Class

Craft Seminar—Against Arrival: Extending the Archive in Narrative Nonfiction

This generative craft workshop will utilize the methods that were instrumental in the composition of Without Terminus: untraining an archive, a book that traces the absences surrounding Webster’s maternal grandfather, his work as a Pullman porter, and the denial of his pension.

We will consider the distinctions between recovering absented records and giving them a proper burial as well as activating a number of methods for extending the archival record and writing into its absence including what artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle describes as “looking where it ain’t.” Whether considering the uses of anaphora, leaning into incomplete sentences, or using our senses counterintuitively we will be boarding trains of thought that allow us to untrain supposedly stable archives in our narrative nonfiction writing.

Bring a meaningful photograph, a meaningful document with language, and identify one meaningful document that you know about but do not have.

Accessibility: If you have any accessibility requests for this class, please submit this request form at least two to three weeks in advance. This class takes place in-person, at the Loft at Open Book. Please see the Loft’s website for the most up to date information about the Loft’s COVID policies.