Out on the Borders Workshop Series £60/£30conc.

Out on the Page is so excited to be collaborating and experimenting with Jonathan to bring you this exciting short course. Jonathan attended our very first London writing retreat in early 2019; it feels like we have grown together. 

Dates

Wed 7th October 7.30pm

Wed 21st October 7.30pm

Wed 4th November 7.30pm

Wed 18th November 7.30pm

Course Description

Out On The Borders is a writing course exploring the edges, the intersection between Queerness and cultural heritage, and how it can free and influence prose fiction. 

Working from this often marginalised Third Space, participants will be able to develop and discover skills to free their writing from the constraints imposed by the ivory towers of the mainstream, particularly in relation to character, language, and setting. Participants will also find a safe and supportive space in which to discuss hurdles and setbacks in their writing journey, as well as practical advice when submitting their work to journals and magazines.

Course content will include:

• Time and space to write with writing prompts, techniques and exercises.
• Accessible and dynamic lectures on Queer writing history from a cultural perspective, including various genres, and how writers have used this space on the borders to inform their work.
• Breakout group discussions in a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment.
• An opportunity to work on and submit three pieces of prose fiction and gain feedback from the course leader and other participants, as well as give feedback to other participants.
• Group-wide discussions on writing journeys, including hurdles and setbacks, and how to overcome them.
• An opportunity to look at the submission process including practical advice on how to submit, as well as small details such as cover letters and author bios.
• Enhancement of the course between sessions, with a selected short story to prompt discussion and analysis of technique, as well as a list of resources and further reading.

Attendees will:

• Attend four Zoom group sessions lasting two hours, broken up into sections that will include a short lecture, group discussions, virtual breakout rooms, and quiet time to write.
• Read a short story before each session, in order to discuss a particular technique used by the writer. There will also be a list sent out after each session, with optional further reading and resources.
• Upload three short pieces of prose for feedback (one piece a week for three weeks)
• Give feedback to two pieces of prose written by other participants (one piece a week for two weeks, with an option for more).
• Have an opportunity to anonymously submit questions related to setbacks and challenges in their writing journey, with an opportunity to discuss them as a group in a safe and supportive environment.
• Have an opportunity to begin the process of submitting to a literary magazine or journal, including the creation of a cover letter and author bio.

Jonathan Pizarro

Jonathan is a Queer Gibraltarian writer currently living in London. He graduated from Brunel University with a 1st in English & Creative Writing, where he was also the recipient of the Arthur Scott Prize for Creative Writing. His dissertation, a collection of short stories set in Gibraltar examining the Gothic from the perspective of the Other, won the Gompertz Prize for Literature. Under the mentorship of writers such as Bernardine Evaristo and Jonathan Kemp, he has been encouraged to explore the lived experience of being Queer and Gibraltarian in his work, and he is currently working on his first novel. His short fiction has been published in Untitled: Voices, Fruit Journal, and Emerge Literary Journal, with non-fiction in Attitude and Vada. He is currently working on a series of weekly pieces exploring his Queerness and ethnicity in the context of his life in the UK, entitled ‘Exiliado’, the first of which was showcased as a featured article on Medium. He has been a member of Out On The Page since its first writing retreat in London. He tweets about writing, but mostly about not writing, @JSPZRO.