The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop: How To Decolonize the Creative Classroom

by Felicia Rose Chavez

The Antiracist Writing Workshop is a call to create healthy, sustainable, and empowering artistic communities for a new millennium of writers. Inspired by June Jordan's 1995 Poetry for the People, here is a blueprint for a 21st-century workshop model that protects and platforms writers of color. Instead of earmarking dusty anthologies, imagine workshop participants Skyping with contemporary writers of difference. Instead of tolerating bigoted criticism, imagine workshop participants moderating their own feedback sessions. Instead of yielding to the red-penned judgement of instructors, imagine workshop participants citing their own text in dialogue. The Antiracist Writing Workshop is essential reading for anyone looking to revolutionize the old workshop model into an enlightened, democratic counterculture.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Teaching, Education, Crafts, Memoir, Race

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2021

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is essential reading for creative writing teachers at all levels. It is, as described by the author, "a blueprint for a twenty-first century writing workshop that concedes the humanity of people of color so that we may raise our voices in vote for love over hate."

I could quote Felicia Rose Chavez over and over, but here are a couple that stuck with me:

"I didn't know then that I hated school, only that school hated me, so much so that I bent my brown body into a bow to appease it. I broke out in hives, in tears, because I couldn't yet differentiate my love of learning from the hatred of a white supremacist educational system."

"Every student and instructor in the room must belong." p.134

"It is so crucial that 'whiteness' be studied, understood, discussed—so that everyone learns that affirmation of multiculturalism, and an unbiased inclusive perspective, can and should be present whether or not people of color are present." p. 43

[Chyann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This profoundly moved me both as a student and an educator. I did not realize how much I internalized/ normalized when I was one of the only Black writers, sitting in college workshop classes led by white professors. And I definitely did not realize how much of these practices I was reinforcing in my own classroom until I opened this book. Chavez lays out a blueprint for a care-centered, community-centered, and student-centered classroom. One where students unlearn the ideas that writing is a competition and workshop should be treated as reoccurring sacrifices. Chavez instead creates a space where students of color are in control of their own narratives. She discusses the importance of prioritizing voice and craft and seeing writing as the humanizing practice it is. So many gems to take away. And I am dreaming of educators all over the world starting this work as early as possible.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

I left this one with a lot of thoughts. Where Bird by Bird is for writers, this one is for writing professors and workshop leaders. Part memoir, part workshop philosophy, Chavez provides a lot of insight into better, more equitable ways of organizing creative writing courses. I particularly liked learning about her interpretation of Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process.

I think this would make a good addition to every writing instructor's library, with the one caveat that it should be in addition to other antiracist resource books. I think there is a lot of expectation that readers are knowledgeable about and are conversant in the topics of antiracism and decolonialization, and I think that context is necessary to get the most out of this book.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educators, regardless of subject or grade, should read this book.

[Jen H · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most authentic books in this genre that I’ve read. And I’ve read most of them.

[Danni Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinarily well-constructed book. I would highly recommend it for anyone facilitating anti-racist spaces (or who would like to be).

I do wish it had addressed ableism, and I think anyone who is doing this work needs to be addressing that. I would love to see a future edition of this text which would speak to that. I would recommend reading it alongside Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (and would love further recommendations addressing the intersection of racism and ableism / anti-racism and disability justice)

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read. The book is direct, evocative, and impactful. As an educator - I see connections that I can use to transform my own classroom. As a teacher writer - there is practical advice and on how to develop my writer identity. For anyone involved education or writing - this is a must read.

[Idris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential writing for critical times

[Eryn McVay · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say this book has changed me, fundamentally, is an understatement.

Felicia puts into words so clearly, specifically, and beautifully things I didn’t even know I was thinking, but when I read it, found myself yelling “YES!!” And highlighting and starring and drawing hearts in the margins.

This book has been my guiding light this semester as I teach my first playwriting class that is 100% mine. I only regret that I don’t have enough hours in my course to follow the curriculum she outlines to the letter, but there’s simply not enough time. Even so, using an anti-racist curriculum and discovery-based learning model, I’ve watched as my students blossom and shine and radiate creativity. They feel free to voice their truths, and they hear their peers’ truth with respect, even if they can’t directly relate. And their writing is better for it.

More so, this book has changed my own creative process, and I can’t ever go back. I feel like a child again, excited by the blank page, and in awe of my own imagination. White supremacy truly poisons all facets of life and culture, and I didn’t even realize I had been poisoning myself by ascribing to its methodology of creativity. Thank you, Felicia. For the lesson plans, the anecdotes, the reading list, the call-outs, the call-ins. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Rachel Polacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book is geared toward college workshop professors/facilitators, but so many ideas can be translated into the secondary language arts classroom. Student voice and empowering students through their experiences and writing is the constant theme of this book. Felicia Rose Chavez is vulnerable and unrelenting in her pursuit of an equitable writing classroom, and to encourage others to create the same.

