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Saturday, August 19, 2023 @ 1:00 pm EDT - 3:30 pm EDT

1 meeting
Semester:
  • Summer 2023
Time of Day:
Meeting Location:
  • Online
Room: Zoom Room 4

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Writing While White: How to be a Voice of Change

These are confusing times to be a white writer with inclusive intentions. How do you address diversity in your work? What do you have permission to write about? How do you create realistic nonwhite characters? How do you be an ally when white voices are subject to so much scrutiny? This session will be a safe place to get some of your questions answered and develop a new lens through which you can be a powerful voice in the quest for racial reconciliation. This workshop will be conducted by African American lecturer, essayist, and author Desiree Cooper. Special guests will join the panel to share their experiences as white writers addressing race in their work. This workshop will include a lecture and panel discussion, along with writing prompts to help explore new territory for white writers.

Special Guests:

Patricia Ann McNair is an Associate Professor Emerita in Creative Writing at Columbia College Chicago. Her story collection, The Temple of Air, received the Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Award, Southern Illinois University’s Devil’s Kitchen Reading Award, and the Society of Midland Authors Finalist Award. Her essay collection, And These are The Good Times, was named a finalist for the Montaigne Medal for most thought-provoking book of 2017. Her most recent story collection, Responsible Adults, was selected as a Legacy Series book by Cornerstone Press and was named a Distinguished Favorite in the Independent Press Awards. She is the recipient of four Illinois Arts Council Awards in fiction and nonfiction. McNair facilitates workshops all over the U.S., and is the Artistic Director of Interlochen College of Creative Arts’ Writers Retreat. While she lived 98% of her life in the Midwest, McNair now resides in Tucson, Arizona.
Christine Rice’s award-winning novel, Swarm Theory, was called “a gripping work of Midwest Gothic” by Michigan Public Radio. Most recently, her short stories, essays, and interviews have appeared in Allium2020: The Year of the Asterisk*Make Literary MagazineThe RumpusMcSweeney’s Internet TendencyThe MillionsRoanoke ReviewThe Literary Review, among others. Christine is the founder of the literary nonprofit Hypertext Magazine & Studio and is an Assistant Professor of English at Valparaiso University.

Please note: This class or event will be held online (using Zoom or a similar live platform). To participate, students or attendees should have a stable internet connection. Class participants: you should have a computer or device with a webcam and microphone; and your Zoom link will be automatically sent to you after you register. Check your spam box if you don't see it.

The MuseTeacher: Desiree Cooper

Prerequisite: Open to anyone