This six-week class will focus on the subversive genre of Afrosurrealism, which centers on Black and African aesthetics within strange and fantastical narratives set in the past and present.

Through the pioneering poetry of Henry Dumas and the prodigious prose of Toni Morrison, Percival Everett, Helen Oyeyemi, and Rivers Solomon, we will explore how these visionary voices utilize specific persona narrators and other essential literary techniques like lyricism, metaphor, evocative imagery, and worldbuilding to shape surreal stories focusing on the psychological effects of history and oppression on Black communities with an emphasis on methods of resistance and resilience. Set between reality and dreams, Afrosurrealism highlights the collective fight for liberation using cultural memories to critique power structures, reimagine history, and find peace in the present.

Open to writers of all levels and backgrounds, this class is ideal for individuals interested in experimenting with new styles, expanding their worldbuilding skills, and curious about Black speculative fiction.

"Every week, I presented a new story. Finally something did click, the very thing that’s their specialty at The Writers Studio, emotional content. Before, my work was dead. When I brought in my breakthrough story, I felt I was carrying a weird animal in my bag. It was the first story I sold."

Jennifer Egan, former Writers Studio student, Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Instructor

Writers Studio Teacher

Chelsey Monroe

Chelsey Monroe (she/her) has clashed swords with Sir Ian McKellen, trekked the Amazon jungle, and taught English in Japan and India. A valedictorian of UCLA, Chelsey has worked in education with schools, nonprofits, and museums for over a decade. Chelsey is a longtime student of the Writers Studio, and she is so honored to join the faculty. Her work has appeared in Women On Writing and the Constellation Anthology I. She has won the Writers Studio Ralph Dickey Scholarship, the Murphy School of Writing Get Away to Write Scholarship, and two San Francisco Writers Conference Kevin Smokler Scholarships. Chelsey is working on her fifth novel and uses fantasy and sci-fi to foster possibility and build dialogues between cultures and communities to understand and reimagine our history and society.

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