The Intergenerational Writers Lab is a unique program that challenges writers to thoroughly explore and develop their writing skills and styles in multiple genres. The IWL 2010 program took place April 2 – May 21, 2011 and was led by: Brenda Wong Aoki, Jaime Cortez , Cheryl Dunye, and Leticia Hernández.
The goals of the IWL program include providing local emerging writers/artists with the opportunity to challenge, develop, and expand their practice by working with established writers and artists in a variety of genres; to contribute to the development of new literary forms and language that incorporate multiple forms of creative expression; to provide emerging artists with the opportunity to connect with each other and with established writers in the literary world; to provide the community with an opportunity to engage with new work and new explorations of form and language; and to publish an online anthology that highlights work by exciting new writers committed to exploring new forms and voices.
Brenda Wong Aoki
Acclaimed as one of America’s foremost soloists, performing in such venues as the Kennedy Center, New Victory Theater on Broadway, Hong Kong Performing Arts Center, the Adelaide Festival in Australia, the Esplanade in Singapore, the Graz Festival Austria and the Apollo. Of Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and Scottish descent, Aoki’s bloodlines inspire her work, which include “Obake: Tales of Spirits Past and Present,” “Mermaid Meat,” “Tales of the Pacific Rim,” “Skin Privilege,” “Kuan Yin: Our Lady of Compassion,” and “Uncle Gunjiro’s Girlfriend.” Twice a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, she has received four Dramalogue Awards for her original work, and the Critics’ Circle Award. Her two CDs, “The Queen’s Garden” (1999) and “Tales of the Pacific Rim” (1990), won INDIE awards for Best Spoken Word Album of the Year.
Jaime Cortez
Jaime Cortez's writing has appeared in over a dozen anthologies. He edited, among others, Virgins, Guerrillas & Locas, and the comix anthology Turnover. His multidisciplinary visual art encompasses drawing, sculpture, photography, and hybrid practices. His art has been shown at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Berkeley Art Museum, Oakland Museum, Southern Exposure, The Lab, Intersection for the Arts, and Galeria de la Raza. Jaime has worked and volunteered in the AIDS sector since 1990. He was the education coordinator for the 1996 display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt in Washington DC. He subsequently served as Program Manager at Galería De La Raza and Arts and Culture Fellow at The San Francisco Foundation.
Cheryl Dunye
Cheryl Dunye is a native of Liberia, and holds an MFA from Rutgers University. Her fourth feature film, THE OWLS is presently making the rounds and national and international film festivals this year. Her third feature film, Miramax’s MY BABY’S DADDY, was a box office success. Her second feature, HBO Films STRANGER INSIDE, garnered her an Independent Spirit award nomination for best director. Dunye’s debut film, THE WATERMELON WOMAN, was awarded the Teddy Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Her other works have premiered at film festivals and museums worldwide. Dunye has received numerous awards and honors for her work. She is based in Los Angeles and is an Associate Professor of Diversity Studies and Film at California College of the Arts. Presently Dunye is editing her most recent production, MOMMY IS COMING. www.cheryldunye.com
Leticia Hernández
Writer and educator, Leticia Hernández, has presented her poetry throughout the country and in El Salvador for over a decade. Since receiving the William Carlos Williams Prize from the Academy of American Poets, her writing has appeared in newspapers, anthologies and literary journals, some of which include, Street Art San Francisco, Latino Literature Today and The Other Side of the Postcard. She has taught literature, creative writing, and worked with youth and community-based organizations throughout California. She recently completed a spoken word c.d. entitled Mucha Muchacha, Too Much Girl, funded by a San Francisco Arts Commission Individual Artist Grant, and she is completing a poetry manuscript to accompany that project. In 2001, she began organizing and hosting Pinta tu Propio Mundo an annual women’s poetry, performance, and art event. Under its new name, Amate: Women Painting Stories, this series is now part of the Intersection for the Arts Incubator Program. For more information about her work visit ciguanabaink.com
Kearny Street Workshop (KSW)
Kearny Street Workshop is the nation’s oldest Asian Pacific American multidisciplinary arts organization. For the past 38 years, Kearny Street Workshop (KSW) has produced, presented and promoted art that empowers Asian Pacific American artists and communities. We envision a more just society that fully incorporates Asian Pacific American voices informed by our cultural values, historical roots, and contemporary issues. KSW serves the community as an information resource and through four areas of arts programming: adult arts education, next generation arts support and training, multidisciplinary arts presentations, and publications. For more information please visit www.kearnystreet.org.
Intersection for the Arts
Intersection for the Arts is the oldest cultural institution of its kind in San Francisco. Founded in the early 1960’s and incorporated in 1965, Intersection’s mission is to cultivate diversity, build community, and drive social change through art. We develop, produce, and present new work in the performing, literary, visual and interdisciplinary arts and we cultivate community through artists residencies, organizational and project incubation, and youth education and direct community engagement programs. We want to welcome you to our new home at 5M and say thank you to our 5M partners the Hearst Corporation, Forest City Development, The Hub Bay Area, Tech Shop and more. Together, we have forged a very unique partnership rooted in a shared belief that art and creativity realized through meaningful, inclusive, and collaborative places will fuel breakthrough change in our communities!
AMATE: Women Painting Stories
Women Painting Stories is a multidisciplinary showcase of poetry, performance, and art by boundary-breaking women artists. Founded by writer Leticia Hernandez in 2001 as Pinta tu Propio Mundo (“paint your own world”) this series has gathered award-winning writers, emerging spoken word poets, accomplished visual artists, grassroots musicians, and clothing designers to celebrate the many faces of art by woman of color. This project is named Amate after the Spanish language word for painted paper made from the bark of a tree. Amate also means “love yourself.” The mission of Amate is to build community among emerging and established professional women artists that are committed to redefining boundaries and realities for women of color.
Thank you: Indira Allegra, Maria T. Allocco, Brenda Wong Aoki, Dylan Casama, Elwin Cotman, Jaime Cortez, Erika Céspedes-Kent, Sarah Dayley, Cheryl Dunye, Querido Galdo, Leticia Hernandez, Lisa Hsia, Jen Palmares Meadows, Nayomi Munaweera, Ron Ragin, Jenny Strauss, the board, staff, volunteers and interns at Intersection for the Arts, Kearny Street Workshop and Amate: Women Painting Stories.
This workshop is supported by Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation.