Writing Workshops

Writing with James Baldwin and Toni Morrison with Eraldo Souza dos Santos

$150

2 Sessions

Out of stock

Saturday & Sunday 1:00 pm EDT - 4:00 pm EDT February 3 to February 4, 2024

Online via Zoom

From Giovanni’s Room to Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time, from The Bluest Eye to Sula and Beloved, the works of Toni Morrison and James Baldwin remain a key source of inspiration for writers today. This workshop offers both an introduction to their life and work as well as an invitation to write with them, through their writings. After reading selected passages from their books, we will explore in each class writing exercises inspired by motives and techniques that are characteristic of the literary project of each author. Participants will have the opportunity to workshop their pieces during the classes as well as with me in a one-on-one consulting session.

Course Outline

Session I: Writing with James Baldwin
- Key readings: Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time
Session II: Writing with Toni Morrison
- Key readings: The Bluest Eye and Sula

Led by

Eraldo Souza dos Santos

Eraldo Souza dos Santos

A 2022 LARB Publishing Fellow, Eraldo Souza dos Santos is a Brazilian writer currently based between Paris and São Paulo. His first novel, to be published in 2024, is an autobiography of his illiterate mother and a meditation on the lived experience of Blackness and enslavement in modern Brazil. At the age of seven, his mother was sold into slavery by her white foster sister. It was 1968—eighty years after the abolition of slavery in Brazil and four years into the anti-communist coup d’état, during the month in which the military overruled the Constitution by decree. By weaving in extensive archival research and interviews, the novel narrates their journey to Minas Gerais—where she was born—and Bahia—the Blackest state in Brazil, where she was enslaved on a farm for three years—to investigate why the family that enslaved her has never been brought to justice. It also narrates his grandmother’s journey to search for her missing daughter. In March 2023, he offered a masterclass based on his novel at the prestigious UEA Creative Writing Course. You can keep up with Eraldo on Twitter at @esdsantos.

About this series

Writing Workshops

We strive to make our classes the most inviting and rewarding available, offering an intimate environment to study with award-winning, world-class writers. Each class is specially designed by the instructor, so whether you’re a fledgling writer or an MFA graduate polishing your novel, you’ll find a perfect fit here.

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