The Lewis Latimer House Museum in Flushing is presenting a fully funded opportunity for Queens writers to join a six-session writing workshop on memoir and autobiographical writing focusing on themes of race and immigration.
The workshop series will meet virtually and will be led by writer Abeer Hoque, who has been teaching the workshop, Memoir and Autobiographical Writing: Race and Immigration, since 2019.
“One of my favorite things about it, and I have many, is how it showcases the incredible and diverse borough that Queens is,” Hoque said. “I think personal stories are one way to change the world, the act of witness through art. It’s a privilege and a gift to hear their stories and nurture their writing.”
Hoque is a Nigerian-born Bangladeshi American writer and photographer. Her books include a travel photography and poetry monograph (“The Long Way Home,” 2013), a linked collection of stories, poems and photographs (“The Lovers and the Leavers,” 2015) and a memoir (“Olive Witch,” 2017). She has won fellowships from the NEA, Queens Council on the Arts, NYFA and the Fulbright Foundation, and holds B.S. and M.A. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and an MFA in writing from the University of San Francisco.
During the workshop, students will dive into work from day one, finding their voices, developing characters, creating context and backdrop and honing their narratives. Writers will have the opportunity to have their pieces reviewed in the workshop three times, and will leave the course with a refined, voice-driven piece of personal writing.
The series will culminate in a public reading event, tentatively to be held on Saturday, June 3, 2023, at Lewis Latimer House Museum.
The application is open to writers of all levels of experience. Applications are due Jan. 22, 2023, and participants will be notified by Feb. 4, 2023. To apply, visit tinyurl.com/LLHMMemoir
The Writing on Race & Immigration Series is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
