The Writer’s Center presents an informative and inspiring symposium addressing the subject of faith in literature and popular culture, offering free creative writing workshops followed by a panel discussion. Featured writers include Sufiya Abdur-Rahman, Eve Ettinger, Jenn Koiter, Eman Quotah, moderated by Zach Powers. The symposium concludes with a reception for all attendees.
All events are FREE and open to the public. Limited space, registration required. The workshops are simultaneous, so please only sign up for ONE. Scroll down to register!
The Workshops | 1:30-3:00pm
Please register for ONE workshop using the form below. Workshop registration includes admission to the panel discussion and reception.
- “We do tell you the best of stories”: Faith and storytelling techniques
Mixed Genre
Workshop Leader: Eman Quotah
So much of our faiths is passed down to us in stories. And we’re influenced not just by the content of the stories, but also how they’re told. How can we use the storytelling structures, themes, and linguistic motifs of our faith traditions in our own creative works (fiction, nonfiction or poetry)? In this workshop, you’ll start to mine your personal faith history and the faith texts you connect with to uncover storytelling methods that will enrich your writing. - Communicating the Topic of Faith
Nonfiction
Workshop Leader: Eve Ettinger
Writing about faith and religion can be exhilarating, but the experience can become isolating, fraught with concerns with authority, authenticity, and the anxiety of what outsiders (or even worse, those in your community) might think. In this workshop we will work together toward identifying what we’re trying to communicate when we write about faith, and how to engage this topic in ways that allow the numinous to coexist with the tangible self and liminal awareness. We will read selections about faith, mysticism, and creation, and complete a writing exercise playing with techniques used in the selections read. Participants are encouraged to come with a writing sample on this theme or specific thematic narrative that they’re working to write about. - Faith in Poetry
Workshop Leader: Jenn Koiter
In this generative workshop, we will explore how poets and essayists have played with concepts like prayer, ritual, and religious terminology in their work to great effect. Then we will promptly steal from them, as all great artists do. We will have fun writing together and come away with multiple first drafts.
Please register for ONE workshop using the form below. Workshop registration includes admission to the panel discussion and reception.
The Panel | 3:15-4:15pm
To attend the panel and reception, please register for one of the workshops listed above.
- Our workshop leaders are joined by memoirist Sufiya Abdur-Rahman and moderator Zach Powers for a discussion on how the literary community addresses faith, how we get it right, and where we might do better. Reception to follow.
The Participants
Sufiya Abdur-Rahman is author of the memoir Heir to the Crescent Moon, winner of the Iowa Prize for Literary Nonfiction. Her essays, articles, and criticism have appeared in publications including Catapult, The Common Online, Gay Mag, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and NPR. She has earned Notable distinction in Best American Essays, received fellowships from the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and is a two-time alumnus of VONA writing workshops. She is Creative Nonfiction Editor for Cherry Tree, a national literary journal, at Washington College, where she teaches creative writing and journalism. Sufiya lives in Annapolis, Md., with her family.
Eve Ettinger is a writer, editor, and educator in Alexandria, Virginia. They are a features editor at The Rumpus, and co-host a podcast about Christian fundamentalism and current events called Kitchen Table Cult. They have an MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University. Eve is working on a memoir about leaving a cult, recovering from C-PTSD, and queerness, and serves on the board of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education. Their writing has appeared in outlets like Teen Vogue, The Washington Post, Bustle, and more.
Jenn Koiter is a writer, breathworker, and creativity and writing coach. Winner of the DC Poet Project, her debut poetry collection is So Much of Everything. Her poems and essays have appeared in Barrelhouse, Smartish Pace, The Shore, perhappened, One Art, Ruminate, Copper Nickel, and other journals. She lives in Washington, DC, and you can find her at literary events around town or on Twitter and Instagram as @jennkoiter.
Eman Quotah’s debut novel, Bride of the Sea, won the Arab American Book Award for fiction in 2022. She grew up in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, and Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, Necessary Fiction, Witness, The Rumpus, Jellyfish Review, Kweli, Literary Hub, Electric Literature, ArabLit Quarterly, The Markaz Review and other publications. When she’s not writing fiction or essays, Eman is a communications consultant and ghost writer for nonprofit and business leaders. She lives with her family near Washington, D.C.
Zach Powers is the author of the novel First Cosmic Velocity (Putnam 2019) and the story collection Gravity Changes (BOA Editions 2017). His writing has been featured by American Short Fiction, Lit Hub, Tin House Online, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. He serves as Artistic Director for The Writer’s Center and lives in Arlington, Virginia. Get to know him at ZachPowers.com.
If you need an accommodation for this event, please contact us at access@{{{{homeurl_non_www}}}}. We will attempt to fulfill all requests, but advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility services.
Please register for ONE workshop using the form below. Workshop registration includes admission to the panel discussion and reception.
If a workshop is full, you can join the waitlist by sending an email to amy.freeman@{{{{homeurl_non_www}}}} specifying the workshop you’re interested in attending.