Writing Workshop: What Disability in Fairy Tale Can Teach Us (not to do)

What is the function of disability in literature? What is the impact of this on our understanding of disability? How can we write about bodies in a way that does not perpetuate these notions? In this workshop, we look at the use of a variety of bodies as metaphor, the ways this use can perpetuate physiognomy and disability tropes, and how we can instead write bodies with care and nuance. Following this lecture/discussion, participants will be guided through individual and group writing exercises that present strategies for generating surprising stories/plots through this examination of expected functions and metaphors. Please bring a lunch.