Workshop: Deep Dive Into Neopronouns

Workshop: Deep Dive Into Neopronouns header

When: November 3 – 11, 2018
Where: Online — Available everywhere and at your own pace
Price: $75
Register Now

Recent high-profile works of fiction, such as JY Yang’s The Black Tides of Heaven and Sarah Gailey’s River of Teeth, include prominent nonbinary characters that use they/them pronouns. However, singular they isn’t the only option for gender-neutral pronouns—as early as 1976, Marge Piercy used the invented pronoun, or neopronoun, “per” in Woman on the Edge of Time. This workshop, led by nonbinary writer and editor S. Qiouyi Lu, will explore the history of neopronouns, discuss examples drawn from literature, and provide participants a welcoming space to draft their own work that uses neopronouns.

This nine day workshop includes lectures, short videos, writing exercises with feedback, and in-depth discussions. Students will come away with resources for further study.

Attending Class, Schedule, Time Commitment

Instruction begins Saturday, November 3 and ends Sunday, November 11, 2018. The course does not have set meeting times. You can access class material and discussion and participate in class at any time, day or night, from anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection. All class discussion will take place in a private online forum and all class work is done on Google Drive. 

You’ll be given lectures to read, exercises to complete, or published fiction to evaluate each day in addition to discussions relating to the topic ongoing throughout the week. Students should expect to spend 1 – 2 hours per day on discussion and homework, though they can access the class on their own schedule.

Accessibility

Lectures are provided to students as text, though there will be some video content. All videos are closed captioned and transcribed. The private forum uses WordPress with a theme specifically geared to accessibility and compatibility with screen readers. We strive to make all classes as accessible as possible, but if you need any extra considerations or have a question about accessibility, please contact us.

Who Should Take This Workshop?

Writers from all genres — Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction, YA, Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Children’s Books, Romance — and all mediums — Prose, Poetry, Playwriting, Screenwriting, Comics/Graphic Novels, Games — at any point in their career from newbie to professional. 

Required Text

Please purchase the following text before class begins:

Scholarship Opportunities

There are several spots available in this class for Sentient Squid Scholarship recipients. If you do not have the financial means to take this class and feel that you will benefit from it, we encourage you to apply. We have a broad definition of financial need that ranges from writers who do not have the money at all to writers who have the funds but can’t afford to use them for a writing class. Please don’t hesitate to apply wherever you exist on that spectrum.

(Still not sure whether you should apply? Read this post.

To apply, send an email to writingtheother+squid@gmail.com with the subject WtO Neopronoun Scholarship Applicant, and include in the body:

  • A brief (300 or fewer words) statement of financial need
  • A brief (500 or fewer words) description of a work or works in progress that you hope the class will help you write.

Deadline: 11:59PM Pacific October 13. We will notify all applicants of their standing by October 24. If you have any questions, please use our contact form to ask!

Refund Policy

If you find that you need to drop the class, you may do so by contacting our GMail or emailing via the website.

If you drop by October 3, you will receive a full refund minus a service fee.

If you drop by October 13, you will receive an 80% refund minus a service fee plus a chance to enroll in future Writing the Other classes at a discount before general tickets go on sale.

If you drop by October 20, you will receive an 40% refund minus a service fee plus a chance to enroll in future Writing the Other classes at a discount before general tickets go on sale.

If you drop on October 21 or after you will not have your registration fee refunded. However, you will be able to enroll in a future class for a discount.

Register Below

If the class sells out before you have a chance to register, there is a waiting list option. We do sometimes have students drop, so please add yourself. 

Alumni, before you register check your emails or the Slack for the code.