This is an in-person workshop that takes place at Inprint House.

Writing About Who We Are

“You look ridiculous if you dance

You look ridiculous if you don’t dance

So you might as well

dance.”

-Gertrude Stein, Three Lives

In this generative workshop, we will explore how to write about who we are, and love who we love. We’ll take inspiration from literature that examines the weird and wonderful experience that is queerness and the many contradictions that come with it: freedom and constraint, desire and disgust, alienation and belonging, comedy and horror–and, of course, love. Along the way, we’ll develop and strengthen our personal writing practices and build community.

Queer writing, like queerness itself, often escapes precise definition. This is a multi-genre workshop in which we will travel across narrative forms, including fiction, the personal essay, and hybrid and fragmentary writing. As we examine key craft elements, we’ll pay particular attention to the body and sensory experience. Each week, we’ll engage in close readings and discussions of works by writers such as Lydia Conklin, Bryan Washington, T Kira Māhealani Madden, Jeremy Atherton Lin, Melissa Febos, Renee Gladman, Justin Torres, Carmen Maria Machado, and Jeanne Thornton. Through in-class exercises, reflections, and mini-workshops we will develop a body of work and make plans for what comes next. All are welcome.