Writing the Earth

with Barrak Alzaid

Saturday February 22nd, 2025
10AM-12PM Pacific over Zoom
(A recording will be made available to all registrants for a limited period afterwards.)

This workshop will bring writers together online to imagine other ways of being in the world and relating to one another and our selves. Although it will take place online, the workshop will offer adaptations of interactive and embodied exercises that draw on Theatre of the Oppressed and somatic practices to explore antidotes to extractive capitalism and deepening our connection with our environment. We will also draw on some short readings to supplement our practice. Because this is an online class, the exercises will be adapted for you to do both alone and in breakout rooms with other online participants.

In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer draws on the wisdom of both indigenous and scientific knowledge to impart lessons to readers and inspire us to move collectively towards our shared goals of sustainability.

“One of our responsibilities as human people is to find ways to enter into reciprocity with the more-than-human world. We can do it through gratitude, through ceremony, through land stewardship, science, art and in everyday acts of practical reverence.”

Together, we'll explore how we as writers can embody these lessons and impart them into our work.

Who is this workshop for?

This workshop is for anyone who:

- writes about and for our environment

- feels stuck and wants new methods to inspire their writing practice

What will I get out of this workshop?

My hope is that these embodied practices will give you new methods to engage your writing practice. By focusing on themes around the environment, it may inspire your writing with new dialogue, imagery, storylines, metaphors, and more.

Social: The process of devised theater will create a reflective space that enables workshop participants to interrogate climate change, exploring existing and historical models for empathy and mutual care as pathways to effect political change. This depth of engagement will empower existing change-makers and activate people by fostering connection and hope for the future.

Creative: Participants can produce their own stories, poems, performances, and essays that can be developed and compiled into a public archive online, as well as a publication that documents their experiences and serves as inspiration for further reflection on resources, society and the environment.

Barrak Alzaid is a writer of poetry, prose and creative nonfiction whose forthcoming memoir, Fabulous, chronicles his coming of age as Arab, Muslim, and Queer.

Excerpts of his memoir are anthologized in The Ordinary Chaos of Being Human and New Moons. His poetry is published in El Ghourabaa: A queer and trans collection of oddities. He has been awarded fellowships and residencies through The Corporation of Yaddo, La Napoule Foundation and 100 West – Corsicana Artist & Writer Residency. He has taken part in writing workshops including Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, Lambda Literary Writers Retreat and VONA. His writing has been awarded prizes by Barjeel Art Foundation/Rusted Radishes Magazine and Nasiona Magazine. He is a founding member of the artist collective GCC. He has taught literature and writing in the US and internationally at the high school, university and community level, as well as online through virtual workshops and retreats.

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Pricing:

The following payment model is inspired by and borrowed from the payment model of Bayo Akomolafe’s class, We Will Dance With Mountains: Into the Cracks. 

This workshop offers a sliding scale based on your relative financial standing. In an effort to reflect disparity in economic condition and access to wealth, the following payment system is designed for those with more wealth to help cover the costs of those with less access to wealth and resources. We trust your discernment of your current financial situation and how you fit into the global economic context.

As you decide what amount to pay, please consider your present-day financial situation governed by income, but also the following factors: historical discrimination faced by your peoples; your financial wealth (retirement/savings/investments); your access to income and financial wealth, both current and anticipated (how easily could you earn more income compared to other people in your community, country, and the world; are you expecting an inheritance); people counting on your financial livelihood including dependents and community members; the socio-economic conditions of your locale (relative to other places in your country and in the world); your relationship to food & resource scarcity.

$100  Partner

$75  Supporter (Note: This amount reflects the “real” value of this offering.)

$50  Companion

$25    Friend

Scholarships are also available for anyone needing further financial assistance. Please email Daniel at registration@corporealwriting.com for more info, or if you are feeling challenged in any way by the financial requirements of participation.