Cambridge Writers’ Workshop is excited to announced that Diana Norma Szokolyai will be serving as a panelist for the WNBA Award 2023. This award will be presented to GrubStreet founder Evie Bridburg on Friday June 2nd, 2023 at Porter Square Books located on 25 White Street, Cambridge, MA. The event will begin at 6:00 p.m. with a “networking hour.” The panel discussion and award presentation will begin at 7:00 p.m. This even is open to the public and refreshments will be served. For more information email boston@wnba-books.org or check out their website https://wnba-books.org/wnba-award/

Award Recipient:

Eve Bridburg, Founder and Executive Director of GrubStreet

Eve Bridburg is the Founder and Executive Director of GrubStreet. Under her leadership, the organization has grown into a national literary powerhouse known for artistic excellence, working to democratize the publishing pipeline and program innovation. An active partner to the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, Eve was the driving force behind establishing the country’s first Literary Cultural District in downtown Boston.

Having graduated from its inaugural class, Eve remains active with the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program, a consortium of 200 of the world’s top cultural leaders. She has presented on the importance of literary arts centers and the intersection of arts and civics at numerous conferences. Her essays have appeared in The Boston Globe, Huffington Post, Cognoscenti, Writer’s Digest and TinHouse.

Eve serves on the Advisory Board of The Loop Lab, a Cambridge-based nonprofit dedicated to workforce development for underrepresented youth in the digital storytelling and media sectors. Eve worked as a literary agent at The Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency for five happy years where she developed, edited, and sold a wide variety of books. Before starting GrubStreet, she attended Boston University’s Writing Program on a teaching fellowship, farmed in Oregon, and ran an international bookstore in Prague.

Here are the featured Panelists Below:

Natalie Obando, Host
WNBA National President

For nearly two decades Natalie Obando has worked in the world of books as a literary publicist. She is the founder of Do Good Public Relations Group, a literary PR firm that helps authors and publishers connect with their perfect reader through strategic and social good-based campaigns. Natalie is also the founder of the grassroots organization Women of Color Writers Podcast and Programming. As the current National President of the Women’s National Book Association (WNBA), she oversees all eleven chapters across the nation as well as the national board and national programs. She is the founder and chair of Authentic Voices—a four-month-long program that immerses people from marginalized communities in a writing, editing, marketing, and publishing masterclass. Natalie has been a speaker at literary conferences across the United States, helping authors and publishers promote their work and drive equity in publishing.

Serina Gousby, Panelist
Program Manager, Boston Writers of Color

Serina Gousby is a writer, calligrapher, and Program Manager of the Boston Writers of Color program at GrubStreet. She oversees programming, engages with members through media outlets and monthly newsletters, and provides opportunities and guidance to self-identifying writers of color. As a poet, her work is published in Pangyrus, and she has performed at the Boston Poetry Marathon, HUBWeek, and Literary Death Match. Serina holds a BA in English with a concentration in Creative Writing and minor in Black Studies from Suffolk University. When she’s not writing poetry, she’s either writing on her blog, The Rina Collective, or creating artwork.

Namrata Patel, Panelist
Author

Namrata Patel is an Indian American Amazon bestselling author of contemporary fiction. Her debut, The Candid Life of Meena Dave, was critically acclaimed, including being named on The Center for Fiction’s best novel long list. Her writing examines diaspora and dual-cultural identity among Indian Americans, multi-generational tensions tied to assimilation, and historical awareness of Indian American achievements. Her sophomore novel, Scent of a Garden, will be released in June 2023. Namrata has lived in India, New Jersey, Spokane, London, and New York City and currently calls Boston home. She has been writing most of her adult life.

Diana Norma Szokolyai, Panelist
Co-founder/Artistic Director, Cambridge Writer’s Workshop

Diana Norma Szokolyai is a writer, teacher and co-founder/Executive Artistic Director of Cambridge Writers’ Workshop. She is co-editor of CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos & Sourcebook for Creative Writing and author of the poetry chapbooks Parallel Sparrows, and Roses in the Snow. Her poetry and essays appear in publications like Critical Romani Studies, The Poetry Miscellany, The Boston Globe, Up the Staircase Quarterly and MER VOX Quarterly. Her poetry has been anthologized in Other Countries: Contemporary Poets Rewiring History, Stone to Stone: Writing by Romani Women, and Teachers as Writers, as well as translated into German for the anthology of Romani poets from around the world Die Morgendämmerung der Worte, Moderner Poesie–Atlas der Roma und Sinti. She was awarded a 2021 Center for Arts and Social Justice Fellowship at Vermont College of Fine Arts She was award as 2021 Center for Arts and Social Justice Fellowship at Vermont College of Fine Arts for her work translating Romani poets into English. Other honors include honorable mention for Best Poetry Book in the 2014 Paris Book Festival and finalist for Hunger Mountain’s 2020 May Day Mountain Chapbook series. Together with Dennis Shafer, she founded ChagallPAC, an interdisciplinary arts organization that hosts performances, readings, and workshops, with a gallery space on Artists’ Row in Salem, MA. A first generation American of Hungarian Romani heritage, she holds an M.A. in French Literature & Cultural Studies from UConn, an Ed.M in Arts in Education from Harvard, and an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

