When writing about the self, the inner state becomes the last frontier. Come explore the borderland between what is known and what is yet-to-be discovered via the writing process across genres with these four Philly authors: Jiordan Castle, Alina Pleskova, Eshani Surya, and Joseph Earl Thomas.

Head House Books returns for the second Philly Bookstore Crawl with a full lineup of events through the day! Stop by to hear readings and get books signed by local writers, including Emma Copley Eisenberg, Eshani Surya, and Alyssa Songsiridej.

Join Barnes & Noble - Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA on Monday, July 1st at 6pm as we welcome Emma Copley Eisenberg, author of Housemates: A Novel, and Santiago Jose Sanchez, author of Hombrecito into the store for a discussion of their newly published novels. They will be joined in conversation by Eshani Surya.

An AWP panel with Eshani Surya, Mimi Mondal, Swati Sudarsan, Sarah Thankam Mathews & Sophia Babai.

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Despite the innovative art South Asian writers are creating, the United States writing world often expects our work to fit into the same single-story immigrant narrative that has been in vogue for decades. Join five South Asian writers of various intersectional identities as we discuss what South Asian fiction looks like in the 2020s, how we respond to and/or critique our lineages, how we navigate the Western publishing industry, and what we envision for an inclusive South Asian writing community.

AWP panel with Jaclyn Rachel, Eshani Surya, Jess Silfa, Sylvia Chan & Cat Ingrid Leeches.

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Disabled and chronically ill writers are writing vital work, especially in lieu of the COVID-19 crisis. But the writing world, through its in-person events, MFA programs, and tireless publishing expectations, often does not accommodate our needs—meaning that our voices are all too easily lost. Join us as we discuss how disabled writers can protect themselves from the industry’s ableism, as well as how the larger writing community can better support and uplift disabled writers.

Join us for a night of literary competition and lots of fun!

JUDGES:

Literary Merit: Conrad Benner, founder of StreetsDept.com, he's a photo-blogger, curator, and podcaster who was named one of the 76 most influential people in Philly by Philadelphia Magazine. The Guardian named his blog the 'Best Blogs for Travellers', his photography has been printed in Time and Encyclopedia Britannica, and he's co-curator of the booklet series Artseeing: Self-Guided Tours of Philly's Art World

Performance: Sarah Knittel, award-winning theater artist, event producer, and clown, she helped found the Free Fringe Philly festival, produces the monthly variety experience HELLRIDE, and recently wrote and starred in a series of horror comedy shorts called HELLTOWN. Follow her on Insta NOW: @sarahhmonster

Intangibles: Madinah Wilson-Anton, stand-up comedian, Delaware’s 26th District State Representative, she's the first Muslim to be elected to the Delaware State House, and is a champion for econimic and racial justice

READERS:

Round 1:

* Eshani Surya, author of the forthcoming novel, RAVISHING (Roxane Gay Books/Grove Atlantic, 2024), a 2022 Asian Women Writer’s Workshop mentee, a 2022 Kenyon Review Writer’s Workshop scholarship recipient, a 2021 Mae Fellowship recipient and a 2021 Semi-Finalist for Key West Literary Seminar’s Marianne Russo Award for Novel In-Progress

* Tara Murtha, award-winning journalist, policy strategist, writer pursuing an untidy range of topics & forms, and author of the critically-acclaimed Ode to Billie Joe

Round 2:

* Joseph Earl Thomas, author of the memoir Sink and winner the 2020 Chautauqua Janus Prize, he's received fellowships from Fulbright, VONA, Tin House and Breadloaf, and is now an Anisfield-Wolf Fellow at the CSU Poetry Center. His work's appeared in VQR, N+1, Gulf Coast and more, and he's Director of Programs at Blue Stoop, a literary hub for Philly writers

* Zachariah Ohora, author and illustrator of a number of award-winning books including the parent trap for cats epic Niblet & Ralph featured on The Today Show. He's also illustrator of the New York Times best-seller Wolfie the Bunny, and is the Creator and Executive Producer of the forthcoming animated PBS TV series Carl The Collector, about a raccoon on the spectrum

Hosted by LDM creator Adrian Todd Zuniga (author of the award-nominated novel Collision Theory)

Produced by Dennis DiClaudio, writer, editor and digital media strategist

Join us at Arcadia University for a reading and Q&A session!

