New York City Writing Project (NYCWP) has designed the Writers’ Residency to foster the teacher-as-writer as they engage in an intensive and intimate writing workshop experience. Writers will read, write, workshop, and learn together to improve their writing craft and explore publication options. Writers of all levels are encouraged to apply. Past residency participants may join this residency program.

When: October 7-December 16, 2021, Thursdays (10 sessions), 6pm-9pm
Who: Writers of all levels
Where: Online, Zoom

Cost: $300

Apply by September 27:   
https://bit.ly/3By6P29  

Contact: Jane K. Higgins, jane.higgins@lehman.cuny.edu

Subverting Genre

It is often the writer who dwells on the future that shows us the darkness of our own age. In this seminar we will be surveying multiple facets of genre fiction to discover what is possible outside the confines of “traditional” literature. Our goal will be to observe both the strengths and the weaknesses of each novel we explore to better understand what can be learned, borrowed, or adapted to our own work. Special care will be given to the prejudices or problematic aspects that may or may not exist within each novel with an aim of learning to subvert such tropes. While it is beyond the bounds of this course to be all-encompassing, the booklist has been designed to give solid introductions to Afro-futurism, historical speculative fiction, Lovecraftian cosmic horror, and 1960’s American science fiction.  

Participants must access their own copies of the following texts:

October 9: Clay’s Ark, Octavia Butler
November 6: Ledfeather, Stephen Graham Jones
December 4: The Ballad of Black Tom, Victor LaValle
January 8: VALIS, Philip K. Dick  

When: On Zoom, Saturdays, 10a-12p 10/9, 11/6, 12/4, 1/8
Cost: $125
Register by Oct 8: https://bit.ly/3jT8aKC

Redefining Memory

Writers are often told, “write what you know,” but that doesn’t mean memoir is not a deeply imaginative process. In this reading and discussion group, we will examine one text per month and discuss the ways in which experimental writers are bending the boundaries of memory and redefining what “autobiography” constitutes. We will experiment with different forms, modalities and narrative structures as participants repackage their own experiences into unique ways of telling their story. A second semester of this workshop will be offered in the spring with a different book list.

Participants must access their own copies of the following texts:

October 16: In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado
November 13: Dictee, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
December 11: Jane: A Murder, Maggie Nelson
January 15: The Yellow House, Sarah M. Broom  

When: On Zoom, Saturdays, 10am-12pm 10/16, 11/13, 12/11, 1/15
Cost: $125
Register by Oct 15: https://bit.ly/3jTRbYF

Translanguaging is a new way of thinking about language and the language practices of emergent bilinguals. Translanguaging recognizes that emergent bilinguals need to use their entire linguistic and sociocultural repertoires to make sense, to construct meaning, to learn, to express, and to reflect. It is a way of thinking that takes the whole student into consideration and allows you to root your teaching practices in students’ strengths.

Cecilia Espinosa is Associate Professor in Early Childhood and Childhood Education at Lehman College.

Laura Ascenzi-Moreno is Associate Professor in the Childhood, Bilingual, and Special Education Department at Brooklyn College.