[Kate Ringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Let’s not get it twisted: this anti-racist writing pedagogy is aggressive activism” (Introduction.) As an educator in Texas, I have been accused of being an “activist teacher.” Chavez validates that this is a good thing.

“‘Can’t we all just speak our minds?’ is the unknowable privilege of white people” (Introduction.)

Essential Outcomes / Guiding Principles that resonated with me (Chapter One):
Students will…
“Write in order to achieve their best work”
“Acknowledge that writing is an inherently imperfect, ongoing process”
“Debunk the myth of the muse by publicly articulating the hardships of writing, then brainstorming strategies for success”
“Resist liking or not liking their drafts in an effort to achieve that essential, awake speech of their minds”

Inspirational quotes for posters:
“To be a writer is to choose to write, to show up every day and do the work” (Chapter Two).
“All art is political art” (Chapter Four).
“Writing is a relationship with the self… It’s a ritual of tuning in and listening to the language inside of us” (Chapter Four).
“Afraid of sounding stupid? Write anyway. Afraid of sharing something private? Write anyway. Afraid of imperfection? Write anyway” (Chapter Eight).

A reminder that asking students how they are and giving them space to tell you is a very important part of being a teacher.

Chavez has students sign up to be “snack hosts” which I think is brilliant, but is just one of the many things in the book that I thought, “Could this work with high schoolers?”

Another idea that made me scared, and curious, is Chavez’s repeated insistence that students read their work aloud on a regular basis, and that this should be a required part of the class.

Something to do at the beginning of the year: “I topload my workshops with highly personal writing exercises, beginning with a first day freewrite: Declare why you are good at writing… After they’ve generated a short list, I ask that they choose one, stand up, and say it aloud (My name is… and I’m good at writing because…) At this point, we cheer annoyingly loud so as to disrupt every other class in the building” (Chapter Two).

Later in Chapter Two, she shares an activity where students make a list of their “writing fears,” to help them discover what is keeping them from writing. Then, she has students write, “but I will write anyway” next to each statement. I can’t wait to do this with my students.

In Chapter Three, Chavez quotes Austin Kleon: “Art that only comes from the head isn’t any good.” This is an idea that is repeated over and over. I definitely have a goal this year of making students move around more / draw as they write. Later, she states, “Workshop isn’t workshop if someone doesn’t accidentally trip over a writer.” A reminder that learning and writing and creating is messy! She’ll bring in “art objects” as inspiration, or have students do “call and response” with each other’s writing. The classroom should be loud and tactile.

In the instruction that I’ve received about workshop and writer’s notebook, I have been heavily discouraged from giving students prompts, which I have found to be impossible in practice. Chavez uses prompts regularly, which felt validating.

This year, I want to do more, “Self-reflections in which participants appraise their drafting, workshop, or revision efforts, identify their struggles and successes with a project, and itemize their next moves” (Chapter 3). In this vein, in Chapter Six Chavez details what an “artist statement” could look like for a draft, which would include the following prompts:
Summarize your project in one or two sentences.
What surprised you while you were crafting the project?
What aspect(s) of the project posed the greatest challenge for you?
What successes resulted from the project?
What is your vision for future drafts?
Enumerate three craft-based questions about your project… What do you need help sorting out?
Theoretically, I could grade students’ reflections and artist statements instead of their final product. This idea also made me scared and curious.

She recommends doing twice as many free writes, including some as homework, in the beginning of the year, which she calls, “Creative conditioning” (Chapter 3). “Frequency teaches workshop participants that writing is less a high-stakes assignment dictated by the workshop leader, and more an instinctive impulse to create.” I’ve definitely experienced this personally; the more I write, the more I want to write.

Classroom decoration idea: Inspiration clothesline.

One thing that I have struggled with is what to do with the students who want to spend half of their writing time, even when it is freewriting time, looking over what they have written to make edits or potentially rewrite. Chavez suggests adding in time, after the freewrite, that is just for editing. She writes, “The key is that the two stages, writing and editing, release and control, are separate; one is not intrinsic to the other” (Chapter 3). This should only be attempted after students have mastered the “release.”

A brilliant definition of revision: “Revision is listening to our work with a detached critical consciousness in order to hear ‘what the words don’t yet say, but want to say.’ We return to our workshop draft and read it aloud. Then we ask, What was my initial vision for the work, and how does that differ from what I’ve created here? What is my present vision? How might I ‘re-see’ my draft so that it more closely aligns with my present vision? What is my plan of action so that the parts of my draft make for a more cohesive whole?” (Chapter 3).

“What do you hate?” (Chapter Four) as a prompt to get students into argumentative writing.

A prompt for reading response: “What would you ask the author if you could?” (Chapter Four).

“I encourage my workshop participants to feel their way through a text. When they hit upon an embodied response - a bark of a laugh, a sigh, a wandering mind - it’s up to them to interrogate why. What was it, exactly, that evoked the response?” (Chapter Five.)

When she is introducing the concept of craft, she has each student read a different piece, and then has them define a different craft concept: voice, imagery, characterization, and arrangement (flow).

When students are responding to each other’s writing, they can ask neutral questions, share pops (lines that stood out,) share opinions (when given permission,) read the piece out loud to the writer, write question marks (confused) and stars (resonant) in the margins, discuss examples of craft, and offer statements of meaning (“What was stimulating, surprising, evocative, memorable, touching challenging, compelling, unique delightful?”). The purpose of students participating in workshop is to open up both the writer and the workshoppers to new ways to think about their own writing, not to be prescriptive in writing.

Before students get to conference with me about a draft, they must prepare the following (Chapter Seven):
“What does your draft need right now? Be specific” and list three of the most urgent areas.
“How might your workshop leader contribute to your writing needs? Identify a short list of explicit actions.”
“What do you need right now, on an emotional level?”
In addition, it is important to note that under Chavez’s model, the teacher does not read the draft before the conference. Instead, the student reads it aloud. How do I make this work for my students who write in Spanish?

Once the student is ready to move on to their next piece of writing, Chavez will meet with them again to discuss celebrations. In my classroom, this could be merged with a reading of their reflection and the assigning of a grade.

End-of-year project: Students literally cut up their notebooks and scribble over excerpts to show their growth as writers.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you teach creative writing, you need to read this book. It will blow your mind in the best possible way, and the more people who read it, along with Matthew Sallesses Craft in the Real World, the more we can break open our teaching in the ways it needs to be broken open. I am completely changing how I teach based on these books—and I “thought” I was a progressive teacher. Not nearly enough.

[Tanya Gold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every one of those bookmarks is a passage that's relevant to developmental editors. Go grab a copy of this book, edibuddies. Seriously.

[Eman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book inspires and discomfits. Its primary audience is writing teachers, but I think it has important insights for anyone wanting to build writing community, anyone in a writing group, anyone uncomfortable with the writing education they’ve gotten. Anyone who believes that nurturing writers is key to a better, more equitable and inclusive future.

[AJ Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting approach to the creative writing workshop, from which I plan to implement numerous ideas, especially in empowering the person being workshopped to run their own workshop and not be silenced. Chavez's description of her experience as a student and of how she now teaches were well written and detailed. I admit to occasionally being ruffled by the tenor of her claims about techniques, as if she was the first to think of teaching a diverse roster or writers, but she is right in how that is most often not done. I also wish she would have acknowledged her privilege of her position as the Scholar-in-Residence at Colorado College, where I imagine she likely teaches a 2-2 or even 1-1 load, or the equivalent thereof with CC's Block system. Which is good, but it made it harder to imagine my adapting her techniques when I don't know if she was managing them with a student load of 20 or a load of 100 students, and also how many students she considered to be a workshop. In my university, we have 20 students in our undergraduate workshop, with no exceptions. And I teach a 4-4 load, usually with 3 different preps each semester. And rather than working in a private college with 2000 students, I teach in a public university with 25,000 students, a large portion of whom are POC and first generation students with little ability to afford to print as much as she recommends (nor does the university budget provide for faculty to print that much). So while I value the book for being anti-racist, and I absolutely am incorporating a lot of her ideas, the lack of either acknowledgement or awareness of difference in faculty's loads and circumstances, and of public university student's differing experiences, was a little off putting. But, again, four stars for being, at its core, a foundationally useful text.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always accepted the workshop model because every writing class I ever took used it, but this book makes an excellent case for reconsidering the pedagogy and presents a clear and exciting new model. I hope to try it if I ever teach a creative writing class again.

[Kevin Clouther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Innovative and important. Grateful to have spent time with this book.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sensible and personable book from an engaged and committed teacher. I’m not sure that there is a whole lot that is new in it, though.

[Phobean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I've known about this book since it arrived on the scene in 2021, I didn't pick it up to experience for myself until after leading a mini-zine workshop where I realized how difficult it is to break through some participants' nervousness or perfectionism in a short, 1-hour event. I went to The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop for tips on reconsidering instructing / teaching and how to create a welcoming space for all levels of participation. What I received was a vulnerable-powerful, beautifully written 1/3-writerly-autobiography, 1/3 protest-manifesto, 1/3 practical tools for disempowering overwrought teaching practices, opening the window, and bringing breath and life back in. I wrote down many quotes, and I'll be thinking about this book and it's courageous author for a long, long time.

