Friends,

Please join 27 Powers and Author, Elizabeth Rosner, for a rich and inspiring class on the creative expansiveness of genre bending and blending.

Genre-bending has been taking place among literary forms for a long time — but cross-fertilization seems more popular than ever. How can we borrow and learn from a variety of practices — poetic, journalistic, scientific, speculative — and create stronger, more interesting pieces?

For the past 25 years, Elizabeth Rosner has been writing acclaimed books that stretch across genre lines: blending prose with poetry, interweaving memoir and scholarly research. After three novels and a poetry collection, she published SURVIVOR CAFE: The Legacy of Trauma and the Labyrinth of Memory, in which a series of trips to Germany taken with her father – a Holocaust survivor – were braided together with interdisciplinary research into genocide and its aftermath.

Now in her newest book, THIRD EAR: Reflections on the Art and Science of Listening, Elizabeth combines stories about growing up and learning to listen in a household where six languages were spoken, with a web of details about interspecies communication in the natural world, as well as her own hearing loss. Both of these recent books demonstrate that curiosity about oneself can organically lead to inquiries and discoveries far beyond the personal.

In our work together, we will:

• Tap into the deeper story we’re wanting to tell and consider how we might interweave our stories with another non-fiction narrative

• Consider examples of books and stories that benefitted from a blend of genres

• Discover how stretching our storytelling practices can broaden and deepen the work we create and the audience we reach

Learn more about Liz here.

We hope you can join us. 

PLEASE NOTE: For those who can’t make the live call or who want to review, the video replay will be sent within 24 hours of the live call.

We want to open these A la Carte classes to as many people as possible. If you are suffering financial hardship, please contact us at alacarte@27powers.org for our discounted rate. We will do our best to accommodate a reduced rate for those in need. 

I’m excited to be partnering with Chapter 510, a nonprofit group in Oakland serving black, brown, and queer kids, ages 7- 18. Chapter 510 is a writing, bookmaking & publishing center that wants every young person in Oakland to write with confidence and joy. Chapter 510 believes that writing is an act of liberation, and that young people transform themselves and their communities when they write and get published, succeeding in work, school, and life. A portion of the proceeds from this event will go to supporting their free creative writing programs for black, brown, and queer youth.