Qartography: Mapping the Queerness of our Lives

with Daniel Isaiah Elder

A 4-week generative writing lab beginning November 8th
Optional Zoom sessions on Sundays: 11/9, 11/16, 11/23, 11/30
Recordings of Zoom sessions will be shared with participants for a limited time afterwards.

On ancient maps the mysterious, borderless world beyond the sight of explorers and colonizers was often represented by monstrous creatures—hydras, sirens, kraken, living islands with deadly fangs. In video games, the “fog of war” obfuscates the landscapes we haven’t yet tread, hinting at danger and treasure in equal measure. Inside ourselves, there are always new shadowy nooks to discover.

Queer people have walked this world for as long as human beings have. But often—though not always and certainly not in every culture—they’ve been pushed to the shadows, colored and portrayed as monsters by the dominant heteronormative societies around them.

In this workshop, LGBTQ+ writers are invited to become cartographers of their own queerness. What is the emotional history of queerness in your body? What is the geographical history of your queer movement through the world? What is the ecology of our queerness, how does it entangle with the natural world? What fog of war lies around us, what mysterious oceans do we have yet to sail across?

We will ask, and perhaps answer, these and other questions over the course of four weeks together. So many writers before us (Audre Lorde, Justin Torres, Melissa Febos, to name but a few) have each mapped their own queer nexus of space and time, and we’ll look to their work for guidance along the way. Each week we’ll engage writing portals to generate new work that will hold the seeds of further creative opportunities within it.

Lab Structure:
This creative lab will begin Saturday November 8th and run for four weeks using our rich interactive online platform, Mighty Networks, which hosts class material and is a forum for sharing and interacting with each other’s writing. There will be 4 meetings over Zoom on Sundays (11/9, 11/16, 11/23, 11/30) from 10am-11am Pacific. Though attendance at these meetings is highly encouraged, it is not mandatory! Meetings will be a mix of discussion and opportunities for writing and sharing together. All meetings will be recorded and posted on Mighty Networks the next day, for those who are unable to make part or all of the meeting times. Additionally, there is an option to have a 1-on-1 conference with Daniel at the end of the 4-week period.

Daniel Isaiah Elder (he/they) is a queer Jewish writer. Recipient of a Lambda Literary Fellowship, his work has appeared in Catapult, X-Ray Lit, wig-wag, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, The Rumpus, and many more. He lives in Portland, Oregon where he is the Navigator for Lidia Yuknavitch’s Corporeal Writing. He lives with his partner, their kid, and a lovably lazy old cat. For a taste of his own qartography, read his essay, “Ugly Boys,” which inspired the creation of this course. www.daniel-elder.com

Pricing:

The following payment model is inspired by and borrowed from the payment model of Bayo Akomolafe’s class, We Will Dance With Mountains: Into the Cracks. 

This course offers two sliding scales based on your relative financial standing. The huge range listed below is meant to reflect the incredible disparity in economic conditions of people living in different parts of the world, and also the historical reality of stolen wealth in many different forms, generally from the so-called Global South to the North. In an effort to reflect disparity in economic condition and access to wealth, the following payment system is designed for those with more wealth to help cover the costs of those with less access to wealth and resources. We trust your discernment of how your current financial situation and how you fit into the global economic context.

As you decide what amount to pay, please consider your present-day financial situation governed by income, but also the following factors: historical discrimination faced by your peoples; your financial wealth (retirement/savings/investments); your access to income and financial wealth, both current and anticipated (how easily could you earn more income compared to other people in your community, country, and the world); people counting on your financial livelihood including dependents and community members; the socio-economic conditions of your locale (relative to other places in your country and in the world); your relationship to food & resource scarcity.

$350 Partner

$275 Supporter (Note: this reflects the “real” value of this course.)

$200 Companion

$150 Friend

We are always able to set up payment plans to break any of these tuition fees into smaller monthly payments. Also, a limited number of scholarships are available for anyone needing further financial assistance. Please email Daniel at registration@corporealwriting.com for more info, or if you are feeling challenged in any way by the financial requirements of participation.