Quick side note: I started formal creative writing instruction at the conclusion of my middle school years and followed that path through undergrad. I was this close to applying for a Masters program. Soooooo glad I dodged that path towards self-doubt and suffering! Reading this book made me ever grateful to my high school writing instructor Karen Haefelein, whose instruction approach I know believe to be very ahead of its time, to Lahna Diskin (sp?) who treated me with deep kindness and saw herself as a sort of art-mother to myself and fellow NJ Governor's School of the Arts summer fellows, and to my college kids' lit / creative writing instructor Lisa Jahn-Clough who never once made me feel diminished or alone, encouraging and warm towards me even after I graduated.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This book dives into academic racism and the competitive nature of workshops—I have experienced the former but have been extremely fortunate with my experience in workshops. While I wholeheartedly agree with Chavez’s stance on creating a workshopping atmosphere that is supportive and encourages writer’s to use their individual voices/explore their own interests, I’m not sure how I feel about all of the practices she implements. For example, she seems to believe that a “traditional” workshop is inherently racist and competitive. I also don’t think that providing workshop participants with information about craft elements is limiting—certainly it is better if they come up with their own understanding of voice and imagery, but I think that only works for students who already have some background knowledge about these vocabulary terms.

Makes me wonder what class setting this workshop is intended for. I can see it working really well for higher-level creative writing courses and graduate programs. But at an intro level, students are more concerned with getting a good grade or general improvement of their writing (not necessarily on a creative level). They are not interested in craft, and Chavez’s workshop approach puts too much responsibility on the students who are not passionate about writing.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that Felicia shares her own experiences being a minority woman in educational settings dominated by white men, older white men. She goes between her own experiences in writing workshops and how to utilize workshops to include everyone, not just those white men mentioned earlier. She tells her own personal writing journey which lead to the necessity of this book, which reminds me a little bit of Stephen Kings On Writing. In her own style she shares both personal writing experiences and then how to use those writing experiences to improve oneself, in this case, it's in workshops. As someone who teaches English on both the high school and the college level and likes to use workshops this book has some really good pointers. Especially for the inclusion of everybody of all races and genders. She speaks as well on being respectful of different cultures and how different minority groups see the world compared to those old white men. She offers activities to make sure that everyone is included, and their voices are heard. I recommend it for those going into the education field where you're going to do a lot of writing workshops.

[Jessamin McSwain · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book for any English and Creative Writing teacher looking to end the cycle of traditional, white-oriented literary practices. Chavez's aim is to be honest and endearing on the page in such a way that you don't feel like your learning from her. I will be referencing this book as I move into my role as an educator.

[Wako Soma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read

Makes me want to go into education
Decolonizing the classroom
Through imagining

Power dynamics: teacher-student
Relates to J.O.H n+1 article
ahhhh, also PUSH by Sapphire!!!!!! when readings come together!

[Kristin Boldon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A necessary book for every writing teacher. With its combination of memoir and pedagogical analysis, it shines light on the road forward to a more equitable and rich writing landscape for all. I am already thinking of ways to change how I write, and teach writing.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the memoir bits in this most. Definitely resonated with my own experiences. There are concrete ideas for how to structure a writing workshop that's less confrontational, less allowing bias of participants to become authority. I am definitely going to incorporate a lot of this in my teaching.

Found some of the overviews unnecessary, repeating, but ... I'm a super impatient reader. :P

[Sam Moe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most phenomenal texts I have read, ever, and Chavez's work has inspired and changed who I am, and how I approach pedagogy, instruction, and creative writing.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

OVERVIEW:
I enjoyed how accessible this book was to read - the concepts were explained very simply. The whole book was one large story that flowed together while offering some concrete things we can do in the classroom for writing workshops to elevate writers of color.

AUTHOR REFLECTIONS:
“...I could stop apologizing for my hurt, could stop apologizing for my anger, could stop wasting my resources on ‘the way it’s always been done’ and instead act toward change.” (Preface)
We need to stop apologizing and create our own change

“I didn’t know then that I hated school, only that school hated me…” (preface)

“I couldn’t differentiate my love of learning and my hatred of a white supremacist educational system” (preface)

The author felt silenced in Iowa college and mistaken for employees at different places. What does it mean for people to be able to voice themselves and live authentically? What are things that are appropriate to share and inappropriate to share from people of color? (Introduction)

The author felt like she did not belong and was not represented in the syllabus. When she tried to voice her concerns, she was mocked and yelled at (introduction). How can institutions receive feedback from students without getting defensive and truly represent diversity? Should institutions have a commitment towards inclusion and diversity? What are the benefits? What are the pushbacks? How does lack of diversity in the curriculum and in the student body affect students of color and white students?