We are delighted to announce our 2023 Cambridge Writers’ Workshop Paris Writing Retreat Schedule. Check out the schedule above and our exciting class descriptions below:

Surrealism in Paris and Beyond
(with Diana Norma Szokolyai)

In this class, we will look at the birth of the Surrealist Movement in Paris about 100 years ago and how it turned into an international artistic, intellectual and political movement. Sometimes, the best ideas come from conflict, and indeed, there were rival surrealist groups who both claimed to be continuing the revolutionary work initiated by the poet Guillaume Apollinaire. Why was this idea worth fighting over? What impact did it have on the world? We will explore the texts of the Surrealist Manifestos, as well as learn about key figures of the movement like André Breton, Yvan Goll, Dora Maar, Louis Aragon, Salvador Dalí, Tristan Tzara, René Magritte, Frida Kahlo, Pierre Reverdy, Méret Oppenheim and more. Since we will be staying in Montparnasse, where many writers and artists lived, we will have the unique opportunity to walk in their paths and visit cafés where they met and exchanged ideas. We’ll examine how surrealism is relevant today and read some contemporary writers who are inspired by surrealism, like Ada Limón and Adam McOmber. Writers will also try their hand at surrealist writing exercises meant to cross the bridges between dreams and reality and go beyond rational thought into the subconscious. Tip: I recommend reserving tickets for The Dalí Paris museum and the special 2023 immersive exhibition of Chagall at l’Atelier des Lumières if you want to continue to explore the world of surrealism during our stay in Paris.

Flâneurs, Essays, and Provocateurs
(with Rita Banerjee)

An essay is an attempt.  A trial. A test. In this class, we will explore how evocative essays are attempted and constructed.  We will explore how being a flâneur and an essayist are intimately combined. And we will study how essayists from Montaigne to James Baldwin to Lauren Elkin to Edmund White to David Shields to Yoko Tawada redefine the environment they inhabit and create a space for electric art.

What Makes a Memoir?
(with Rita Banerjee)

How do we write about the most significant moments of our lives with discernment, vulnerability, brevity, and style? What are the elements of a compelling, candid, and author-driven memoir? How can we make both the speakers and the characters introduced in a memoir more complex, human, and intriguing? In this class, we’ll explore how writers such as Richard Rodgriguez, Michelle Zauner, Mary Karr, Jo Ann Beard, Carmen Maria Machado, and others have created emotionally evocative, culturally specific, provocative, and accessible memoirs, and how we might find a way to map our lives and the characters who have formed them with honesty, nuance, and imagination on the page.

Writing the Moment through Food
(with Diana Norma Szokolyai)

Paris is a feast for the senses, and it’s especially known for its cuisine and variety of food markets. In this class, we will explore how we write about food. We will practice the art of bringing the senses to the page. I will share my process of writing about food for my poetry manuscript Five Feasts, which explores the ways in which food connects the poet to culture, place, and family history. Food is a way to understand a partially forgotten past, providing a map to ancestors through the senses. Food can connect us to place and transform space by evoking our memories. Food can mend and heal silenced and oppressed histories through the boldness of spices and magic of sauces melding in particular ways that empower identities. We’ll discuss the weight of conversations in kitchens, the ritual of food as gift, the terrain of what is unsaid around the table, and how food triggers memory. We’ll also discuss the work of poetry duo Adobo Fish Sauce as well Grace M. Cho’s Tastes Like War and more!

The Cambridge Writers’ Workshop Paris Writing Retreat will be held from July 19-25, 2023 in the historic, literary Montparnasse neighborhood of Paris. Writers will reside at Hôtel du Midi Paris Montparnasse (4 Avenue René Coty, 14th Arr., 75014, Paris, France).

The retreat features multi-genre writing and publishing workshops, craft of writing seminars, and generative writing sessions in a warm, welcoming, and collaborative atmosphere. Modeled after the French literary salon, the Cambridge Writers’ Workshop is known for its thought-provoking, inspiring, inclusive, and generative multi-genre workshop format. Participating writers will hone their craft and expand their writing skills, while working on new or existing projects.

There will also be time to explore the city of Paris in all of its historical, literary, and romantic charm. Situated in heart of Paris’ Montparnasse neighborhood, amongst the fresh and popular open air markets and charming boutiques, the hotel neighborhood is full of Parisian charm. Our classes will take place in the hotel meeting room, as well as a range of classes in the spirit of “flâneur” culture, set in the rich environment of literary cafés, museums, and other famous Parisian locations.

The faculty includes award-winning multi-genre authors Rita Banerjee and Diana Norma Szokolyai, who are known for their engaging and supportive teaching style.

The cost of the retreat is $4,500, which includes tuition for all workshops and classes in Paris, lodging, daily breakfast, special meals, and a trip to Versailles.

Using the online submission system, submit 5 to 10 pages of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, drama, or literary translation with a $5 application fee by June 1, 2023. Early applications are encouraged as seats are limited and some scholarships are available. Submit to the scholarship application on our Submittable if seeking a scholarship in one of the following categories: diversity, parenthood, or student/educator.

