossword puzzles and binge watching Real Housewives.
Shayla Lawson
Shayla Lawson is the author of A SPEED EDUCATION IN HUMAN BEING, PANTONE, I THINK I’M READY TO SEE FRANK OCEAN, THIS IS MAJOR: NOTES ON DIANA ROSS, DARK GIRLS & BEING DOPE (Harper Perennial, 2020) and HOW TO LIVE FREE IN A DANGEROUS WORLD: A DECOLONIAL MEMOIR (Tiny Reparations, 2024). They have written for Bustle, Romper, Salon, Tin House, PAPER, ESPN, Salon, Guernica, Vulture, The Cut and New York Magazine, been awarded fellowships from Yaddo and the MacDowell Artist Colony, and a nonfiction finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle and LAMBDA Literary Award. They’re from Lexington, Kentucky but they’ve lived everywhere.