Balancing her school work with the needs of her family (“a good Chicana should be by her mother’s side) (introduction). Sacrifices students of color need to make

Navigating spaces where she didn’t belong. Example: The Qumbaya Housing co-op (Chapter 1)
Systematic and cultural racism, cultural appropriation, microagressions, different experiences, not allowed to show authentic self, stereotypes

Deconstructing “mothering” the students (Chapter 2).

Being unapologetically angry and finding authentic writing voice without conforming to others’ styles and expectations (Chapter 3)

MY REFLECTIONS:
It broke my heart when I heard she gave up a full scholarship to a school because she was blindsided by getting a diversity scholarship. I got a scholarship for being a student of color and I also had freshmen summer courses, but I saw the experience as empowering. These were also led by young students of color who mentored us and empowered us. They were also upfront about their mission, which was different than the author’s experience with their summer English course being led by a white professor who sounded a bit patronizing. She wanted to get in and be accepted by her own merit and not “affirmative action” or the color of her skin(Chapter 4)

CLASSROOM IDEAS/ ACTIVITIES
To encourage students to overcome fear, have them write a list of internal and external fears. Then in the next column, write “But I will write anyway.” have each student share a statement in a circle and then everyone will cheer them on (Chapter 2)

Periodic check ins about what fears writers are facing today. What is a block? (Chapter 2)

Writing prompts and examples (Chapter 3)
- Confessionals about hopes and fears about writing
- To do lists of non writing obligations to purge brain of clutter
- Ongoing task lists that prioritize most pressing creative focal point
- Timed free writes
- Drawings to help brainstorm ideas, map out more advanced projects
- Guided prompts for longer writing projects
- Self reflections on writing drafts
- Guided editing sessions in class

Cultivating inspiration (Chapter 3)
- Write about a time where you felt inspired (experiences and places)
- What are things that make you feel energized? What about things that make you feel unmotivated or sap your energy?

Daily out of class writing exercises (Chapter 3)
- Writer’s notebook: uncensored, spontaneous dialouge with themselves. Write down all the subjects and ideas want to write about. Images, quotes
- Freewriting prompts: timed freewriting prompts. Sealed envelope with two or more prompts, set timer for 5 minutes per prompt
- Exquisite corpses - game to play with each other
- Weekend playlist - visit local gallery, science museum, art museum, read for ufn, documentary film, hour long walk, drawing exercise to find inspiration outside of themselves
- Call and responses - choose a compelling line for another student’s piece of work to get started with their own

What it looks like inside the classroom (chapter 3)
- Students outside reading their work outloud in a recorder or to another students
- Students physically cutting up their paragraphs and rearranging
- Ideas and images for inspiration on a clothesline
- Ability for students to move around and fidget

Create a living, digital archive of young writers/ artists of color/ LGBT/ disabled, multimedia, videos, essays, performances, songs, etc (Chapter 4)
- Ask students who their sources of inspiration are and add those to the living archives to include students voices in the curriculum

TEACHING CONNECTIONS:
“Anti-racist workshop is a study in love. It advances humility and empathy over control and domination…” (introduction)
- Anti-racist model honors workshop leaders who’ve… allies of writers of color, ranking superior teaching over publication credits…
- …recruits people of color to participate in writing workshops… their experiences are crucial to our collective narrative
- …range of writers including people of color, differently abled writers, people who are LGBTQUIA2+...”
- Pairs assigned texts with conversation with the author, contextualizing their stories within a specific lived experience, making meaning relevant and real.
- … participants actively define workshop vocabulary

Understand that writers of color exist

Creating a safe space for creative concentration (Chapter 1)
- Writing descriptions in the course description of the goal
- Regard individuals with carrying aesthetic preferences
- Mutual respect of participant’s personal artistic journeys
- Workshop leaders affirm participants arrive as writers that come from a unique storytelling tradition

Writing with power
- Encourage “wrong writing” → Creativity and courage (chapter 1)

Teach how to give “critique” in writing
- Ask the writer what they are trying to accomplish instead of telling them what is wrong or what they need to change
- The facilitator stays silent and doesn’t give verbal feedback
- Focus on improvement and editing rather than the finished product or being perfect
- Encourage writers to write in their own voice

Strategies for making students care:
1. Holding students of color to a high standard (perfect attendance rule) shows them that you see them as someone to take seriously and will push them forward with their craft. She disagrees that people should “baby” students of color by being permissive and too “flexible.” That is not anti-racist; it is problematic (Chapter 2)
2. Foster community - listen to each other, equal access of voice. Start classroom by playing music and asking people to share their music. Sharing food/ snacks - students sign up for one day. Brings joy to share. Daily check ins. Root and cheer for each other
3. Make writing relevant - highly personal writing exercises and daily freewrite

