A 1-Day Multigenre Writing Workshop
Thursday, May 21, 5:30 - 7:30 PM
“Change, personal and political, does not come about in a day, nor a year. But it is our day-to-day decisions, the way in which we testify with our lives to those things in which we say we believe, that empower us. Your power is relative, but it is real. And if you do not learn to use it, it will be used, against you, and me, and our children. Change did not begin with you, and it will not end with you, but what you do with your life is an absolutely vital piece of that chain.”
– Audre Lorde, from a 1989 speech at Oberlin College
What can we do in our day-to-day to hone and wield our voices, to roll out the changes we believe our communities need? Writing can be applied to many things – protest signs, letters to senators and representatives, op-eds, poems, resistance song lyrics, flyers and t-shirts, podcasts and speeches, and testimonials at town and city halls. Join a legacy of resistance taking cues from the brilliant voices ahead of us: Bayard Rustin, Marina Tsvetaeva, Pablo Neruda, Angela Davis, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Paul Robeson, MLK Jr., Liu Xiaobo, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and more.
Each week, an accomplished writing instructor will bring their own expertise, resources, generative prompts, and guidance. This class in our series features author and professor Debra Spark.
After World War 1, the very nature of literature changed in response to the trauma of the war. Is the nature of literature about to change again? Are the contemporary ways of writing still relevant? Normally when we think about writing in fraught political times, we think about writing that might persuade or serve to resist—op-eds, letters to the editor, slogans. What about people who are writing literature right now? Might there be even more required of art in the present moment, and if so, what is it? This will be a mini-lecture followed by a group think/brainstorm session on what else we might do that might serve to enact change, with broadly conceived prompts on untraditional ways to reach audiences.
$40 Members/$65 Nonmembers
Debra Spark is the award-winning author of five novels, including the recent Discipline; two collections of short stories; and two books of essays on fiction writing, as well as editor/co-editor of two anthologies. A graduate of Yale University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she is the Zacamy Professor of English at Colby College and taught for 25 years with the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advanced registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online via our website. We cannot guarantee registration in the final 24-hours before a workshop, and can rarely accommodate day-of registration.
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If you need to withdraw from a class after registering for any reason, please email or call the MWPA immediately. You may be eligible for a partial refund or credit, depending on how far in advance you cancel. → MORE INFORMATION
QUESTIONS
For any questions regarding this workshop, please contact programs@mainewriters.org.
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Call 207-200-7180 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
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If you prefer to pay by mail, please print this registration form (downloadable PDF) and mail it to the MWPA with a check or credit card information.
SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer one partial scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Application Due two weeks prior to the workshop start date, at 9:00 a.m.
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