The Writer’s Center presents an informative and inspiring symposium addressing the subject of Latine heritage in literature and popular culture, offering free creative writing workshops followed by a panel discussion. Featured writers include Erick Acuña, María Fernanda, and Maritza Rivera, moderated by Ofelia Montelongo. 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.
- Años Que Responden: Writing the Pecha Kucha
Poetry
Workshop Leader: María Fernanda
This workshop title comes from Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, translated by Spanish novelist Andres Ibáñez. Hurston writes, “There are years that ask questions, and years that answer.” and Ibáñez translates “Hay años que preguntan y años que responden.” In this workshop, participants will learn the pecha kucha as the Japanese business presentation style as it was originally established and the poetic form, interpreted by poet Terrance Hayes. Poet and educator Michael Frazier contextualizes that the presentational form “consists of only [20] pictures and allows for 20 seconds of speaking per photo.” (Frazier). Hayes uses this format as a framework to form work containing 20 images with a 20-second stanza written in quatrains in his book Lighthead. Instruction will focus on writing about pivotal years, real or fiction, however participants are not limited to do so. Optional pre-read includes Pecha Kucha, Low Coup, Hyperbolic Time Chamber Experimentation with Japanese forms by Michael Frazier. This workshop is an open-lingual space. English and Spanish speakers are welcomed.
- Writing from Your Roots
Mixed Genre
Workshop Leader: Maritza Rivera
What lies beneath the surface of who we are? What is the purpose of our roots? Without roots could we still flourish and grow as people, poets and writers? This workshop will explore how roots influence and connect us to our origins and ancestors. We will delve into the complexity of our identity, culture and heritage to experience how they inspire our thoughts, ideas and creativity. In this workshop we will use the universal topics of food, work, love and loss to enhance what and how we write “from our roots”.
- Bring Your Own Self into Scripted Comedy
Comedy Writing
Workshop Leader: Erick Acuña
This workshop will focus on working how you can bring your own background, expertise, hobbies, and everything you love/hate in real life, into scripted comedy (solo characters, and stage/video sketches). Students should bring at least one comedic premise/idea to share (even one sentence is fine) with the group.
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 moderator Ofelia Montelongo for a discussion on the current situation and future of the Latine Literary Community. Reception to follow.
The Participants
Erick Acuña a Peruvian comedian and writer based in Washington DC. He is a two time winner of ‘Best Comedy Show’ at Capital Fringe. His one-person comedy show ‘Acuña Acuna’ has had sold out runs in festivals around the US, Canada, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (UK), and it was a finalist at the Yes, And… Laughter Lab in partnership with Comedy Central. He is also a founding member and writer of ‘The Cherry Swamp’, top Washington DC based satire site.
María Fernanda (she/hers) is an award-winning poet whose work “invokes sea crossings with […] the breaking and making of family,” (OkayAfrica). Awarded the The Norma Elia Cantú Award in Creative Writing, she continues to perform her poetry in service of locally-rooted initiatives and conversations across the country, including Philadelphia’s Healing Verse Poetry Line, Texas’ Denton Black Film Festival, New York’s The Bronx is Reading: The Bronx Book Festival, and DC’s Youth Leadership Foundation. DC origin, María Fernanda is a Program Partner of the District of Columbia Public Library. Pratt, NYU, University of Pennsylvania, University of Houston, and more have invited her to speak, read her work, and lead poetry workshops. María Fernanda’s literary works appear in Cheryl Clarke’s born in a bed of good lessons inspired by works by Lucille Clifton, Cynthia Manick’s Soul Sister Revue, Cave Canem’s Dogbytes, The Library of Congress’ Presidential Campaign Posters and elsewhere. For more, visit mariafernandapoet.com.
Maritza Rivera (also known as Mariposa) is a Puerto Rican poet and US Army veteran who moved from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Rockville, MD, in 1994. In 1999, she created and hosted the weekly Mariposa Poetry Series in College Park, MD, which ran for “twelve poet years” until 2002. She also created and hosted the annual Mariposa Poetry Retreat at the Capital Retrea Center in Waynesboro, PA, in 2011, and hosted the annual Mariposa Reunion Readings at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD. Her endeavors have contributed to building community among poets based on their shared experiences. The most recent Mariposa Poetry Retreat, Writing in the Rainforest, was held in Puerto Rico in 2022.
Ofelia Montelongo is a bilingual writer from Mexico. She has an MBA in Strategic Leadership & an MA in Latin American Literature. Her work has been published in The Rumpus, Latino Book Review, Los Acentos Review, and elsewhere. She currently teaches at the University of Maryland and she is a PEN/Faulkner writer in residence, a Macondista & a PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow. ofeliamontelongo.com
If you need an accommodation for this event, please contact us at access@writer.org. 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@writer.org specifying the workshop you’re interested in attending.