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 writing playship, we will dip our toes in exactly that and then some!
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 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 writing materials will be provided.
Date & Time: Saturday, November 29 | 2-5 p.m.
Location: The Pleasant | 2434 Main Street, Vancouver
Cost: Pay-What-You-Can!
Our creative workshops operate on a pay-what-you-can model to make them accessible to everyone, regardless of financial circumstances. We invite you to contribute an amount that feels sustainable for you, knowing that your contribution helps support the facilitators and makes future community offerings possible. These tiers are meant to help guide your decision – choose the rate that best reflects your current financial capacity and the value this experience holds for you.
$10 – Community: For those with limited income or financial constraints.
$25 – Cultivate: Helps cover your spot and contributes a little toward accessibility for others.
$40 – Grow: Reflects the true cost of the workshop and helps sustain Living Hyphen’s work.
$50 – Solidarity: Supports your participation and subsidizes spots for others who need reduced pricing.
No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Location & VENUE
This playshop will be taking at place at The Pleasant, a wonderfully spacious and relaxed eatery and social house located in the vibrant Mount Pleasant neighbourhood in Vancouver, BC. We’ll be in the Community Gallery, a space that celebrates local art and culture and where local artists can showcase their work.
ABOUT FINANCIAL ACCESSIBILITY
At Living Hyphen, we strive to make all our initiatives financially sustainable while also maintaining artistic independence and ensuring accessibility for our community. Our creative workshops operate on a pay-what-you-can model to make them accessible to everyone, regardless of financial circumstances. We invite participants to contribute an amount that feels sustainable for them — whether that’s a little or a lot — knowing that your contribution helps support the facilitators and makes future community offerings possible. We also recognize that our financial capacity changes across time, with some days being harder than others. We ask you to make the choice that feels right for you right now! No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
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.