Experiments in Writing Sex
with playwright & screenwriter
Amital Stern
February 15, 09:30-15:00
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Testimonials from February 15, 2018:
'Amital Stern's workshop at WriteSpace Jerusalem was everything I'd want a writing workshop to be: stimulating, invigorating, thoughtful, constructive. The connection I developed almost immediately with my fellow writers and with Amital created a space in which I could use my writing to therapeutically heal. Yes, heal! I encourage you to take advantage of what WriteSpace Jerusalem has to offer. You'll be giving yourself a gift you richly deserve. Thank you, Nadia and Amital! That day will stay with me always.' - R.E.
'I have been to two WriteSpace workshops - Story Foundations taught by Nadia Jacobson and Batnadiv Weinberg, and a day-long seminar taught by Amital Stern. The workshops are focused and enriching, with creative prompts and a good balance between group sharing, writing, and learning elements of the craft. I have thoroughly enjoyed each one, gaining valuable new perspectives from the instructors and participants alike. Since participating in the workshops I have been introduced to a flourishing community of creative English writers in Israel, in which WriteSpace Jerusalem plays a central role.' - A.A.
'Amital Stern's workshop at WriteSpace Jerusalem was everything I'd want a writing workshop to be: stimulating, invigorating, thoughtful, constructive. The connection I developed almost immediately with my fellow writers and with Amital created a space in which I could use my writing to therapeutically heal. Yes, heal! I encourage you to take advantage of what WriteSpace Jerusalem has to offer. You'll be giving yourself a gift you richly deserve. Thank you, Nadia and Amital! That day will stay with me always.' - R.E.
'I have been to two WriteSpace workshops - Story Foundations taught by Nadia Jacobson and Batnadiv Weinberg, and a day-long seminar taught by Amital Stern. The workshops are focused and enriching, with creative prompts and a good balance between group sharing, writing, and learning elements of the craft. I have thoroughly enjoyed each one, gaining valuable new perspectives from the instructors and participants alike. Since participating in the workshops I have been introduced to a flourishing community of creative English writers in Israel, in which WriteSpace Jerusalem plays a central role.' - A.A.
© Nan Goldin
Writing sex can be tricky. Often writers play it safe, clinging to predictable tropes, repeating familiar language and narratives inherited through a history of airbrushed or fetishized portrayals. Other writers avoid writing sex at all.
But like other acts of writing, writing sex is an encounter with the ugly-messy-vulnerable-pleasure-pain of human life. This workshop is an invitation to an encounter: a lab experiment in which we will approach writing sex as entering unknown territory, leaving behind expectations, allowing for new language and form to emerge. Through these experiments in reading texts*, watching scenes*, and writing exercises, we will explore, deconstruct, and re-envision the sex scene. We will consider questions such as: How do sex scenes set in liminal spaces play with boundaries of sacred/profane, danger/allure? What does it mean to risk abjection in writing? Where do desire, disgust and creation intersect? Can depictions of pleasure be redeemed? We will look at scenes from works such as: Eileen Myles' Inferno, Book of Genesis 38, Lena Dunham's Tiny Furniture, Nan Goldin's The Ballad of Sexual Dependency, texts by Audre Lord, Kathy Acker, and more… Female-identifying writers of all genres are welcome. * Please be aware that the scenes we will be reading and watching contain depictions of sex and nudity.
Details:Minimum/Maximum No. Participants: 8/14
Cost: 450 NIS in advance, 500 NIS on the door (if places still available). This includes light snacks and tea/coffee, not lunch. Location: Talbiya, Jerusalem (more details upon registration). Registration: Sign up below and we will be in touch. Payment can be made via bank transfer, cheque/check or cash (by special arrangement).. Cancellation policy: If you cancel within one week of the class and your place cannot be filled, you will be asked to cover the total cost of the seminar. |
Raised in small cities across North America, Amital Stern writes for theater, film and more. She earned an M.A. in Comparative Literature from Hebrew University, and studied screenwriting at the Sam Spiegel School of Film and Television. Her works for theater include: In Waiting, winner of the Fred Simmons Arts Prize; Hunger Artist, performed at the Theatronetto Festival, Jerusalem Fringe Festival, Arab-Israeli Theater in Jaffa and other venues; Aliza, a site-specific theater production now haunting abandoned buildings in Jerusalem.
Testimonials from June 14, 2018:
'Amital’s conception of what we were doing together, and how to write about sex, was transformational… Amital’s sequence of writing exercises made me realize that writing about sex was writing about our life and death force, and breaking taboos about what you could write about transformed every part of my writing that day, and I have continued to mull over these insights over the past month. I’m inspired by Amital’s sense of urgency about reading and writing, and their transformational effect.' 'Amital began each session with a range of texts and images, drawn from many genres and worlds, for us to engage with and to prompt us into our own writing. Along with making for rich reading and conversation, this did the work of creating a writing space which was expansive and free of judgment, where I felt safe to experiment with my own writing style and to explore my thoughts, wherever they may go. Amital's experience and her entirely accepting presence created a tone where it became easy for all of us to jump in, cover a lot of ground and go deep in a relatively short amount of time. It was one of the most original and enriching writing workshops I've ever taken part in, and would welcome the opportunity to do another one with her.' |