Join us for the fourth Bricks Reading event of 2023 at H&H Books on Wednesday, September 20 @ 7PM. The readers are Elisa Gonzalez, Gerardo Sámano Córdova, and Eshani Surya. This event is sponsored by Blue Stoop! Light refreshments will be provided.

Featuring authors Jiordan Castle and Eshani Surya in conversation about Disappearing Act, Castle's debut memoir in verse for teens and adults. Get a free flower with every preorder pickup or purchase of the book at the event! Flowers by Books and Blooms based in West Philly.

This is a free workshop. Speculative fiction is an opportunity to slant reality, destabilize the reader, and dissect the world in interesting and unexpected ways. So let's expand our imaginations and play inside the world of "what if." In this generative session, we'll use prompts, discussion, and freewriting to go from speculative ideas to concepts that will not only engage readers but also deepen the themes in your work playfully and evocatively.

Join us for readings by Eshani Surya, Tobey Ward, Lauren Holguin, and Katie Bennett.

The way we revise is too often a norming process--a push towards sounding more like what institutions and gatekeepers want to hear. In this multidisciplinary class, we'll explore an alternative method of revision: finding the bright spots you love in your work and amplifying those spots until they are your bright sun. This strength-based revision technique seeks to help you discover the beauty that you already bring to writing, and encourages you to believe in it. 

We'll talk through The Bright Spots Revision Method and then you'll revisit a piece you've been stuck on lately. You will transform this work over the course of the class through many revisions, and through generative and thoughtful prompts, you'll rediscover what you love about your work every step of the way. Writers are encouraged to bring in a piece of writing that they've been struggling to revise (less than 1000 words may be more manageable, so excerpts are also completely acceptable), but an idea will work perfectly too. 

Thursdays On the Stoop is a series of free writing programming by Zoom every Thursday from 4 pm - 5 pm. From accountability co-writing to generative prompts to discussions of exciting forms and authors of all genres, these sessions are designed to be a constant structure--every Thursday at 4 you can count on Blue Stoop to plug you into your writing energy with an informal and supportive session.

Join us to celebrate 8 writers taking risks and reading never-before-read work (rough drafts/debuts) within a 3-minute time limit + a community feature + live music. All ages are welcome. Emceed by Raina J. León.

Link here.

Outside of academia, how can literary writers make a living? Most fiction and literary nonfiction authors do not earn enough from book sales alone, but the creative economy offers a variety of ways to sustain yourself while still making space for your art.

Intended especially for new and emerging writers—or any writer interested in a new career path—this panel will discuss how writers can get creative to find income streams from both gig work and job opportunities.

Register here.

Our bodies witness all the events of our lives, both traumatic and joyful. What stories does the body carry and how can we uncover them? Join us for a generative writing session where we will use prompts to map our bodies and discover what hidden truths we are carrying. This session will include reading and discussing short excerpts of writers like Sarah Manguso, Esmé Weijun Wang, and Leslie Jamison. This is a space to excavate, acknowledge, interpret, and nurture our bodies by communicating their histories and memories, along with their hopes and futures.

This is a FREE event with Blue Stoop, but requires registration for the Zoom link.

Register here.

The way we revise is too often a norming process--a push towards sounding more like what institutions and gatekeepers want to hear. In this multidisciplinary class, we'll explore an alternative method of revision: finding the bright spots you love in your work and amplifying those spots until they are your bright sun. This strength-based revision technique seeks to help you discover the beauty that you already bring to writing, and encourages you to believe in it. 

