Storytellers Spotlight

Our inaugural Storytellers Spotlight will explore the work of Jamaica Kincaid, whose writing — famously lyrical and trenchant — touches on themes of identity and belonging, nature and gardening, and the cultural legacies of colonialism. “Desire and curiosity inform the inevitable boundaries of the garden,” she writes, “and boundaries, especially when they are an outgrowth of something as profound as the garden with all its holy restrictions and admonitions, must be violated.”

In this interactive online workshop, participants will work with such genre-defying texts as Annie John and “In History,” as well as her recent collaboration with visual artist Kara Walker, An Encyclopedia of Gardening for Colored Children. Drawing on IWT’s generative writing practices, we will work in small, collaborative workshops, exploring the "I" as witness, gardener, boundary breaker, and storyteller.