Class Description
*This class is intended for writers who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color). While stories that deal with themes of race, culture, and heritage are certainly welcome, they’re not required for this workshop.
This course aims to introduce themes and techniques of fiction used by marginalized BIPOC authors to re-imagine the world they live in and create utopias out of dystopias. Our exploration will show that writing is a social act, a constant push and pull between this world and the ones we create. What is the connection between worldbuilding and the world around us? How do authors use the idea of utopias and dystopias to comment on their contemporary moment?
To inform our exploration of these questions and others, we will read works by Carmen Maria Machado, Octavia Butler, Rivers Solomon and more. Alongside these readings of fiction, we will study an essay by Edwidge Danticat to get a new, riveting perspective on craft. Participants will sharpen their critical reading and creative writing abilities as we study how various craft elements—such as time, point of view, voice, plot structure, character—help build worlds that allow for readers to see other possibilities, alternative realities, and maybe even find some grounds for hope.
Participants must be willing to engage a diversity of identities with a deep level of empathy and respect as we use fiction to navigate the history that unfolds around us. Along with group discussion and writing activities based around in-class readings, each meeting will conclude with a workshop where everyone may get notes on up to 10 pages of work. Join us as we re-imagine how we practice and approach the art of fiction!
Writing Roadmap: We've created a simple, goal-based writing roadmap to help you find the perfect GrubStreet course for your writing needs.
This class will take place using Zoom videoconferencing. After registering, a yellow Resources tab will appear in this section containing a link to join class. Please note that you will need to be logged into view the Resources tab.
Zoom Participation:
In our experience, the intimate nature of a writing workshop benefits from on-camera participation. Students are of course welcome to turn their camera off whenever they need to, but it is a community norm for cameras to be on most of the time. You can learn more about using Zoom here.
Zoom Accessibility:
You can enable closed captioning at any time during the meeting by clicking the CC button at the bottom of the screen. If you'd like to access the transcript after class, please make sure to let your instructor ahead of time that you'd like a copy.