TALLER DE
ESCRITORAS
BILINGUAL CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP
Taller de Escritoras is a bilingual writing workshop for women facilitated by rosangelica in the Amherst Writers and Artist Method. It aims to nurture a safe and welcoming space for bilingual escritoras of all levels. It is a space to express freely, to explore and heal through writing. The workshop will be facilitated at times in English and at times in Spanish, so fluency in Spanish and English is highly recommended.
(5 SESSIONS)
Wednesdays | August 6th - September 3rd | 5 pm - 7 pm
Meets in person at CASA de ESPAÑOL | 1101 R. St. Sacramento, CA. 95811
YOUR FACILITATOR
rosangelica is a writer, poet, multidisciplinary artist, photographer and graphic designer born and raised in Los Angeles, and currently living in Northern California.
rosangelica is a trained writing workshop leader, certified in the Amherst Writers and Artist (AWA) Method. She is fluent in English and Spanish and is passionate about creating safe and welcoming spaces for writers of all levels, and walks of life. As a native Spanish speaker, she believes that expressing and writing in both English and Spanish are essential to the way she navigates life and her writing, as they are full expressions of who she is. She believes that bilingual writers should feel free to express themselves in either language, even within the same written piece. She hopes to nurture a kind of freedom to BE through writing, a freedom to break from social norms and practices, to express in more authentic ways while choosing to rewrite who we are.
rosangelica holds a BA in Literature from the University of California Santa Cruz. She is a native Spanish speaker, and is one of few Latinas certified in the AWA method.
WHY I WRITE
“Writing is my way to feel free. Since I learned to read and write, writing became a primary way to express, to process, and create out of my lived experiences. It was only until later that I realized how much I was able to endure and persevere because I had words, and words, in a way, had me.
I chose to study Literature because I was in love with words and the way I could create using language, the way they helped me survive. I learned that language was power; a power we have over ourselves with the ability to think, process and create. Without words, there is none of that.
I believe everyone has a unique voice, and writing is a powerful tool to express, to nurture a sense of belonging and develop confidence in ourselves despite any lived experience, and because of it.
It is in the act of creating from our hurts, fears, and any lived experiences, that we transform them; we allow them to take shape, we gain a kind of agency over them, over ourselves, and over the perspective. The experience then becomes forever transformed from what it originally was or felt.”
WHY THE AWA METHOD
Some years back, I took a writing class with Jan Haag facilitated in the AWA method. I found the format a safe space for me to express. It was something I had not done in years. Words poured out of me with such force that they would not stop. Words began to come everywhere they could, in the little crevices made up of mundane daily activities. I began to feel that I could breathe a little better. I realized that the environment created through the AWA method philosophy and practice allowed me to write freely and unapologetically, allowed me to write in such a way, and in large volume, in ways that I had never written in before.
During the pandemic, I began hosting online writing groups with women in my community. It was then, that I was certain I wanted to become an AWA certified writing workshop facilitator and provide this kind of opportunity for others.
AWA METHOD: PHILOSOPHY & PRACTICES
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AWA’s core belief is simple: every person is a writer, and every writer deserves a safe environment in which to experiment, learn, and develop craft. The AWA method, which is fully described in founder Pat Schneider’s book Writing Alone and With Others (Oxford University Press, 2003), provides just such an environment.
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The AWA method is based in the following philosophy. These affirmations rest on a definition of personhood based in equality, and a definition of writing as an art form available to all persons.
Everyone has a strong, unique voice.
Everyone is born with creative genius.
Writing as an art form belongs to all people, regardless of economic class or educational level.
The teaching of craft can be done without damage to a writers original voice or artistic self-esteem.
A writer is someone who writes.
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The following practices establish a safe environment where everyone is free to explore within their own writing and listen to each other with respect.
Everyone’s writing, including the leader’s, is treated with equal respect and value.
Writing is kept confidential and treated as fiction.
Writers can refrain from reading their work aloud.
Responses to just-written work reflect what is strong and successful.
Responses and exercises support the development of literary craft.
When Listening in an AWA workshop we enter the universe that the writer has created and leave our assumptions behind. We are asked to leave behind our own expectations and experiences. In an AWA workshop we listen for and notice what works. We listen for and notice the choices a writer has made that help to create success in the writing. We listen without preconceived ideas about what the story should be about, how the poem should sound, or what we might do differently.
THE WORKSHOP AT A GLANCE
In each 2 hour workshop, we will have two writing sessions with an allocated amount of time
Each writing session is sparked by a creative prompt that will be introduced right before we write. We use prompts to inspire writing on the spot, stemming from memory or imagination, allowing the writing to take you where it needs to go.
We (including the facilitator) write together in each session.
After we reconvene, participants have the option to share their first-draft writing and receive feedback only on what is strong and what is memorable for participants. In this way, the philosophy is to build on the strengths by understanding what was impactful to listeners.
The goal is to leave each session with raw creative writing, feeling inspired by the work you were able to create, and encouraged by the feedback from peers.
During the five weeks, you have the option for a one time critique of a working piece, done by the group, and an in depth critique by facilitator
I LOK FORWARD TO
WRITING
WITH YOU!
HASTA PRONTO!
