From the original post about the workshop:

“Days are short as hell, snow is falling, and the damn Salvation Army is begging for our coins again. With the winter and holidays come feelings for us here in the Western world – joy, grief, anxiety, excitement, annoyance, depression, and everything in between. The darkness invites reflection and isolation. The snow brings nostalgia (and mud). And whether we celebrate them or not, the holidays invite us to return to our core. For some, it’s a childhood home or family. For others, it’s what we hold closest to our hearts – memories, connections, expectations, and dreams. Regardless of where we are, this season invites us home to a space of contemplation and celebration of who we are, where we’ve been, and the worlds we seek to create.

Writing Yourself Home is a special generative workshop for writers of all ages that honors the complexities of what constitutes “home” within and outside of ourselves as queer and trans folks, particularly during this winter/holiday season.”

And listen, it’s still February. It’s still winter. It’s still a great time to curl up with this generative workshop with shea wesley martin. The following video module is intended to be taken at your own pace. The same thing goes with the following readings. shea says at the end of the module that they’d love to know what you thought of the workshop. Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment about your experiences or to email shea at shea@autostraddle.com about the workshop.

Thank you if you were able to attend the live version of the workshop with us. You were all wonderful to see and hear from. Thank you, everyone reading this, so much for being A+ members and for keeping this space celebrating queer and trans writers and writing here for all of us.

Writing Workshop Pre-Work

Make sure to bring/have:

• Writing instrument of choice: pen, pencil, marker, iPad, laptop
• Writing medium of choice: notebook, paper, iPad, laptop (analog recommended)
• Optional: snacks, drinks, fidgets

Throughout our time together, we will use the following as mentor texts in our own exploration and drafting. In order to best prepare for the workshop, I recommend engaging with all of them and considering how the author is using craft (structure, voice, language) to explore home. Pre-work is encouraged, but not a pre-requisite for participating in the workshop!

Home as Grief: Everything That Matters Is Stuck in the Back of My Throat by Carmen Phillips, AS Editor-in-Chief

Home as Escape: The Land Dykes Of Southern Oregon Saved My Life by Vanessa Friedman, AS Community Editor

Home as Terrain: The Problem With Writing About Florida by Kristen Arnett

Home as Food: The Only Apple Pie Recipe Your Family Hasn’t Complained About by Dulce-Marie Flecha

Home as Sound: Tank and the Bangas’ NPR Tiny Desk Concert

Home as Movement: Every Queer Person Should Learn How to Fight by CR Foster

Home as Freedom: Wild, Fat, Queer and Black: How I Became Free In The Mountains And Never Left by shea martin, AS writer

The Video Module

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