The Center for the Literary Arts has announced the Fall 2024 cohort for its Creative Practice Workshop.
These four Arts & Sciences faculty members will join the workshop to produce and share work in a highly collaborative, interdisciplinary workspace.
“We are excited to watch as our newest group of Creative Practice Workshop fellows develop their projects and utilize one another’s expertise,” said Danielle Dutton, co-director of the Center for the Literary Arts. “This is fertile ground for big ideas to flourish.”
The Fall 2024 Creative Practice Workshop will be led by Ignacio Infante, co-director of the CLA. The four participants will begin their residencies in the Fall 2024 semester:
G’Ra Asim, assistant professor of English
Asim will develop the manuscript for his next creative nonfiction book, 99 Problems Finding the 1. The book will explore the pitfalls of 21st-century love, as viewed from Asim’s personal experiences in the “unforgiving climate of contemporary bachelorhood.” Facing hurdles posed by technology, upbringing, and societal skepticism toward traditional romance, Asim seeks to discover new definitions of love in a rapidly changing world.
Nancy E. Berg, professor of Hebrew language and literature
Berg is compiling an anthology of literary works from Israel by Mizrachi women writers. The CLA fellowship will give her the time and support to translate the pieces not available in English. Describing the project as one of “reclamation, revision, and rectification,” Berg notes that the authors selected have often been overlooked or less considered due to their gender and their family backgrounds from Arab and Islamic lands.
Todd Decker, Paul Tietjens Professor of Music
Decker will work on the first draft of a new non-fiction book: My Classical Music (and Yours). During the Covid pandemic, Decker watched as his younger son fell in love with classical music, reigniting his own appreciation for the artform. That experience inspired Decker to reconsider how centuries-old composers fit into contemporary life, and how their works continue to capture the hearts of modern listeners.
Julia Walker, chair of the Performing Arts Department, professor of English and performing arts
Walker will adapt Anthony Sattin’s nonfiction book, Nomads: The Wanderers Who Shaped Our World, into a stage play. Each act of the play will correspond to a chapter in the book, focusing on early human mythologies, infamous nomadic conquerors like Chinggis (a.k.a. Genghis) Khan, and indigenous traditions of caring for the earth's natural resources.
