Storytelling from the Inside-out: Workshop on writing BIPOC stories from within
This workshop focuses on embracing personal narratives and cultivating wholeness as acts of resistance and hope. In this workshop, I encourage the practice of “un-othering” ourselves, normalizing our multilayered perspectives by cultivating a sense of belonging through the connection of storytelling. This workshop brings an intersectional lens to discussions of personal experience and identity.
How to prepare for the workshop? Collect memories: I invite you to prepare by collecting memories that you associate with your personal history, cultural background, identity, sense of belonging, notions of home and ancestry. Examples may include but are not limited to: recipes, songs, language, landscapes, spells, prayers, books, poems, slang, trees, flowers, dances, memories, histories, stories, diaries, emails, moments in time, etc. There is no limit to how many “items” you collect in preparation for the session, but I invite you to have at least one.
A recording of this workshop will be made available on YouTube a week after the event. Please register for the workshop to receive an email with the YouTube link once it becomes available. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel and turn on notifications or follow us on Instagram for the latest updates.
This session will be closed-captioned. Closed captioning provided by Zoom auto transcription.
This session will be followed by a Q&A.
Author
My name, Ayla, means halo of light around the moon. Holding light and dark in tandem is where I find hope and possibility. My writing isn’t just about escape, it’s about nuance, complexity, and things co-existing. I hold space for the grey between what we know and what we are still learning. My stories are conversations about love: moving, shifting, ever-evolving conversations. Every choice is reflective of what it might take to live with integrity and to actualize a beautiful, just world. We can lust, cry, laugh and make revolutionary love all at the same time.
I am a storyteller, holder of space and curator of experience. I hold a master’s in human rights and am an inclusive leadership consultant. Raised and educated all over the world, I speak four languages and laugh in all. I am a queer Iranian-Canadian from Tkaronto/Toronto living in Tiohtia:ke/Montréal, writing to reimagine, writing with a nostalgia for a new future.
To watch select FOLD Academy workshops from previous years, visit the FOLD YouTube channel.
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