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“I’ve only ever wanted to write about what it feels like to be alive, and it turns out being alive is always about being in a body.” - Leslie Jamison
“The best writing is physical, visceral, makes us feel that we are living a story rather than reading one on the page,” says instructor Gila Lyons. "As Anton Chekhov said, 'Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.'"
In this one-day workshop, we'll read and discuss the greats who write about the body, including Roxane Gay, Judith Ortiz Cofer, and Alexander Chee. Through generative writing exercises we'll sharpen our ability to write with all five senses, and invigorate our stories by rendering the body on the page. We’ll explore what it's like to live in bodies that experience sickness, health, gender, race, class, disability, desire, and more. By learning to write with, through, and about the body, we will imbue our work with the extra sense of reality that distinguishes a great story from an unforgettable one that gets “under the skin.”
No Instructor Specified
- Saturday, February 10, 10:00am-4:00pm
This course was FANTASTIC. It's my first time participating in a writing workshop, and it's crazy, I didn't know I was capable of the type of writing we were creating in the generative workshop. It was a perfect balance of reading, writing and sharing. It was definitely worth the time and money, and I would love to participate in one again.
Gila is a talented teacher, very encouraging and effective and thoughtful. The freewrites and pair & shares, the readings and discussions were all lively and interesting and helpful.
I really liked that the class was centered on reading, writing, and
discussing the readings and each other's writing, with minimal
lecturing. This approach really works for me. All of the writing
exercises were helpful, and I liked that they were connected to the
readings we had just done. The teacher was great and I appreciated her positivity and questions that showed active listening/reading.