Talk and Book Signing with Author Alex Temblador

Meet author Alex Temblador at your Flagship HPB on Thursday, August 21at 7 p.m. Joined in conversation with Lauren Brazeal Garza, they'll discuss Alex's latest book, Writing An Identity Not Your Own: A Guide for Creative Writers, a practical guide to help authors authentically write and edit a character whose identity is different than their own. Tickets include a copy of the book.

About Writing An Identity Not Your Own: A Guide for Creative Writers

Do you have the tools to authentically write and edit a character whose identity is different than your own? It’s not a subject that’s generally taught in creative writing programs, and there are so few craft books and online resources on the subject. Even if you can take a seminar, class, or workshop, there’s nothing like having an easy-to-understand book on hand to provide guidance and insight every time you craft characters with historically marginalized identities.In Writing an Identity Not Your Own, award-winning author Alex Temblador discusses one of the most contentious topics in creative writing: crafting a character whose identity is historically marginalized. What is “identity,” and how do unconscious biases and bias blocks impact and influence what we write? What is intersectionality? You’ll learn about identity terms, stereotypes, and tropes, and receive genre-specific advice related to various identities to consider when writing different races and ethnicities, sexual and romantic orientations, gender identities, disabilities, nationalities, and more. Through writing strategies, exercises, and literary excerpts, writers will gain a clearer understanding on how misrepresentations and harmful portrayals can appear in storylines, dialogue, and characterization. Alex will guide writers from the brainstorming phase through the editing process so they can gain a full understanding of the complexities of writing other identities and why it’s important to get them right.

About Alex Temblador

Alex Temblador is the award-winning author of Writing An Identity Not Your Own, Half Outlaw, and Secrets of the Casa Rosada. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma and was a contributor to Living Beyond Borders: Growing Up Mexican in America and Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology. Her creative writing has appeared in PALABRITAS, D Magazine, and Colorado Review.

About Lauren Brazeal Garza

Lauren Brazeal Garza is the author of four books of poetry and fiction including her memoir-in-verse, Gutter, which chronicles her homelessness as a teenager. She earned her M.F.A in creative writing from Bennington College and her Ph.D. in Literature from The University of Texas at Dallas with a specialty in testimonial literature and narratives from marginalized voices. Lauren teaches literature at UT Dallas and regularly offers creative writing workshops at independent writing schools like Writing Workshops (partnered with Electric Lit) and Hudson Valley Writer’s Center.

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