Upcoming Kundiman Events:
Two Truths and a Lie: Writing Memoir and Autobiographical Fiction
with Bushra Rehman
October 18th–December 6th
MONDAYs, 6:00 PM–8:30 PM ET
Applications open:
August 23rd–September 6th
“I knew even as I was living through certain adventures that I would write about them one day, but the voice took many years to find.”
–– Bushra Rehman, The Margins: “Two Truths, Many Lies, and a Novel”
Writing from life can be a tricky business. There are people to protect, faulty memories of events, and the pitfalls of self-censorship and self-aggrandizement. This is where Two Truths comes in. Two Truths recognizes our lives are too rich not to write about, and our imaginations are too strong to ignore.
In this 8-week generative workshop, we will write by drawing on memory and its gaps, as well as the truth and lies of our lives. We will explore a variety of techniques to overcome writing blocks and generate new material. Everyone will also have the chance to workshop a longer piece of writing. Together, we will celebrate and honor our personal stories as we transform our understanding of our memories through our writing.
eligibility:
This workshop is open to only Asian American writers and students must be able to attend all 8 sessions of the workshop. Classes will be held virtually over Zoom. This workshop is fully funded by Penguin Random House and will be limited to 12 participants. Applications will open from August 23rd to September 6th at 11:59 PM ET, and the chosen workshop participants will be notified by October 5th.
Registration for this class is now closed.
FACULTY:
Bushra Rehman is a writer and cultural activist. She co-edited the anthology Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism, described by Vibe magazine as “13 Books Every Mujerista & Womanist Should Read.” Her novel, Corona, a dark comedy about being Muslim American was chosen by the New York Public Library as one of its favorite novels about NYC and her collection of poems, Marianna’s Beauty Salon was described by Joseph O. Legaspi as a “love poem for Muslim girls, Queens, and immigrants making sense of their foreign home—and surviving.” Rehman is creator of the community-based writing workshop Two Truths and a Lie: Writing Memoir and Autobiographical Fiction. Her new novel Rose, Mouth, Lion is forthcoming in 2022.