Here’s a list of Writing Workshops/Groups for Writers of Color that we are familiar with. These are organizations and individuals that we fully endorse. So if you ever are in search of writing courses and or groups to join take these into consideration.
Writing our Lives– Workshops are faciliated by Vanessa Martir. Vanessa Mártir is a NYC based writer, educator and writing coach. She is currently completing her memoir, A Dim Capacity for Wings, and chronicles the journey at vanessamartir.blog. A five-time VONA/Voices and two-time Tin House fellow, Vanessa’s work has been widely published, including in The Rumpus, Bitch Magazine, Smokelong Quarterly, the VONA/Voices Anthology, Dismantle, and the NYTimes Bestseller Not That Bad, edited by Roxane Gay. Vanessa is the founder of the #52essays2017 challenge, and creator of the Writing Our Lives Workshop, which she teaches in NYC and online. She has served as guest editor of Aster(ix) and The James Franco Review. For more on Vanessa, check out her video on why she created her Writing Our Lives classes, what’s different about her teaching style, and what she has planned. To contact Vanessa: vamartir@gmail.com.
La Pluma y La Tinta- Workshops facilitated by Raquel Penzo. La Pluma y La Tinta started with three women workshopping stories in a Brooklyn, New York living room, and morphed into an organization focused on inspiring, elevating, and shining a spotlight on diverse writers and poets. Founder Raquel Ivelisse Penzo (MY EGO LIKES THE COMPLEMENTS…AND OTHER MUSINGS ON WRITING) is a writer, editor, and literary event curator from Brooklyn, NY. She’s a spin-doctor at Brooklyn Public Library, a guru at La Pluma y La Tinta, and an avid Netflix watcher everywhere else. Catch her online: RaquelPenzo.com & PlumaYTinta.org | Twitters & IG: @TheJadedNYer & @LaPlumaYLaTinta | FB: /RaquelPenzo & /LaPlumaYLaTinta.
New York City Latina Writers Group created by Alicia Anabel Santos. The NYC Latina Writers Group was founded in 2006 by Alicia Anabel Santos. Currently, it has an active membership of over 750 writers. For ten years it has been an organization that supports Latina Writers from New York, however, there are members from across the United States. The NYCLWG was established for Latinas and women of color who were in need of having a place of their own, where their stories could be born and their voices heard. It is a professional network for seasoned and emerging writers. This writers group is a safe space for writers of all genres. The NYCLWG is supported by many women of color groups and writing organizations. The NYCLWG offers writing workshops, monthly writer circles, and daily writing prompts. It hosts several readings and performances throughout the year. All aspiring, emerging and published writers are welcome! All NYCLWG events and workshops are open to Latinx and WOC. NYCLWG is a space for womyn writers (female, womyn identified and non-binary) we are an safe and inclusive space!See More.
Mi Casa Writers: Mi Casa aims to bring the love of writing to the community by creating a welcoming and inviting environment where writers and non-writers alike can feel free to express themselves through the art of words. Mi casa is a collaboration between: Robert “Ameresoul” Cortijo is a spoken word artist from the Highbridge section of the Bronx. He started writing poetry as a way to express the hardships of growing up in a rough neighborhood and the cruelties of the world. Lee Ortiz is a Bronx native poet, writer, and mother. She co-founded Mi Casa Writers Corner with hopes of creating an inclusive writers club for the community that gave her the platform to share her he(ART). Some of her works were featured on Community of Poetry, Byme Poetry, and Heart of Poets. Ameresoul and Lee perform at venues around the city and continue to inspire others with their words and encourage self-expression through writing.
Elisabet Velasquez- is a Brooklyn Born Boricua. She is a mother of two. Follow her writing advice via her Instagram Stories. Her poems are an exploration of her life. She writes poems that speak to and about feminism, body positivity, sex, love, mental illness, education and women's choices through an intersectional lens.
Velasquez has performed at Lincoln Center Out Of Doors, Pregones Theatre, Bushwick Starr Theatre, The Bowery Poetry Club, Brooklyn Museum, Museum Of Natural History, The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Rutgers University, Williams College, Adelphi University, Pace University, Princeton University, James Madison University, Harvard University and The Amber Rose Slut Walk 2017. Her work has been featured on TIDAL, NBC, Now This, Huffington Post, Latina Magazine, Vibe Magazine, Muzzle Magazine, Centro Voces. She is a VONA Alum, 2017 Poets House Fellow. She is the winner of Button Poetry's 2017 Poetry Video Contest. She is a 2019 Frost Place Fellow. Her work is forthcoming in the anthology : WHAT SAVES US Poems of Empathy and Outrage In The Age Of Trump edited by Martin Espada.
Do you know someone else who should be listed here? Please let us know. Stay tuned as we continue to expand this list.