Anthologies

HOT TAKE! — You’ve got one, and we want to hear all about it. From pop music icons to indie movies to social media trends, dive into the part of culture that you never stop thinking about, and learn how to put it all down on paper. In Pop Culture Critic, we’ll dig to the bottom of our cultural passions and come back out with a short piece of pop culture criticism that will have us all talking.

What’s the difference between a basic review and a real critical piece? How can we weave our personal narratives into cultural critique? Let’s zoom in on that one thing that lights us up, and create something sharp and memorable to share with the world! Once you have these tools in your toolbox, you’ll be using them for life.

In this 4-week workshop, we’ll design amazing maps that tell our own unique, personal stories. These aren’t just any old neighborhood maps – they are the key to who you are. Through painting, collage, drawing, and writing, you’ll merge your favorite places, memories, and daily routes into a layered visual story of what makes you, you.

Inspired by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith and other artists who use maps to explore identity, we’ll turn maps of New York City into expressive, narrated self-portraits. At the end of the workshop, our maps will collectively show us just how many stories, cultures, and memories shape our community.

Sometimes images speak louder than words, but what kind of impact can you create if you put them together? In From Flash to Fiction, we’ll explore the writing of, from, and alongside the images that speak to us. Together, we'll wonder about how to bring images to life with our words and sharpen our imaginations by playing in the crosshairs of writing and photography. Using photos we take ourselves or ones we find through research, we’ll find inspiration for short stories.

This class will also include a field trip to the New York Public Library’s Picture Collection. Every writer will have the chance to look through their vast collection and write something they love based on their discoveries!