Saturday, May 8, 2021/11AM (MST), Live via Zoom
Money for Writers/Grant Writing for Latinx Writers -Tips from Successful Grantees
Workshop fee: $20. Register here.
Deadline to register: Monday, April 12, 2021
This workshop features three Latinx writers who were awarded literary grants. What does a successful literary grant application look like? Our presenters will share sections of their successful grant applications and talk about how strategies for writing compelling grant applications. There will be time for Q & A at the end of this session. This workshop is a response to the requests for grant writing workshops expressed by Latinx writers at the National Latinx Writers Gathering in October of 2020. Presenters: Raina J. León, Sarah Rafael García, and Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo.
Raina J. León, PhD, is Black, Afro-Boricua, and from Philadelphia. She is a founding editor of The Acentos Review, an online quarterly, international journal devoted to the promotion and publication of Latinx arts, and co-founder of StoryJoy, Inc, an educational agency for creatives and human service providers (those who nourish the word and the world). She educates our present and future agitators/educators as a full professor of education at Saint Mary’s College of California, only the third Black person (all Black women) and the first Afro-Latina to achieve this rank, there. Sarah Rafael García has over 13 years of experience as an Arts Leader in Southern California and received over $100K in grants for art projects. She’s the founder of Barrio Writers, LibroMobile and Crear Studio — all art programs initiated as a response to build cultural relevance and equity for BIPOC folks in her community.
Saturday, June 12, 2021/11AM (MST), Live via Zoom
Money for Writers/Beyond Teaching: Out-of-the-Box Writing Gigs and Getting Them Funded
Workshop fee: $20. Register here.
Deadline to register: Monday, May 10, 2021
This workshop features three Latinx writers who generate income outside of teaching. They collaborate with other writers and artists, provide professional writing services, work in journalism, and create innovative projects that support their careers as well as others'. These gigs are financially supported by foundations, municipal agencies, and other funders. Join us to learn more. Each presenter will talk about his/her experience followed by a conversation, There will also be time for Q & A at the end of this session. This workshop is a response to the requests for grant writing workshops expressed by Latinx writers at the National Latinx Writers Gathering in October of 2020. Panelists: Raul Reyes, Néstor David Pastor, and Valerie Martínez.
Raul A. Reyes is an attorney, journalist, and television commentator in New York City. He has written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Texas Monthly, Hispanic Magazine, NBC Latino, Fox News Latino, CNN.com, MSNBC.com, Huffington Post, Politico, The Hill, and numerous Spanish-language newspapers. His opinions have been cited by Daniel Schorr, ABC News, CBS News, The Week, The New Republic, U.S. News & World Report, Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He has reported from the border to the boardroom – and covered events from the red carpet to The White House.
Néstor David Pastor (López) was born and raised in Queens, NY to a Puerto Rican and Peruvian family. He is a writer, translator, editor, musician (under the name El Ticona), and activist. Néstor writes about New York City, Latinx, and Latin American politics, culture, and history. Currently, he works with the Latinx Project at NYU, the North American Congress on Latin America, and writes for a wide-range of freelance projects. In 2019, he co-founded a bilingual magazine of longform non-fiction writing called Huellas.
Valerie Martínez is a poet, educator, arts administrator, and collaborative artist. She is the author of six books of poetry and her writing has appeared widely in U.S. journals and magazines. Since 2008, Valerie has been working collaboratively with artists in different disciplines on a range of writing, performance, and community arts projects. She is Founding Director of Artful Life which is dedicated to transforming communities through the beauty and power of collaborative art. She is also the Founding Director of EKCO (EKphrasis + COllaboration) a poetry performance ensemble which addresses issues of art and urgency to women. Valerie is the Director of History and Literary Arts at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
Eight week workshop: July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 and August 7, 14, 21, 2021/ 11 am MDT, Live via Zoom
Latinx Teen Workshop: “Writing for Video Games: Narrative Design for Interactive Worlds”
Workshop Limit: 18. First-come, first-served.
Fee: $100. Register here.
This workshop is for Latinx writers ages 15-19 living anywhere in the U.S. Writers of fiction, poetry, nonfiction and drama are welcome. This workshop is designed to expand the horizons of creative writing beyond the page and into virtual reality. Narrative design in video games is the art of crafting a world that players themselves get to crawl inside of and steer. Think lore, character voice, world logic, item descriptions, and anything else that sinks the player in the fabric of an experience. A dip into this science can help us explore: How can we weave play and fantasy into our own identities and experiences? How do stories change when they are translated into virtual and interactive contexts? What are all the ways we can animate imagined realities using pen and paper?
The workshop will conclude with a virtual public reading. All sessions as well as the public reading will take place via Zoom.
Instructor: Casey Almodovar Ramos is a Brazilian-Filipinx narrative designer working at Xbox Publishing and Gameheads Oakland. A multi-published author and award-winning narrative designer, Casey is especially fascinated by the shapes and codes of identity in virtual worlds.