Muse & the Marketplace 2018

Writing with an awareness of multiple languages allows writers to use language in powerful ways. Craft issues around dialogue, orality, hybridity, and specific cultural experiences often involve a multilingual consciousness. For example, sometimes we need to stretch English so as to recognize or embody the languages in which we or our characters live, think and speak. During this session we’ll look at work by writers who may include Monica de la Torre, Grace Paley, Junot Díaz, and Patrick Chamoiseau; and we’ll talk about code switching, experiment with separating form from meaning, and play with translation. Expect to walk away with a richer understanding of how to deliberately manipulate language(s) to develop voice, dialogue, texture and meaning in your prose.