Writing the Forbidden
In this one-week intensive you will work to produce a piece of forbidden writing. What’s forbidden to one writer may not be forbidden to another. Some feel forbidden to write about emotions (i.e. anger, happiness etc.) or circumstances (i.e. trauma, ecstasy, poverty, wealth, sexuality, aging, mental illness, family secrets etc.); some feel forbidden to write about people different than themselves; for others, certain forms are forbidden. Whatever your forbidden territory is, I encourage you to visit it with curiosity and attention. We will proceed as a group of risk-takers together, none of us traveling to precisely the same place, but all of us keeping one another company on the journey. I will emphasize intuitive methods and ask you to cleave to what makes your secret heart beat faster. Daily readings, prompts, and exercises will be provided. At the end of the week, you will receive a detailed, written response to your work. Everyone welcome.
BIOGRAPHY
Jennifer Tseng is the author of three award-winning poetry collections; a collection of flash fiction, The Passion of Woo & Isolde, a Firecracker Award finalist and winner of an Eric Hoffer Book Award; and a novel, Mayumi & the Sea of Happiness, finalist for the PEN American Center's Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and the New England Book Award. In addition to teaching for 24PearlSt, Tseng is a Visiting Core Faculty member of OSU-Cascades' Low Residency MFA program. She lives on Martha's Vineyard.