The art of movement and writing by hand. Practicing mindfulness while writing, fidgeting with clay, walking around, writing in different times and in different spaces to get creativity flowing (Chapter 2-3)
- Reading the writing out loud to yourself on a recorder, to someone else, walking around outside, physically cutting up paragraphs and rearranging

Teachers share their own writing process and sources of inspiration with students/ share their own stories and vulnerabilities. Students connect with teachers as humans with real struggles and lives (Chapter 3)

WRITER'S WORKSHOP
Lerman’s methodology for Critical Response Process: A Method for Getting Useful Feedback on Anything you Make, From Dance to Dessert (Chapter 6)
1. Participants offer statements of meaning: What was stimulating, surprising, evocative, memorable, touching, challenging, compelling, unique, delightful?
2. Artist Poses questions: the artist starts the dialogue and asks questions about their work
3. Respondents pose neutral questions: have artists think about their work in fresh ways so the artist can determine for themselves what needs fixing
4. Participants raise permissioned opinions. “I have an opinion about your title, do you want to hear it?” artist can choose to hear the opinion or not

Ask students to reflect on their writing process (Chapter 6)
- What aspects of the writing process do you find most satisfying? Most challenging?
- What time of day do you write and why?
- Where do you write and why?

Ask students about their revision process (Chapter 6)
- Are you happy with your revision process? Do you find it effective?
- If you could change some aspect of it, what would you change?
Based on responses, will have students sign up for different dates for workshopping (if students enjoy slow writing process, they sign up for earlier workshop date. If they thrive off of pressure to revise quickly, they can sign up for later workshop date)

GOLDEN LINES
Poem (Chapter 3)
I’m sick of seeing and touching both sides of things
Sick of being the damn bridge for everybody…
I explain my mother to my father
My father to my little sister
My little sister to my brother
My brother to the white feminists
The white feminists to the Black church folks
The Black church folks to the ex-hippies
The ex-hippies to the Black separatists
The Black separatists to the artists
The artists to my friends’ parents…
Then
I’ve got to explain myself
To everybody…
This poem resonates with me because it illustrates the frustration of being the translator, the interpreter, and the labor of educating and explaining everything to everyone. Always seeing and understanding all the sides while it feels like no one sees and understand YOU

“The Bridge I must be the bridge to my own power…” (Chapter 3)
This resonates with me because it is reclaiming our own power and agency

RESOURCES
https://www.antiracistworkshop.com/

Sample Lesson Plan (p. 182-193) in Appendix

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

an extremely important and necessary dismantling of the creative writing pedagogical model (lookin at you Iowa). It’s time to bring down the gate.

[ashes ➷ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was challenging, in a few good and bad ways. I feel it’s important to preface this entire review by saying that, no matter how many times I disagreed with Chavez, no matter how wrong I felt her ideas could be at times, no matter how frustrated I got with her, she should be speaking as if she owns the world. She absolutely gets credit for speaking confidently and with authority. Why half-ass this? My primary compliment to this book is that it is simply impossible not to respect Chavez, no matter how grudgingly you do it, because here is a woman of color who really believes in what she’s saying and is speaking from a position of total surety. That needs to be kept in mind while I run through my myriad complaints.

“Myriad complaints?” Well, first of all, I need to be honest: I decided to read this book because a teacher of mine was using methods from it in class, and they were not working. Specifically, my teacher attempted to integrate Liz Lehrman’s Critical Response Process, which students inevitably deviated from whenever they were given a chance—everyone, students of color included, seemed to agree that it was confusing and not in their personal best interests, and they wound up creating their own workshop structures instead.

Imagine my frustration when Chavez wrote, “My own students occasionally express opposition to the antiracist workshop model. They… complain that their peers are “too nice.” They want instead for their classmates to “be real,” to “be harsh,” to “tear the work apart” because they can “take it.” These students, in my experience, are always privileged white males. Every single time.”

None of the reviews here discuss personal experience with the strategies described in this book, so here’s mine: this hurt to read. It was genuinely painful to see my perspective dismissed because it was seemingly shared by “privileged” (I hate this word. Can we retire it? Everyone is privileged in some ways [see later criticisms in this review]; just say “cishet” or “abled” or “upper-class” or whatever it is you actually mean) white men.