If you’re serious about writing and want to soak in some exquisite French culture this summer, join our retreat in Paris!

Visit cww.submittable.com for an application and complete guidelines. All genres welcome. Please email info@cambridgewritersworkshop.org or call 617-800-9901 for more information.

If you’d like to join us in Paris, please apply online by June 1, 2023, and include a $5 application screening fee and a 5-10 page writing sample of poetry, prose, drama, illustrated, or hybrid work.  Please also include the following in your cover letter:

1. Full Legal Name 

2. Contact Info (Telephone & Address) 

3. Age & Nationality (Participants should be 18+)

4. Prior creative writing experience and/ publications (not necessary) 

5. Creative writing goals for the retreat 

6. Short one paragraph biography 

7. Contact of Two Personal References (Name, Email, Address, Phone, Relationship to Applicant)

8. What would you bring to a writing workshop community? (communication skills, patience, listening skills, etc.)

Due to limited seats, early applications are encouraged!

Faculty:

Rita Banerjee is the Executive Creative Director of the Cambridge Writers’ Workshop and editor of CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writing.  She is the author of the poetry collection Echo in Four Beats , which was named one of Book Riot’s “Must-Read Poetic Voices of Split This Rock 2018”, the novella “A Night with Kali” in Approaching Footsteps, and the poetry chapbook Cracklers at Night. She is the co-writer and co-director of Burning Down the Louvre (2023), a documentary film about race, intimacy, and tribalism in the United States and in France. She received her doctorate in Comparative Literature from Harvard and her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington, and she she is a recipient of a Vermont Studio Center Artist’s Grant, the Tom and Laurel Nebel Fellowship, and South Asia Initiative and Tata Grants among other awards.  Her writing appears in the Academy of American Poets, Poets & Writers, PANK, Tupelo Quarterly, Nat. Brut., Vermont Public Radio, Hunger Mountain, Kweli Journal, The Scofield, The Rumpus, Painted Bride Quarterly, Mass Poetry, Hyphen Magazine, Los Angeles Review of Books, Electric Literature, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, Queen Mob’s Tea House, Objet d’Art, and elsewhere. She is currently working on a novel, a book on South Asian literary modernisms, and a memoir and manifesto on female cool. She is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and Director of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Her writing is represented by agent Jamie Chambliss of Folio Literary Management.

Diana Norma Szokolyai is a writer, teacher and co-founder/Executive Artistic Director of Cambridge Writers’ Workshop. She is co-editor of CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos & Sourcebook for Creative Writing and author of the poetry chapbooks Parallel Sparrows, and Roses in the Snow. Her poetry and essays appear in publications like Critical Romani Studies, The Poetry Miscellany, The Boston Globe, Up the Staircase Quarterly and MER VOX Quarterly. Her poetry has been anthologized in Other Countries: Contemporary Poets Rewiring History, Stone to Stone: Writing by Romani Women, and Teachers as Writers, as well as translated into German for the anthology of Romani poets from around the world Die Morgendämmerung der Worte, Moderner Poesie–Atlas der Roma und Sinti. She was awarded a 2021 Center for Arts and Social Justice Fellowship at Vermont College of Fine Arts She was award as 2021 Center for Arts and Social Justice Fellowship at Vermont College of Fine Arts for her work translating Romani poets into English. Other honors include honorable mention for Best Poetry Book in the 2014 Paris Book Festival and finalist for Hunger Mountain’s 2020 May Day Mountain Chapbook series. Together with Dennis Shafer, she founded ChagallPAC, an interdisciplinary arts organization that hosts performances, readings, and workshops, with a gallery space on Artists’ Row in Salem, MA. A first generation American of Hungarian Romani heritage, she holds an M.A. in French Literature & Cultural Studies from UConn, an Ed.M in Arts in Education from Harvard, and an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

T-minus 8 days until scholarships are due for the 2023 Cambridge Writer’s Workshop Paris Retreat! Please submit your materials through our Submittable.
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The Cambridge Writers’ Workshop is delighted to announce that partial scholarships based on need and merit for the Paris Writing Retreat (July 19-25, 2023) are now available. Students can apply for scholarships of $250-$500, and further financial assistance may be available for students in need. Scholarships for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, writers who are students, writers who are parents, writers who are educators, and Cambridge Writers’ Workshop Alumnx are available.
To apply for a scholarship for our 2023 Paris Writing Retreat (July 19-25, 2023), please complete this two-step process:

1. Submit a 2023 Paris Writing Retreat Application
2. Submit a Scholarship Application and include a 1-2 page over letter that indicates which scholarship you are applying for, your reasons for applying, and how this scholarship will help you with your writing goals.

While there is no application fee, all scholarship applications are due by May 15, 2023. And early scholarship applications are encouraged.

Scholarship Categories
If you identify with one of the following identities and have a financial need, we offer partial scholarships. When you apply, please state which scholarship category you are applying to from the list below:
* BIPOC
* LGBTQ+
* Student
* Parent (of a child 0-22)
* Educator
* Cambridge Writers’ Workshop Alumnx
If you have any questions, please email info@cambridgewritersworkshop.org.
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