IWL 2020
Congrats to our Interdisciplinary Writers Lab Fellows!
There have been 13 iterations of Interdisciplinary Writers Lab since 2005 and we’ve been through four different community partners since finding a home at the Asian Art Museum in 2017. For the first year due to the ongoing global pandemic our three month multi-genre writing class was held entirely online. Each year in IWL we endeavor to create a space where BIPOC writers can not only work on their craft but to find and build community for themselves. For three months these 15 gifted fellows, all representing different genres, were guided by our amazing instructors (Ingrid Rojas Conteras, Barbara Jane Reyes, and Vanessa Hua) to push the limits of their comfortability as writers exploring poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. We wanted to give some of our students an opportunity to voice their experience and with that they have the last word on another year of Interdisciplinary Writers Lab.
Sarah D. Park: I was so humbled by the wide range of talent in this space that it jostled a familiar fear that I wasn’t good enough as a writer. But as we shared our work and encouragements with each other, I was challenged to press that fear into courage — to play, experiment, and reach beyond what I think is my grasp.
Grace Zhou: I feel like I have been in a state of constant awe these last three months. I’ve learned so much from our instructors and from each and everyone of the amazingly talented and generous writers in this cohort! I gained a sense of experimentation and play as we worked across genres. This space let me loosen up, think less as a perfectionist, and honor other truths that might come up in the process.
Sagaree Jain: I feel more curious about the world. Exploring essays has gotten me into this mode of “tell me more about that.” I ask about my friends’ lives, my parents’ diaspora politics, my brother’s history with our mother tongue. Learning to be a writer feels like relearning my own life, and my own fascination with it. I can’t say how grateful I am for that.
HoneyB: As a writer, it’s not frequent that I get to be in community, sit, and witness, so I appreciate the openness of this space. We got to play with our writing in a consistent space, and the amount and depths of viewpoints are so beautiful. There was a lot of encouragement here, so even though we didn’t write every week, I’m here in class today and that’s enough to see each other.
Rattana Yeang: I haven’t written much because it’s been a hard and draining process, and I don’t want to be sad but enjoy my life, which is hard to do right now. So I take away encouragement from this group, where people were interested in what I want to put down on paper, even if painful — it’s priceless. My subject matter is genocide, and I had read how the only thing worse than genocide is forgetting about it. I want to fight erasure by writing what’s truthful and beautiful. There’s stuff I shared in class that my closest friends don’t even know, but if you're writing, you’re pouring your heart out, so thank you for your empathy, patience, and accountability.
antmen pimentel mendoza: I’m really grateful that I got to forge new relationships with writing friends, and that feels like such a gift: the work of friendship and the work of writing. I’ve never written prose at great length before and that was a fun challenge.
Manami Diaz Tsuzuki: I really appreciate what everyone’s brought to this space, whether it’s your openness and warmth or a piece. It was so wonderful to be a part of a creative community, because I came to writing late and it was something I mostly did by myself. Before this, my literary/creative community consisted of my favorite books and their authors I’ve never met, so it was really wonderful to be part of this community with all of you. I’m excited to keep creating with you all, whether it’s writing, making cookies and fried rice, or just being with y’all.
Ecaterina Burton: What I was looking forward to most before this class began was to get into a writing community, and despite COVID, I think we’ve done a good job developing bonds with each other. The biggest thing I want to take away is having someone else who’s in the craft. You have no idea how your writing impacts others or how it sounds other than how it sounds in your head, so I look forward to the continued reading and sharing of each other’s works and becoming peer mentors, because I’m not trying to get into more grad school debt to get those things.
Preeti Vangani: I feel really emotional, but this isn't the end and I’m glad we’ll continue doing this together. I came to writing really late and by accident. But also being so far away from home, I’ve felt loneliness for a very long time. We're all carrying this passion on our backs, and it’s hard to make others understand why we do what we do in the middle of the hardest year of our lives, possibly. Thank you for bringing your hearts and minds to our work — that gave me life. I grew up an only child, so showing up for each other made writing the one thing I don’t have to worry about feeling lonely in.
Jenny Qi: Like many others, I came to IWL seeking community, and I’m coming away from the experience with what truly feels like a sustained community of like-minded writing friends. I’ve appreciated the warmth and care with which everyone in this group regards each other's work, something that I think can be hard to do for ourselves and has allowed us to feel safe to play around with genres that are new or less comfortable for us. This has been particularly nourishing in this difficult and isolating year.
Lucie Pereira: Some of the writing I've done in this time has been more personal and vulnerable than I've done in the past. Seeing your courage to share so much of yourselves inspires me. Also, shoutout to a community of writers of color! I majored in writing in college, but I was predominantly in white spaces and it crushed me to be met with a lot of “not getting it”, people not caring, and feeling very different. Having this space with such love and acceptance has been really meaningful.
Amy Huang: Thank you for making this both a safe space and a brave space. This is by far the workshop where I feel the most seen, heard, validated, and encouraged. I’m taking away this community, a sense of belonging, friends who are on the same journey as I am, and ways of encouraging my own creative process. I appreciated all the prompts we came up with and the stories we shared with each other!
Alle Hsu: I resonate with what everyone else has already said about feeling the fear, and then the courage, and wanting to experiment with play, and most importantly the safety of our community. I am in constant awe, I am moved and inspired by everyone’s raw talent. I’m so excited by the possibilities of continuing our writing community into the future. I am so grateful to Jason, Mihee, and Kearny Street Workshop for accepting me into IWL. I came into this Lab, having a torn-up relationship with writing, through school - through elementary to grad school. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, and for showing us the possibilities in our writing, Ingrid, Barbara, and Vanessa. Thank you to each and every one of you - instructors and fellow writers, for creating a safe space to build back my confidence in writing. Thank you for giving me this space to write about my ancestors. Being with all of you has reignited my goal to write the feature films about my great-grandparents. And to write about them and their importance, while we’re in this pandemic. 💗🙏🏼🙌🏼 Grateful for all of you.
Grace Z. Li: This writing community feels so special and astounding (especially given the current circumstances), and I’m so happy to be a part of it. You’re all so talented, generous, and thoughtful. I will be forever grateful for all that I’ve learned here.