The Free Black Women's Library presents How to Use Punctuation Incorrectly

The Free Black Women's Library is a grassroots funded literary hub, social site, Black Feminist archive, and community care space that features over 5000 books by Black women and Black non-binary folks, as well as a wide range of free public programs, special events, and creative workshops, a free store, a period pantry, a backyard garden, a virtual reading club, and weekly book swap.
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The Free Black Women's Library
presents
How to Use Punctuation Incorrectly
A 4 part Writing Workshop Series
Led by Candice Lola
Saturdays, 3PM - 5PM
1/18, 1/25, 2/1, 2/8
How to Use Punctuation Incorrectly is a course that wants to exercise the inner voice. Punctuation mimics the natural rhythms of speech, the breaks, and rises and falls of intonation, the patterns we speak in, and even volume. Our inner reader's voice wants the same rhythms that are afforded to our speaking voice. It also changes volume and speech; it also wants to stop to take a breath. Using punctuation to surprise, fatigue, and even disorient the inner voice can invoke feelings that help us tell the story, or help readers to understand it better.
This guided discussion-based course examines the genre-bending works of three prosody-defying women. We will read weekly passages to observe the techniques these writers used to play with the inner voice of their readers, to fill in the gaps of language, and even to reassert humanity where it has been lost. We will also be looking for connections between the works themselves.
Facilitator's Bio
Candice Lola (she/her/hers) is a horror writer, essayist, and writing instructor based in Brooklyn, NY. She holds a master’s from NYU where she studied Black protest literature, human rights, and creative writing. Her penchant for deep research dives and cultural analysis has landed her essays with The Huffington Post, Honeysuckle Magazine, Today, Curls, Kinks & Culture, and other publications. She has published several short stories with Skidmark Zine, Midnight & Indigo Inaugural Issue, Midnight & Indigo Horror Edition, and Furious Lit Anthology. Candice Lola’s literary courses have been shared at Midnight & Indigo, Arizona State University, and small bookstores. She has years of experience as an editor and reader, and is also a TEDx presenter.

These are donation based writing workshops with funds collected going towards paying the facilitator for their time and labor.
Participants are asked to give anywhere between $5 and $20 to help offset costs to pay facilitator.
- Do not donate less than $5 to attend this workshop, it will be refunded and you will be removed from the list.
If you would like to attend and are not able to make a donation, please email us - [email protected] with the word PUNCTUATION in the subject line and we will add you to the sign up list.
Space is limited!!

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