Queer and Feminist Writing: Creating Our Work Through the Lens of International Literature

with Jenna Tang
Saturday September 27th from 10am—12pm Pacific over Zoom
(A recording will be made available to all registrants for a limited time afterwards.)

Feminist writing and queer narratives are important to talk about—how do we start with the lens of international literature to inform our own writing? How can we build a map of literature for ourselves—reading from the ancient mythologies to contemporary literary titles from across the world, to the experimental, punk narratives that could spark creative, thematic ideas for stories and poems that we’ve been wanting to write about?

During this two-hour session, we’ll read selected excerpts of different feminist and queer writings from across different countries and cultures, including works from Lee Soho, Mariana Enríquez, Mahsa Mohebali, Caio Fernando Abreu, Arinze Ifeakandu, and more. Through each excerpt we examine, we’ll do some in-class writing exercises together, explore various thematic topics that are included in the creative works, and take some time and space to build a map for our writing in the long term.

Writers and translators who work from all genres are welcome to join this class. It is a class meant to build up your reading list, writing plan, and to generate writing exercises that would potentially feed into creative works that you hope to publish in the future.

Potential readings from: Lee Soho, Mariana Enríquez, Fernanda Melchor, Gabriela Ponce Padilla, Mieko Kawakami, Lâu Tsí-û, Qiu Miaojin, Mahsa Mohebali, Bora Chung, Chi Ta-wei, Banu Mushtaq, Gabriela Wiener, Arinze Ifeakandu, Caio Fernando Abreu, Stênio Gardel.

Jenna Tang is a Taiwanese Hakka writer and a literary translator who translates between Mandarin, French, Spanish, and English. Her translations and essays are published in The Paris Review, Lit Hub, Restless Books, Latin American Literature Today, AAWW, McSweeney’s, Catapult, Fare Magazine, and elsewhere. Her interviews can be found at World Literature Today, The Sunrise Times, Okapi, Openbook, and Words Without Borders. Her translations include works from Taiwanese feminist authors, Lin Yi-Han (Fang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradise), Lâu Tsí-û (“Not Your Child”), Leah Yang, and more. She has given talks about translation, languages, and gender movements across 22 universities in the States, Canada, China, and Taiwan.

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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 workshop offers a sliding scale based on your relative financial standing. 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 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; are you expecting an inheritance); 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.

$200 Partner

$150 Supporter (Note: This amount reflects the “real” value of this course.)

$125 Companion

$100 Friend

A limited number of scholarships are also 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.

Testimonials:
K-Ming Chang, author of Bestiary
"Jenna Tang is doing incredible and important work as a translator and writer. She is so generous and always opens the door for others. Her work challenges the status quo and creates a space for resonant stories and writers to find many audiences and communities across languages and borders. She helps us see what is possible in the literary world and how to find our way toward it. I can't think of anyone I'd rather learn from more!"

Jeremy Tiang, Literary Translator and Singaporean Writer
“Jenna Tang works tirelessly and generously to promote literature in translation and to build community within the translation sphere. As a translator from Taiwan now based in the US, she moves fluidly between the cultures she translates from and to, probing the bounds of the English language and seeking out voices who have hitherto not received sufficient attention.”

Mike Fu, Literary Translator of Sanmao’s Stories of the Sahara
“Jenna is a thoughtful translator and creative spirit who works from multiple lineages and myriad inspirations, toggling between the minutest of details and big-picture issues in a text with ease. Warm and inquisitive, she's committed to community in all senses and brings passion and energy to every one of her endeavors.”

Nadia Bongo, Writer & Poet
"Jenna is a fantastic instructor! Her workshop was so engaging. She expertly mixed questions of languages, poetic, inspiration, and translation. That’s something I had been looking for a long time in a workshop. I learned new tools to write about languages. Jenna’s constructive feedback encouraged me to keep writing about languages and exploring migration in organic ways. The discussions resonated throughout my week outside the online meeting: I kept feeling engaged, researching, and writing."