A storytelling playshop exploring joy and delight within communities of colour.
Those of us from racialized communities are asked all too often to default to our stories of hardships, trauma, and oppression. While these stories are important and necessary, we are also so much more than that. Our stories are beautiful, heartbreaking, uplifting, contradictory, and constantly unfolding. Together, we must create the space to capture the complexity of our experiences, to write ourselves in our full humanity. What does it look like to lather ourselves in joy? To embrace pleasure? To indulge ourselves in delight? In this virtual writing playship, we will dip our toes in exactly that and then some!
Guided and inspired by adrienne maree brown’s Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good, we will find the path to pleasure in our writing and follow it.
“Pleasure is the point. Feeling good is not frivolous, it is freedom. We can gift it to each other in a million ways: with authentic presence, abundant care, and honesty; with boundaries that keep us from overextending; with slower kisses; with foot massages in the evening; with baby hugs and elder hugs; with delicious food; with supported solitude and listening to our bodies, our shameless desire, and coordinated longing.” – adrienne maree brown
No writing experience necessary. Only an open heart and an open mind with a readiness to give and receive vulnerability. We’ve carefully and intentionally designed a space that is intimate, supportive, and generative. All you need is a steady Internet connection to join us online, some paper, and a pen.
This class is offered in partnership with the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society.
Date & Time: Wednesday, February 25 at 5pm-8pm PT | 6pm-9pm MT | 7pm-10pm CT | 8pm-11pm ET | 9pm-12am AT
Location: Online
AWCS Member Price: $60.00
AWCS Non-Member Price: $80.00
ABOUT FINANCIAL ACCESSIBILITY
The Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society is community that thrives on support and encouragement. Based on the philosophy of "no writer left behind", the J. Michael Fay Subsidy Program is available to anyone who finds themselves in financial need but really wants or needs to participate in one our programs are classes. Click link above for more details and to apply.
About Your Facilitator: Justine Abigail Yu
Justine Abigail Yu is the founder of Living Hyphen. She is an award-winning workshop facilitator whose work with Living Hyphen has been featured on national and local media outlets including the Globe & Mail, CTV National News, and the CBC. She was named a “Changemaker” by the Toronto Star in October 2021.
Justine Abigail is a fierce advocate for diversity and representation in Canada’s arts and literature scene. Her mission is to stir the conscience and spur social change.
Follow her work at justineabigail.com or across socials at @justineabigail.
About the Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society
Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society (AWCS) was started by a small group of writers, led by J. Michael Fay, who had been running creative writing classes out of the basement of the Alexandra Centre in the Inglewood neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta. The AWCS has always been a place for writers to gather and support one another on the creative writing journey.
It doesn't matter if you're writing for something to do, overcoming trauma, creating a legacy project or want to become a published poet, novelist, short story writer. AWCS has something for everyone. .