First published 2021
Matthew Salesses targets the traditional writing workshop and its narrow definition of craft. He argues that current models serve white male writers while failing those from marginalized backgrounds. Salesses examines fundamental elements like plot, character, conflict, structure, and believability through a cultural lens. He questions Western assumptions about story progression and challenges workshop dynamics including the silenced writer and imagined reader concepts. Drawing from diverse examples ranging from One Thousand and One Nights to Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea, from Curious George to the Asian American novel No-No Boy, he demonstrates how cultural values shape storytelling expectations. The book includes practical exercises for teachers seeking to build inclusive syllabi and introduce new classroom methods. Students receive revision guidance and tools for examining their own work differently. Salesses calls for interrogating the lack of diversity in published literature and writing instruction, offering concrete ways to welcome different storytelling traditions into literary spaces.
Genres: literary-criticism, education, writing, non-fiction, academic, cultural-studies
Vibes: critical, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: challenging-assumptions, interrogation-of-norms
Setting: Asia, United States
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
256 pages · Kindle Edition · Catapult