Introducing the 2021-2022 Emerging Writer Fellows by Info
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We’re thrilled to introduce the 2021-2022 Emerging Writer Fellows: Andy Lopez, Tochukwu Okafor, and J.C. Rodriguez. Every year, GrubStreet awards the Emerging Writer Fellowship to three talented writers who demonstrate a passion and commitment to their writing. Over the course of the fellowship year, each writer will have tuition-free access to GrubStreet’s classes and Muse & the Marketplace conferences. We could not be more excited to congratulate and welcome Andy, Tochukwu, and J.C.!
Andy Lopez is awriterand communications director for a non-profit in the Philippines. Her work has been published in Longleaf Review, CHEAP POP, Non.Plus Lit, and other magazines and anthologies. Find her on Twitter at @andylopezwrites.
Tochukwu Okafor is a Nigerianwriterwhose work has appeared in the 2018 Best of the Net, the 2019 Best Small Fictions, The Guardian, Harvard’s Transition Magazine, Columbia Journal, and elsewhere. He is a 2022 Good Hart Artist-in-Residence, a 2021 Wellstone Center in the Redwoods (WCR)WritingFellow, a 2021 Jack StrawWritingFellow, a 2021 Frank Conley Memorial Scholar, a 2021 Albertina Tholakele Dube Scholar for YoungWriters, a 2021 LongleafWritersConference BIPOC Scholar, and an alumnus of the 2021 Tin House Workshop. He is also a 2018 Rhodes Scholar finalist, a 2018 Kathy Fish Fellow, and winner of the 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize for Short Fiction. He has been shortlisted for the 2017 Awele Creative Trust Award, the 2016 Problem House Press Short Story Prize, the 2016 Southern Pacific Review Short Story Prize, and has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He was a member of the 2016 Short Story Day AfricaWritingWorkshop and the 2015 Association of Nigerian Authors CreativeWritingWorkshop. He holds a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and has received scholarships and fellowship grants from the Worcester Arts Council, Kundiman, Kenyon ReviewWritersWorkshop, Etisalat (now 9mobile), the MTN Foundation, Fishtrap, Mendocino CoastWriters’ Conference, and Exxon Mobil. He lives in Worcester, USA, and is at work on a novel and a story collection. He is on Twitter @toch_okafor and Instagram @tochukwu_okafor.
J.C. Rodriguez is awriterand educator from Westbury, NY. His poems have appeared in Taco Bell Quaterly, Meow Meow Pow Pow, and FreezeRay, among others. He is a slush adventurer for Interstellar Flight Press and a recipient of a Brooklyn Poets Fellowship. Outside ofwriting, he is an MSW student and cheeseburger enthusiast.
Greetings Great Minds, this just might be inconsequential.
Let’s welcome back monthly columnist Willow Woodford as she shares with us: “Do You Use Gender Neutral Pronouns?” Enjoy!
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Pronouns: they soften our sentences, shorten them and make them easier to read and speak. Though today I’m primarily speaking to writers. And I’m preaching to no one. I’d simply like to give you something to think about.
Photo by Julia Stepper on Unsplash
“Amy lifted Amy’s foot
from the stool at Amy’s feet.”
VS.
“Amy lifted her foot
from the stool at her feet.”
Seriously, do you want to read a novel written like the first one?
Photo by History in HD on Unsplash
‘Cause I don’t.
Traditionally, humankind has been referred to in the masculine as a default. (More about this and the language surrounding it in the links at the end.)
“One small step for man One giant leap for mankind.” –Neil Armstrong
Except we aren’t all men, are we?
(Neil Armstrong claimed to have actually said, “One small step for a man.” But 1960’s audio didn’t catch it. In 2006evidencewas found that he might have been right, though Armstrong himself said he couldn’t hear it.)
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
As we have come to understand ourselves, and humankind, we’ve realized that there is so much more to us than meets the eye. And gender is one of those things.
Gender Neutral Pronouns and Gender Identity
Many people have come to understand that they don’t identify, in their inner selves, as male or female. Depending on how they feel or relate to the world, they may feel more comfortable with a pronoun that isn’t a part of our daily vocabulary. Yet.
“I think one of the main reasons pronouns are important is because, other than our name, it’s one of the main ways people identify and call us.” — Rowan Hepps Keeney
I’m not going to delve into the science or cultural feelings on gender identity. I’d just like to recognize that they are a part of the society we live in.
As writers we reflect that society.
Many of us choose to include characters who don’t identify as the traditional male or female gender. I applaud you!
Culture adapts as we learn more about ourselves. And language adapts to reflect that change. One of those changes is gender neutral pronouns.
As authors, we have a responsibility to recognize and herald language adjustments. We are the ones who record them!
What are Gender Neutral Pronouns?
They are important, even if they feel strange on our tongues and in our fingers as we type.
They/Them
They/Them are the easy ones. If you don’t know, just assume. You won’t be wrong, because that is as neutral as you can get.
Yes, we’ve traditionally used they/them for plural references, but really the pronouns work.
xe/xem/xyrs or ze(zie)/hir/hirs
Others include xe/xem/xyrs or ze(zie)/hir/hirs with the pattern of she/her/hers. (Read more in the links!)
Here’s the best part!
Make Up Your Own Gender Neutral Pronouns
If you are writing a story you get to choose the pronouns for your gender-neutral characters. Or, even better, make them up! Just be sure to explain them if you make your own up.
I encourage you to write gender neutral characters. They are a part of the fabric of humanity. My friends’ words when we were discussing this article resonated with me.
Photo by Luca Onniboni on Unsplash
“Part of how we write is knowing who our audience is. Thinking about it in terms of those two disparate groups could open up some possibilities. I mean, we talk about inclusion and everything, but it’s easy to exclude people who aren’t there yet too.” — Suzanne Williams
Humanity comes in many colors and forms. Let’s celebrate and write about all of them! But please be careful and purposeful in choosing the pronouns you use. Correct pronouns validate an individual’s feelings about themselves and experience with the world and show respect.
Links to hear what others are saying about gender neutral pronouns
In this video a group of students discuss their own experiences with pronoun usage.
Here, HubSpot, discusses gender neutral pronouns and offers some suggestions about using them at work.
This is from the University of Wisconsin LGBTQ+ Resource center
The evolution of language
And because language is a passion of mine, here are some articles on how language forms and changes over time. Some of them explain why we used to say mankind, and why it’s changed.
Jason Antrosio, Professor of Anthropology at Hartwick College, weighs in on Sex, Gender, & Sexuality on their blog.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Willow lives in her imagination because it’s more interesting than the real world. When she isn’t dreaming up new stories, she likes to cook, hike, and cuddle with her chihuahua. She reads voraciously, staying up far too late, and reading anywhere she can; including grocery lines, parking lots, and waiting rooms. (Except during quarantine, because she isn’t going anywhere right now!)
Her real-world counterpart, Ann Shannon, lives in New Jersey with her family and spends as much time as possible visiting her grandchildren on the West Coast.
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