Muse & the Marketplace 2018

The facts are these: 1) We are not living in a post-racial anything, and 2) The good intention of well-meaning writers isn't enough to free our stories from reasserting harmful stereotypes. This is not an indictment, but more an invitation for all of us to do better, specifically when it comes to writing stories that aim to expand our limited perspectives, grow our imaginations, and boost our collective sense of compassion.

This workshop is about identifying the common pitfalls many writers (especially white writers) meet when crafting stories featuring characters of color, and smart ways to avoid them. It will tackle how to illustrate that Black Life is vast—from ordinary to other worldly—without falling into the trope traps (Magical Negro, Sassy Black Sistuh Gurlfriend, Festishized Black Lover, etc.). And it will cover how to fold in cultural quirks and details (like dialect) without turning into caricature or, worse, falling into unintentional racist and xenophobic territory. (Because that is a hill you do not want to die on.)