How important is honesty when writing about situations that happened in real life?
We invited Jessica Anya Blau in conjunction with 826DC to talk about the pursuit of writing from life.
Advice from a critically acclaimed writer diving into the stories of her own life and the lives of people she knows, and the proverbial fine line between fact and fiction.
Food and drinks by mixologist Katie Nelson of The Columbia Room and chef Frederik De Pue of upcoming Table Restaurant.
In the old days most of us looked to religion for direction on how to live. Now we flick through the Sunday papers or surf the net, finding little by way of good counsel. Which is why we’ve asked cultural figures and leading minds to tell us what they see as the virtues to cling to, the vices to be wary of and the big questions to interrogate.
CULTURAL CONTRIBUTOR
Jessica Anya Blau is a celebrated author of Drinking Closer to Home, The Summer of Naked Swim Parties, and forthcoming The Wonder Bread Summer and visiting professor at Goucher College and Johns Hopkins University.
PartNER ORGANIZATION
826DC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Their services are structured around our understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with one-on-one attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. With this in mind they provide drop-in tutoring, field trips, after-school workshops, in-schools tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications. All of their programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in his or her individual voice.
