Writing Queer Bodies

Class Description

What are ways of figuring queer bodies on the page? Can we work to discover (or recover) language that relates our embodied experiences? What is a body, and what does the act of description do to it? In this collaborative and co-taught workshop, we'll read and discuss excerpts from queer authors, scholars and poets, and intermingle our own experiences in discussion. We'll do a ritual for self-recognition. We'll wrestle with this whole being visible (seen/unseen) thing, and we will collectively name some desires for how queer bodies show up on the page. At the end of class, we'll share some of our own writing with each other and offer up peer feedback.

This class is open to queer and trans writers from all genres. You'll be lead through workshop by three co-instructors:

Elisabeth "Elis" Layne (she/her) is a poet and an educator in k-12 spaces. Her poetry is grounded in critical autoethnography and is presently interested in mad studies, queerness, and black fugitivity. Elis is currently the Writers’ Room Manager at the Boston Teachers Union School with 826 Boston providing creative writing and academic support. She loves color, strangeness, children, and is really fascinated by public transit.

Levi Cain (they/them) is a queeribbean non-binary writer from New England. They have served as a 2022 Mass Cultural Council poetry fellow, a Sundress Academy of the Arts fiction fellow, and are a three-time Pushcart nominee. Their work focuses on various forms of intimacy within the queer and transgender community, relentless pursuits of joy, and the idea of love as transformative revolutionary action. Further updates on their work can be found on levicain.wordpress.com.

Gabriele enjoys trying (and failing) to predict the future, trying (and failing) to visit places for the first time without consulting a map, and also learning (but then forgetting) rarely used regionally-specific idioms. When not writing, you will most often find them either in a kitchen at the stove or sat near a bookcase with a small pile of markers at their feet. They are a pessimist if they're not careful. Some things that Gabriele has written have ended up being performed (or workshopped) on stages in Boston, New York, Winston-Salem, Berlin, and Philadelphia: if you're curious, feel free to ask them about it.

Class Format

This class will take place in-person at our Center for Creative Writing in Boston's Seaport neighborhood.

Covid-19 Update:

GrubStreet's space will be mask optional when Boston's Covid-19 Community Level is low or medium. When the Covid-19 Community Level is high, our space will require masks. Please check GrubStreet's Covid-19 page for the latest info on masking and Community Levels before visiting in-person.

Scholarship Information

Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

For more more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.