Faith. Belief. Tenets and traditions we hold dear. How do we explain our faith during difficult times? How do we describe the indescribable?  How do writers talk about their faith in a culture that either relegates the supernatural to the Syfy channel, or dismisses religious devotion and orthodoxy to the most vocal churches and politicians on the extremes?  How can writers feel comfortable sharing aspects of their faith in essays, memoir, and fiction? And how can writing be just as transformative to the writer, as it might be to the reader? 

This writing workshop is open to any person of any faith, even those who have struggled with having a faith at all anymore or lost their faith. Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Pagan, Jew, Agnostic. Since this is a class about writing about your personal faith, I wouldn’t want to require someone who doesn’t want to have a faith, or who identifies as atheist, to participate. You need to have a desire to talk about a former faith, a current faith, still respecting the struggle. No one should feel defensive or required to prove the existence of a higher power. It doesn’t mean we won’t find writers who critique faith as it is practiced in their own circles, but it does mean that we are not here to dismiss anyone’s faith out of hand.

I do ask every participant to be open and inclusive to the opinions of others and not feel threatened in their own belief if someone believes differently. Also, since your workshop leader is a gay Christian man, a welcoming, affirming spirit towards queer people, and anyone else, is a requirement.

We will read short works by contemporary writers that might include Elie Weisel, Andre Dubus, Gregory Boyle, Frederika Mathews-Greene, Martin Luther King Jr., Faith Adiele, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Dalai Lama, Wendell Berry, Lauren Winner, Kathleen Norris, Annie Dillard, Mark Doty, Marilynne Robinson, and others, with the goal of producing our own creative work that we will workshop in class.  Students will produce several short writings, at least a draft towards a more substantial writing, with the help of feedback from fellow writers, and we will talk about how writing about faith can help us understand our faith better, and understand others better.

You should enjoy reading, especially reading authors who may challenge your beliefs or may require openness and understanding.

You need to be able to listen to fellow students who have different faiths, different levels of devotion to their faiths, and difference overall.

To sign up for this course, email me at jeromestueart@gmail.com

Jerome Stueart (2007 Clarion Workshop) is a queer illustrator, writer, and professional tarot reader.  His writing has appeared in F&SF, Tor.com, On Spec, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, Geist, and elsewhere. He was a finalist for a 2020 World Fantasy Award in Short Fiction for “Postlude to the Afternoon of a Faun” (F&SF).  His PhD in English (Texas Tech U) with specialties in Creative Writing, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Spiritual Memoir put him forever in debt, but has allowed him to live and work as a teacher part-time for more than 25 years, running writing workshops in academia and through city programming, in schools, in churches and online. Both American and Canadian (Yukon), he lives now in Dayton, Ohio.