24PearlStreet Workshops and Events
ASYNCHRONOUS
Dear nonfiction and fiction writers: Are you imagining characters—either yourself or others—who constantly swim against the tide? This class will serve the protagonist who, for whatever reason, finds herself consistently misperceived by others. Maybe she is mixed-race yet white presenting. Maybe they are nonbinary, but society is forcing them to choose a single gender. Maybe she has blond hair and blue eyes yet feels like a minority because she grew up in a Mexican barrio. Winning readers as an outsider or underdog requires more than arguing a worldview, and in this generative workshop we will discuss the techniques—supposition, imagery, plot, humor, accrual—that engage readers while leading them into new terrain. To expand the literary canon, we move from the familiar to the unfamiliar, but what do we use as our bait? Through close reading and an exploration of ready-made structures and forms, we will excavate the beating heart of your character’s conflict. By the end of the week, you will leave with at least two healthy drafts.
Biography
Deborah Jackson Taffa’s debut, Whiskey Tender, a 2024 National Book Award Finalist, has been named on best lists at Esquire, Oprah Daily, ELLE, and The Washington Post. She has received awards and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, PEN America, MacDowell, the Ellen Meloy Foundation, Tin House, the University of Iowa, and the NY Summer Writers Institute. Taffa received her MFA in Iowa City. A citizen of the Kwatsaan Nation and Laguna Pueblo, she is the director of the MFA CW program at the IAIA in Santa Fe, NM.
