The Retreat will be held June 22-29, 2015 at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. Applications are now open online.
"The Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation was established by one of the first out gay playwrights to portray gay life unapologetically," said Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation President, James Waller. "For the past twenty years, we've supported LGBT performing and media arts through our production grant program and annual playwriting competition. Now, by helping Lambda Literary establish a playwriting workshop at its Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices, we are making a commitment to the future of LGBT theater. Lambda Literary has long been our community's greatest advocate for a robust, diverse LGBT literature, and we are very, very happy to be able to support and expand its work."
Lambda Literary's Writers Retreat is a residency designed to offer intensive and sophisticated instruction to selected lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer emerging writers over a carefully designed one-week period. The Retreat provides open access to industry professionals and the opportunity for writing fellows to create an ongoing community of practice as they advance in their craft and careers. It is one of Lambda's most important initiatives: it represents the future of LGBTQ literature and theater.
In additional to the new playwriting workshop led by Moraga, other Retreat faculty include Justin Torres (Fiction workshop), Linda Villarosa (Nonfiction workshop), Kazim Ali (Poetry workshop), and Sara Ryan (Genre Fiction workshop-emphasis on Young Adult Fiction and Graphic Novels). Applications to the summer residency are open online through January 5, 2015 (with an extension of 2 weeks for the playwriting workshop only because it was added late).
Entering its 9th year, the Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices has gained an international reputation for nurturing our most talented writers and building a highly accomplished, diverse and engaged community of artists committed to advancing LGBTQ literary arts.
"We're grateful to The Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation for expanding our workshop offerings to include LGBTQ playwriting," said Executive Director, Tony Valenzuela. "To have the incredible Cherríe Moraga teach the first year is an additional gift to the program. I encourage LGBTQ writers to apply for this one-of-a-kind opportunity."
