Humanists possess a reservoir of scholarly abilities that prime them for contributing to debates well beyond the academy. This workshop will introduce participants to the basics of writing for broad audiences. We will discuss how to get started in public writing, including the pitching, writing, editing, and publishing processes of newspapers, magazines, and websites. We will also consider the forms of writing that most allow scholars to draw from their academic training: reviews, essays, op-eds, interviews, and profiles. Lastly, we will see how interdisciplinarity, comparativism, and multilingualism can be helpful for public writing of all kinds.
The workshop will be led by Bécquer Seguín, Assistant Professor of Iberian Studies, Johns Hopkins University. Professor Seguín is the author of The Op-Ed Novel: Spain and the Politics of Literary Persuasion (2024), senior editor of the MLN Hispanic Issue, and the author of essays and criticism in The Nation, Slate, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Awl, Dissent, Howler, Jacobin, and Public Books.
Space is limited: Please RSVP by August 30 to Anna Torres-Cacoullos (ait5095@illinois.edu).
