Ancestors are everywhere and everytime. They are our past communities who influence our present lives as we gradually become future ancestors ourselves. Nevertheless, ancestors often narrowly appear in writing either as haunting specters or as generic beings in need of appeasement (if they appear at all). How can we more effectively describe our ancestors, providing them the agency and texture in which they often occur in our lives and memories?
In order to ground our understanding and support in-class writing exercises, participants in this craft workshop will co-create an altar using meaningful ancestral artifacts. In doing so, we’ll celebrate our loved ones and our wider communities. We’ll also celebrate each other as writers eager to explore strategies to (re-)center the legends, songs, archetypes, images, and values of those ancestors with the aim of developing rich, healing, communal, and even liberatory stories.
This class is part of the Writing in Color Fest and is open to writers of all genres and creatives who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC+). The goal of the Fest is to provide a space for writers of color to be in community and thrive as they grow their writing skills.
Lighthouse strives to remove all barriers, including financial ones, to participation in our workshops. Tuition assistance is not available for passes, but you can request a payment plan if needed. If you feel at all like financial constraints would keep you from being able to participate in any of this year’s Fest offerings, please click here to request a payment plan. If you have any questions about the payment plan process please reach out to us at info@lighthousewriters.org or give us a call at 303-297-1195.