We'll talk through The Bright Spots Revision Method and then you'll revisit a piece you've been stuck on lately. You will transform this work over the course of the class through many revisions, and through generative and thoughtful prompts, you'll rediscover what you love about your work every step of the way. Writers are encouraged to bring in a piece of writing that they've been struggling to revise (less than 1000 words may be more manageable, so excerpts are also completely acceptable), but an idea will work perfectly too. 

Sign up information TBA.

Some writers take pages upon pages to give you goosebumps, while others need less than a thousand words. But a flash piece isn’t just a condensed short story or essay. It’s an art in itself. Join us for a generative writing session while we use prompts and easy tips and tricks to spark your flash prose. We’ll also spend some time with work from writers like Kathy Fish and Monica Brashears as models. This is a space to experiment and play with a flexible, imaginative, and often surprising form!

This is a FREE event with Blue Stoop, but requires registration for the Zoom link.

Register here.

For this Northern Arizona Book Festival ancillary event, Carbon Copy presents a reading and panel with Craig Santos Perez, Eshani Surya, Taylor Brorby, & more.

Zoom Meeting ID: 98887628219

Password: noazbf

The Workshop will be hosting a free I Applied To MFAs: What’s Next? panel for MFA applicants (as well as any of you out there who sat out this cycle, but are thinking of applying down the line).

Our panelists are graduates in poetry, fiction, CNF, and hybrid-genre writing from the University of Alabama, Brown, Cornell, Indiana University, Northern Michigan University, UNC-Wilmington, and Warren Wilson. Members of The Workshop team with MFAs from OSU and CU Boulder will also be in the chat helping answer questions, and the event will be spearheaded by returning moderator Eshani Surya (U of Arizona). We’ll be answering questions on how to proceed once you’ve heard back from your programs, no matter your results.

Our bodies are often the first aspect of us that anyone notices. They propel us through life, but sometimes they also create hindrances, pain, and fear. How can we best start to unpack all that our bodies are and share that with others? In this workshop, participants will read and write work regarding body trauma, which may range from health/medicine to sexual experiences to wellness/image. We will both analyze others' work and craft choices relating to body writing, but also lean into a generative space where we will use imaginative prompts to open up avenues for our own writing. This class is open to all genres. Join us and let your body speak the stories it has collected over the years.

All virtual, $50/person.

Register here.

During a hour-and-a-half discussion, recent MFA graduates in fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction will give creative writing MFA application guidance and answer questions about funding, full-res vs. low-res, what it means to find a program that fits you, and more. Eshani Surya will moderate and will be joined by Hannah Ford, Stephanie Lane, Desiree Evans, Annesha Mitha, Sarah Thankam Mathews, Jackie Rachel, Maddie Norris and Shelley Senai.

This event will take place over Zoom and attendees can register here.

This event will take place over Zoom. Register here.

This class will be through conducted via video conferencing!

Join Eshani Surya as she talks participants through the in's and out's of what an MFA is, how to find the right program, and how to apply. Following the informational session, participants will brainstorm ideas for their application materials, and work specifically on their Statement of Purpose using prompts. Feedback will be given through group discussion, and by the end of the day, all participants will have an action plan for moving forward with their application materials. 

To sign up, click here.

Join us for a free Zoom call for support MFA applicants during the COVID-19 crisis. With Eshani Surya as the creator and moderator, we'll have the following amazing panelists: Elana Lev Friedland, Adam Gnuse, Marcella Haddad, Michelle Lyn King, Olivia Loving, Dantiel Moniz, and Maddie Norris.

For the Zoom link, click here.

In this class, participants will consider how to write fiction about images in various forms—including classic paintings, family photographs, and ads—and why this type of response to art might be useful. They will learn how to analyze images, using Art History techniques, and will practice recreating these images into inspired fiction. Participants may bring any images that delight them to work with as well!