Writing the Unexpected: A Fiction Workshop for Writers of Color

Ages: 14 & Up

This class will be comprised of serious and advanced fiction writers of color. We will open with a discussion of the significance of storytelling and what draws them to the page before delving into craft. Students will learn how to build strong, complex characters who subvert stereotypes of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, etc. We will read, write, and workshop story drafts, examining craft elements such as setting—how do time and place shape people; and point of view—who tells the story? Why? How? Students should come to the workshop with a completed draft of a story, which they will revise over the course of the week, and share in a public reading on Friday. Junot Diaz declares, “…if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves…growing up, I felt like a monster in some ways. I didn’t see myself reflected at all. I was like ‘Yo, is something wrong with me?” This course is for writers of color to write mirrors that humanize those who have felt like monsters.