As someone who did feel this workshop process was unhelpful, I recall coming to my professor with emails that took me hours to write, expressing how I felt that critique was holding people back from saying their honest feelings, and how I wanted to know how my audience really responded, and felt at a disadvantage as a minority writer hoping to get very certain reactions (entertainment, understanding, etc) from my work. I was happy to be respected, and trusted my peers—all students I liked, whom I’d had good conversations with—to show me kindness in honesty, without the barriers of “neutral questions” and asking permission for opinions.

“[White male students] want to compete in workshop,” Chavez continues. “[T]hey want to win workshop. Without acknowledging, of course, that the game is rigged, that they won at the get-go, regardless of their writing ability. This colosseum mentality of brutality and bloodshed is a farce, one that blinds them to the advantage of collaborative creation.”

So what does it mean when I, as a Jewish LGBT writer, want honest opinions on my work even from people who have never heard of they/them pronouns before? What does it mean when I respect my classmates enough to field any of their queries, any of their concerns, to decide for myself how to respond to each individual statement? What if, in my collaboration with less-aware but well-meaning writers, I don’t want this structure?

To her credit, Chavez admits “my sampling pool might be skewed (I teach at a prestigious private college in Colorado)”... right before making this big general statement about white men anyhow. Let’s be clear: I’m not here to defend white men. Do white men have this attitude? Absolutely. Do white men ruin workshops over this? 100%. But it is frustrating, as a writer in the demographic Chavez is seemingly trying to help, to feel so spoken over, flattened, and ignored.

This is simply one close reading in a book that raises many more serious questions.

Chavez rightfully critiques the “banking system” of education, in which students are expected to passively receive “deposits” of information, which they swallow without comment, from their (usually white and male) professors. Another great point—this is certainly the case the majority of the time.

However, Chavez fails to address the implications of her ideas here. I wish she’d gone into more detail about the value of mentors of color (particularly since she cites one of her own, another Chicana author named Ana Castillo), how taking in knowledge from them can be helpful and part of a long tradition of mentorship in non-Western cultures. Isn’t this how we preserve our cultures? And what of the white students who could stand to learn so much from shutting up and listening to a person of color for once? No, the "banking system" is only discussed with regards to the assumed white mentors that Chavez assumes everyone is experiencing everywhere.

And, secondarily… should Chavez, too, not be questioned? Is writing a book on How To Teach (because Chavez does seem to pose her way as the only correct way to teach an anti-racist creative writing classroom) not placing oneself as an authority, too? This is of course quite different, but there are places when Chavez mentions student pushback, and she’s pretty serious about it: “It’s not easy to adapt our creative and cultural heritage. It will likely feel uncomfortable at first, for both you and your students… Maybe your students inadvertently misstep the course of action and want to revert to the traditional model. Stick with it. Don’t give in. To give in is to devolve.”

But is it fair to pose Chavez as authority on the correct workshop structure above the students? Above the teacher in the classroom? At times, it does seem that Chavez is reinstating a new authority, rather than recognizing that there can be no one authority, because no one is of every relevant experience, and that what we really need are diverse mentors of all backgrounds who can play to their backgrounds as strengths in teaching. It made it, honestly, quite an odd book to read, because Chavez often seemed to assume that even the teacher reading her book would be white, and thus wrote 'down' instead of writing a genuine, open text to all teachers, and perhaps directing specifics to one or another group. This makes it feel quite pessimistic.

“It wasn’t uncommon for… students to drink alcohol before or cry after a workshop as a means of self-soothing,” Chavez writes, but good Lord, why? If a student is experiencing addiction problems, is the solution really to implement a change in workshop? It was this line which tipped me off to the fact that Chavez might genuinely be writing in an alternate universe from me. While I won’t pretend I know how everyone in my workshops has felt before and after, this is not remotely normal… and it raises the question of whether we should upend the entire system because in one university there are students who are having serious depression issues.

What’s even odder is that Chavez isn’t half as accepting of mental health issues elsewhere in her book. She writes of an attendance policy (Miss one day of class, and your final grade will decrease by one half letter grade; arrive late to class four times, and your final grade will decrease by one half letter grade; miss workshop, and you risk failure) which “well-meaning colleagues have criticized… as unnecessarily harsh and unrealistic.” Chavez justifies this: “Life is a
series of conspiracies to keep us from [writing]. …Read “final grade” as “commitment to your creative power.”” She acknowledges that she receives requests each semester to “pardon students’ “special” circumstances.”

“At the predominantly white liberal arts college where I work,” she writes, “this means an athlete’s away games, a family vacation abroad, a great aunt’s birthday celebration, a camping trip, a concert. Sometimes it’s acute anxiety or depression. I make it clear to these students that my attendance policy is firm. As artists we evolve season by season, some of which are more
conducive to a daily writing commitment than others. If it’s not time, don’t force it, I tell
them, because forcing it is missing it.”

