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Palabras del Pueblo
Writing Workshop
A workshop for la raza
There is a temporary issue with palabrasdelpueblo@mexicanos2070.com, please email somosenescrito@gmail.com with any questions
Many writing workshops are overpriced and do not serve our Xicana, Xicano, and Xicanx community. Our storytellers, poets, and thinkers are not nurtured or given as many opportunities and so our voice as a people becomes drowned out or dictated by others.
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Palabras del Pueblo Writing Workshop is intended to develop our writers to seek our gente as an audience and to be financially accessible for raza to learn to better express themselves so our existence and values can be heard with clarity with no doubts to what they are and what we are. We intend the workshop to be a place to acquire tools, inspiration, and contacts for Chicana/o/x writers.
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Email somosenescrito@gmail.com with questions.
When & Where
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Palabras del Pueblo Writing Workshop happens online with some of the best Xicana, Xicano and Xicanx writers and instructors as well talented allies dedicated to our community.
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Palabras happens twice a year in the Spring and Fall. (March and October). Check below for upcoming workshop.
Workshops happen during the last two weekend of the month, 9am to 1pm Pacific time online.
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Our Spring workshop application deadline is February 18th. Add a reminder to your Google Calendar here.
Cost
The cost is $100, payable after acceptance before the class begins. We accept PayPal, Venmo and Zelle.
Lineup of Classes offered
Application opens December 1st. Deadline is February 18th. Add a reminder to your Google Calendar here.
Resources for Raza Writers
A page under development to provide a space with recommended presses and magazines to submit to, contests, opportunities and guides for those writing in our community.
F.A.Q
Who puts this on?
Palabras del Pueblo is a joint venture between Somos en escrito Literary Foundation Press, a small Xicano press and online magazine and MeXicanos 2070, a nonprofit ThinkCollective dedicated to preserving and enhancing our indigenous Xicana, Xicano, and Xicanx culture.
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Palabras del Pueblo's director is Scott Russell Duncan, a Xicano writer, author of Old California Strikes Back, senior editor of Somos en escrito, and board member of MeXicanos 2070. Other contributors are Jenny Irizary, Catherine Schweig, Armando Rendon, Ernesto Mireles, and Carlos Cumpian.
What happens in a workshop?
Each workshop class will have around 4 to 12 students who will either bring writing or write in class and listen to lectures by the instructor. Some classes will share work and advise each other as well. There is no "one on one" or private lessons by the instructor. There is a presentation on each day of the workshop (4 total) that last one hour on issues connected to Xicana, Xicano and Xicanx writers.
Do you take everyone who applies?
No. The application isn't a sign up sheet. Somos en escrito editors choose who is accepted into the workshop, not the instructors. Effort put into completing the application increases your chances as well as professionalism (no glib remarks, no emoji or incomplete sentences).
We also welcome writers who have never been in a writing workshop. We are serious about the writing of our community and the application is the first step to show us you are as well.
I'm not Xicana, Xicano, Xicanx or Mexican American, can I apply?
This is a Xicano space meant for our people to develop in a system that excludes us and manipulates our stories. We take a limited number of qualified applicants that are non-Xicano who are connected to or add value to our community, and understand the center of the workshop is Xicanas, Xicanxs, and Xicanos. The workshop is not meant for cultural exchange or to provide access to accomplished writers for all, but for our community to develop our own narratives on our terms. The application has a space for non-Xicanos to explain their connection to our community and what they will add to the space of the workshop.
I didn't get my first class and got put into my second pick, why?
Some workshop classes are competitive to get in and fill up quickly. Applying early and making your application as good as it can be increases your chance to be in your first choice of classes. Be prepared to be in your second pick.
I never had a workshop before what is generative and what is editing?
Some of our workshop classes are mostly generative, meaning you will be writing in class and producing new work. Other workshop classes are for editing a draft of work you already wrote...and some classes have both. See the class descriptions to see if the class has a generative focus or not.
Will the instructor be editing my 300 page manuscript in the workshop?
No. This is a 4 day workshop in a class shared by others. If the class has editing work in it, it will be on work that is short. Developmental editing on a manuscript costs thousands of dollars from an editor and this doesn't happen in a workshop.
Do you take trade or have scholarships?
We cannot accept trade or offer scholarships. We price the workshop to be affordable, but we offer a reduced price to a few students with need. These slots are few, again the workshop is priced to be affordable. See the application for more details.
Who has taught at Palabras del Pueblo before?
Luis Rodriguez, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Matt Sedillo, Karen Cordova, Ernesto Mireles, Dave Weinstock, Rios de la Luz, Ernest Hogan, E.G. Conde, Juan G. Berumen, and E.C.-Dukes.