The current fraught socio-political climate is motivating more nonfiction writers to engage with social issues on the page. The personal has become political, and the political has become personal. In truth, the writer has long played a role as a witness, conscience, and predictor of social change. How do we write compellingly yet responsibly about social issues?

In this one-day nonfiction seminar, we’ll explore our motivations, hopes, and fears around writing about social issues. We'll consider how to balance context and narrative to write about the issues we care about most in ways that resonate with our own motivations and desired audience.  We’ll do this through readings, discussion, and writing exercises.

Instructor bio:

Kavita Das came to writing 10 years ago after working for social change and social justice for 15 years. She writes about culture, race, gender, and their intersections. Kavita’s work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and published in Wired, CNN, Teen Vogue, Catapult, Fast Company, Tin House, Longreads, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, Kenyon Review, NBC Asian America, Guernica, Electric Literature, Poets & Writers, Colorlines, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. Kavita’s second book, Craft and Conscience: How to Write About Social Issues (Beacon Press, October 2022), is inspired by the Writing with Conscience class she created and teaches. Her first book, Poignant Song: The Life and Music of Lakshmi Shankar, was published by Harper Collins India in 2019. She lives in New York with her husband, 5-year-old and two rescue dogs. In the virtual world, she can be found on X: @kavitamix, Instagram: @kavitadas

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Limited to 12 participants

Nonfiction

Tuition: $85. Sign-up deadline: March 2