[Online] Queer Workshop: Writing is Not a Luxury

In this 3-part program, Baruch LGBTQIA+ students will come together to read, write, and create works that draw on their own queer experience. In her 1985 essay, “Poetry is Not a Luxury,” Audre Lorde writes that “The quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives has direct bearing upon the product which we live, and upon the changes which we hope to bring about through those lives.” This workshop will help students shine that light: together, we’ll read Lorde’s Sister Outsider, write our own essays, stories, and poems, and collaborate on editing and publishing the writing that comes out of the workshop. With student permission, work will be published in zines and/or online.

• April 7 from 5:30-7:00pm: Before this meeting, students read a few essay from Lorde’s book; the meeting is spent discussing and drawing inspiration from her text.
• April 14 from 5:30-7:00pm: Students bring in their own writing to workshop and prepare for publication
• April 28 from 5:30-7:00pm: Zine workshop
  We invite you to join us for a workshop continuing a dialogue of Audre Lorde’s, Sister Outsider, through zine making. We will be creating a unique one of a kind zine. All you need is one sheet of paper, scissors, and something to write/draw with. Together with these tools we learn to flesh out ideas and spread them into a small scale book form. We will delicately look at the history of zines and see how knowledge outside of the mainstream media has been disseminated and used for survival within queer cultures as well as other underrepresented groups. This practice continues today. Through this workshop, you will gain the agency to step into it and write your way closer towards freedom.

Click here to register for this interactive Zoom workshop. When you register, you’ll receive a confirmation email containing the meeting link for all 3 workshop dates. All workshop times are listed in Eastern Time Zone.

If you have any questions about how to sign up, email [email protected].