PEN in the Community‘s Teaching Artist in Residency at Fairfax High School
Pete’s freshmen creative writing workshop published their anthology and had their public reading on Friday December 1st at the Greenway Theater in Mid-City LA. 30 students worked with Pete and authors Chris Terry, Shawna Kenney, and Chiwan Choi to produce over 30 pieces of short fiction and poetry based on Chris Terry’s “Foreign Americans” curriculum.
From the anthology introduction:
Stories about being from LA and growing up here, and also being from somewhere else, and also about going somewhere else, in the U.S. or the world or the beyond. Stories about being a stranger in a strange land, and hating it, or loving it; losing your way, or finding your way. Stories about the journey. And stories about the destination.
The PITC Writer in Residence program is a generative writing workshop that takes place in a classroom, community center, nonprofit organization, shelter, or reservation over the course of 6 to 12 weeks. Written work collected during the residency is published by PEN Center USA in PITC anthologies, which are windows into participants’ lives—their struggles, hopes, and experiences. PITC teaching artists are selected from PEN Center USA’s diverse membership to best match the needs of the community where they will teach. An interested writer may also apply to become a PITC teaching artist and subsequently become a PEN Center USA member. All PITC teaching artists must also be PEN Center USA members.
Pete Hsu 