Well, good for her, but that means that students are missing it. I’m not saying that a firm attendance policy can’t be good—though I’m not totally on board—but this is pretty contradictory, isn’t it? Chavez notes in passing that some students have, indeed, passed on the workshop due to this policy and enrolled later. It’s a little silly, in my opinion, to admit that you work in a mostly-white college… and then claim that this policy is specifically good for writers of color. How does she know that?

This is, of course, also silly when you consider her response to students who want workshops like “real life” (which I agree is stupid). Why are we all of a sudden trying to mimic the inherent inequalities of real life? And not even accurately, might I add—there’s nothing stopping you from being both a writer and a college athlete, because writing does not exist in a block schedule. It’s ridiculous to stand by this policy as reflective of “real life” as students are forced by Chavez to turn away from the course and real-life authors are writing at 5:00 AM, 3:00 AM, in cars picking up children from soccer, and in the bathroom on their work breaks. There’s almost no correlation at all between this strict schedule and the real life of a writer, so why pretend that there is?

I mean, hell, Chavez only allows critiquers to respond to a piece on the spot, after hearing it read (reading along) once! What about people who can’t pay attention to a piece when it’s being read? What about auditory processing issues? What about people who, I don’t know, need a minute to think after experiencing a piece of art? This is just blatantly a barrier to disabled/neurodivergent students, and it’s frustrating that Chavez never considers these things. I shivered when reading about how Chavez encourages students to cry and demands acceptance of it, because many people don't want to hear other people crying not from some lack of empathy but for a variety of complex reasons, and once again I could feel Chavez talking over my head.

But you know what? I simply go to a different university from the one Chavez is teaching at. I trust my fellow students (who are still certainly majority white, but not generally upper class), and when we workshopped together, I never once saw these deranged examples that Chavez gives, of white male students waving their arms and decrying incidents of racism in fiction as “unrealistic”. I workshopped LGBT pieces, with identities people had never even heard of, and watched as my workshopmates worked to understand what they were reading, and to dialogue with me on their reactions and experiences. I don’t think the cure is some kind of magical new workshop dialogue—I think the cure is loving and caring for each other, to the point that we are aware of how we can play into bigotry and are prepared to be told “that is not acceptable.” I have experienced that where I am at, in a relatively small program in a leftist area. I understand 100% that Chavez has not, at her prestigious university. This creates a lot of blind spots in her instruction, in my opinion. Here I’ll just quote from AJ Nolan’s review, because I think they summed it up best:

I also wish she would have acknowledged her privilege of her position as the Scholar-in-Residence at Colorado College, where I imagine she likely teaches a 2-2 or even 1-1 load, or the equivalent thereof with CC's Block system. Which is good, but it made it harder to imagine my adapting her techniques when I don't know if she was managing them with a student load of 20 or a load of 100 students, and also how many students she considered to be a workshop. In my university, we have 20 students in our undergraduate workshop, with no exceptions. And I teach a 4-4 load, usually with 3 different preps each semester. And rather than working in a private college with 2000 students, I teach in a public university with 25,000 students, a large portion of whom are POC and first generation students with little ability to afford to print as much as she recommends (nor does the university budget provide for faculty to print that much). So while I value the book for being anti-racist, and I absolutely am incorporating a lot of her ideas, the lack of either acknowledgement or awareness of difference in faculty's loads and circumstances, and of public university student's differing experiences, was a little off putting.

That was a really important element to me. I see how and why Chavez’s methods work for her, but they were impossible to fully enact for the teacher who used just Critical Response Process in our class, who wound up not having (eg) pre- and post-workshop meetings. I highly value these, and would have loved them, but I understood that my teacher simply didn’t have the time for that with her courseload and salary. There needs to be room for other circumstances in this book, and Chavez doesn’t seem to acknowledge that. At that point, if we’re expecting professors to spend all this time and for students to have the free time and schedules and printers to support all this… why don’t we take the leap and just imagine a world in which professors AREN’T uniformly white?

It is now time for you to scroll back up and re-read the first paragraph if you need a reminder of why I'm still rating this book four stars. I am, in some circles, considered white, and I'm not opposed to being made uncomfortable in the general discussion of race. It really is not always about me.

Still, what with the potentially conflicting messaging, the extremely strict and binary methodology Chavez offers, and the lack of acknowledgement of other potential circumstances, I personally found this book a little frustrating to read and attempt to apply. However, I did absolutely find a lot helpful in it, and wound up writing tons of things down and utilizing all sorts of suggestions in my own writing life. It’s not, ultimately, not worth reading—and I have recommended it, just as I do books like Save the Cat! , which are flawed but compulsively readable and ultimately nonetheless instructional.

[Tomasen Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEST professional book I have read in eons! A MUST read for all.