Writing Workshop

Written by Maia Furer

While academic workshops prove beneficial to attendees, those less familiar, such as science fiction writing workshops, are beneficial in addition to amusing and engaging. From September 16, 2015 to September 19, 2015, the University of Hawaii at Manoa presented Creating Futures Rooted in Wonder: Bridges Between Indigenous, Science fiction, and Fairy Tale Studies. This program consisted of guest speakers, performers, and workshops

Two University of Hawaii at Hilo students had the opportunity to attend Creating Futures Rooted in Wonder. English majors Terri Pinyerd and Maia Furer went to a literature and performance showcase that featured authors such as Walidah Imarisha and Nisi Shawl, among others. Poetry and short story readings, all with themes of injustice and science, comprised the performance section of the showcase.

The audience of the performance section of the showcase Pinyerd and Furer attended. Photo courtesy of Terri Pinyerd.

Pinyerd and Furer also attended a science fiction writing workshop hosted by Walidah Imarisha and Gabriel Teodros. Split into groups, participants found themselves needing to create their own science fiction worlds. Each group handled this part of the workshop as a whole; however, each member soon found themselves needing to create their own characters within their group's world. The two hour writing workshop expanded students' writing skills.

“It was a great experience! It was not what I expected, I thought it would be long and tireless but It was much more interactive than I thought. It really helped me develop ideas and get the ball rolling. And I found I was able to apply a lot of what I learned in school to how I developed stories,” Pinyerd explained.