Upcoming Kundiman Events:
jumpstarting your novel
with rowan hisayo buchanan
july 21st–august 25th
tuesdays, 6:00 PM–8:30 PM ET
“One of the great gifts of fiction is that it asks us to stretch our empathy... I knew from the get-go that my protagonist was not an evil person. And so a lot of the endeavor of the book for me as a writer was finding out–– well, why would this person leave her child?””
–– Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, NPR: “‘Harmless Like You’ Is A Story of How Hurts Are Inherited”
This class is for the person who can't quite seem to start their novel, or is beginning again, or is stuck somewhere in the middle. In other words—you want to get your novel going. Classes will be devoted to character, setting, your book's big question, antagonists and allies, and first chapters. We'll discuss published work and do in-class writing exercises to help you understand your book. The focus of the class is to generate new work rather than workshopping. The final session of the class will be a personal call with Rowan, who will provide notes a writing sample of your choice (up to 5000 words). Our goal is to give you a strong sense of your own story and to have you leave with a foundation strong enough to build a book upon.
This workshop is open to all writers who are BIPOC, and all students must be able to attend all six sessions of the workshop. The non-refundable tuition fee is $350. This workshop will be limited to 12 participants and will be held over Zoom. There is one scholarship spot available: if interested in a scholarship, please apply by July 1st.
THIS CLASS and the waitlist IS NOW FULL
Scholarship applications are now closed
FACULTY:
Rowan Hisayo Buchanan is the author of Harmless Like You—the winner of The Authors’ Club First Novel Award and a Betty Trask Award. It was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and an NPR 2017 Great Read. Her second novel, Starling Days, was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award. Her short work has appeared in several places including Granta, The Atlantic, and NPR’s Selected Shorts. She is the editor of the Go Home! anthology.