DETAILS
November 1st - December 20th
Thursdays, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM @ Twelve Gates Arts
Capped at 15 participants
Workshop Description:
In this community-based creative writing workshop we will explore the many levels and styles of creative writing including poetry and creative nonfiction. We will be exploring themes of identity, family, movement/migration, myths/folklore, protest, love, and more. Additionally, we will be using the gallery space to unify storytelling and art by looking at the historical connections between visual and literary art. In learning about these themes we will be referencing works from Sonia Sanchez, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Gloria Anzaldúa, Sandra Cisneros, Jamaica Kincaid, Ross Gay, Justin Torres, Jhumpa Lahiri and many more. With these writers in mind our goal is to create short stories, poems, and short essays while utilizing a social justice framework. This workshop requires no previous experience, but it will require you to fully participate and attend each session and make space for the creative process. This is also a workshop course, which means that you will be encouraged to share your writing with the group, and will become adept at giving and receiving constructive feedback to each other’s works in the process.
About the Instructor
Lanre Akinsiku is a Philly-based fiction writer and essayist. His stories and essays have appeared in The Kenyon Review, NPR, The Washington Post and Gawker, among others, and his debut YA novel, Blacktop Vol. 1, was named one of the Best Books of the Year by the New York Public Library. He earned an MFA from Cornell University and is currently working on a novel to be published by HarperCollins in 2020.