Led by McKenzie Schwark, a writer, editor, and content strategist whose work explores the body through illness and queerness. Her writing has been published in Teen Vogue, bitch magazine, Catapult, Feminist Food Journal, Elemental, the Rumpus, and more. She can regularly be found reading essays about her period in grungy and/or lesbian bars in the Chicago area or walking her very weird rescue dog, Junie B Jones.

Learn more about McKenzie in our Meet the Teaching Artist series.

Gay Bones: Writing the Queer Body explores writing about the body from a queer perspective.

Body horror, health and wellness, and illness are hot topics in writing right now, and as queer folks our bodies exist in the world differently than our straight peers. In this five-week generative class, we’ll read queer writers on illness, sex, pregnancy, disease, movement, and joy. We’ll work through generative writing prompts that help us to drop into our own physical bodies and write about the ways in which we move through life as queer people.

This open-genre class will help writers tap into their physical bodies, and capture on the page how it feels to be gay and alive in a world that doesn’t seem to want us to be.

Each class will include generative writing exercises, discussion on prepared readings, and time to be in community with fellow queer writers who are interested in writing on the human body.

Course reading will include excerpts from Krys Malcom Belc, Audre Lorde, Eileen Myles, Carmen Maria Machado, Melissa Febos, and more!

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1: Gay Feelings
Week 2: Body Horror
Week 3: Sex
Week 4: Pain/Illness
Week 5: Joy/Movement

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Students will walk away with several generative writing prompts to help them tap into their physical bodies and capture their experiences through writing.
• Students will read queer writing about topics like pregnancy, illness, joy and more, and have the opportunity to discuss these readings with other queer writers.
• Students will leave with plenty of new pieces of writing they can turn into essays, stories, or poems.
• Students will leave feeling empowered to write about their bodies through a queer lens, and know that their stories have a place in the writing world.

TESTIMONIALS:

"I took Gay Bones: Writing the Queer Body with McKenzie Schwark. Her class exceeded my expectations. The readings were beautiful and the discussion well-led. The reading material paired with our personal writing really spoke to me. I would highly recommend this class." -former student

"Gay Bones was a great class. I particularly loved the writing exercises, they were really good. And I liked all the readings & discussions, which introduced me to some new writers I'm now obsessed with." -former student

"McKenzie Schwark's 'Gay Bones: Writing the Queer Body' class offered space to explore and express my queer identity through writing. The readings were thought-provoking and diverse, providing a solid foundation for our lively and supportive discussions. I left the class not only with a richer understanding of queer narratives but also with a renewed sense of empowerment to tell my own stories about my body and experiences." -former student

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

This class meets weekly via Zoom. Come prepared for a super fun class with live interaction on Zoom each week and plenty of writing, reading, and talking.

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

• Instructor: McKenzie Schwark
• Begins Tuesday, July 23rd, 2024
• Class will meet weekly via Zoom for 2 Hours on Tuesdays starting at 6:00PM CST

Contact us HERE if you have any questions about this class.

Instructor McKenzie Schwark is a writer, editor, and content strategist whose work explores the body through illness and queerness. Her writing has been published in Teen Vogue, bitch magazine, Catapult, Feminist Food Journal, Elemental, the Rumpus, and more. She can regularly be found reading essays about her period in grungy and/or lesbian bars in the Chicago area, or walking her very weird rescue dog, Junie B Jones.