The Unexpected Reader: an AAPI Writing Workshop, March 13 and 20.

JADED and WritePittsburgh will present "The Unexpected Reader: an AAPI Writing Workshop" on March 13 and 20.

In How to Read Now, Elaine Castillo presents the “unexpected reader” as the reader who “is not remotely imagined — maybe not even imaginable” by writers and publishers. As Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) readers and writers, how do we enter into a place that has historically excluded our stories? How do we create a referential world that holds in tension our differences?

The first class will be dedicated to reading to write better while contending with what may be keeping us from the page. We will work together to learn how to be porous and available to finding inspiration. 

The second class will be about translation — translation across language, translation across form. This class will coincide with artist (and co-founder of JADED) Anny Chen’s show at Bunker Projects, where we will write alongside her work.

The class will culminate into a zine launch and a reading (date and location TBD).

March 13th - Atithi Studios

March 20th - Bunker Projects

The class is only open to AAPI-identifying writers and will be capped at 12-15 students. Priority will go to students who can attend both classes. 

*Classes will be masked and vaxxed.*

The Instructor:

Elina Zhang is an Asian-American writer and organizer based in Pittsburgh, PA, where she received a Creative Nonfiction Writing MFA from the University of Pittsburgh. She was a 2023 Roots. Words. Wounds Fellow and a 2022 Periplus Fellow. She is also a member of the JADED Asian American artists collective.

Registration can be made online, and as the description says priority goes to those who can attend both sessions.