Diversity, Equality, and Inclusiveness Statement

Everyone’s story is important—at Burlington Writers Workshop we value diversity, equality, and inclusivity, and welcome both new and experienced writers to tell these stories. Our door is open to people of all ethnicities, genders, cultures, belief systems, class backgrounds, ages (18 and over)*, abilities, and sexual orientations.

*You must be 18 or over to attend our workshops, however our public events are all ages.

We appreciate any feedback on this mission to keep Burlington Writers Workshop accessible and welcoming to all. Have a comment or question? Email us at feedback@burlingtonwritersworkshop.com.

Additional Resources on Being a Good Literary Participant

• “What Julio Cortázar Might Teach us About Teaching Writing,” by Pasha Malla, which challenges the idea that nothing outside of craft is fair game in a workshop. (But also makes cultural literacy all the more important.)
• “What Makes a Good Workshop Citizen” (conversation on GrubStreet’s blog), where dedicated writers and instructors talk about what makes someone a valuable member of a writing class.
• “Make No Apologies for Yourself,” by Khadijah Queen and Jillian Weise, on writers and disability.
• “Who Gets to Write What?” by Kaitlyn Greenridge, on cultural appropriation and writing from perspectives that aren’t our own.
• “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh’s foundational work on white privilege.
• “7 Casually Racist Things that White Authors Do,” by Mya Nunnally, which explores the everyday forms of racism that show up in writing.
• “White as the Default,” by Marissa Rei Sebastian, talking about the need for more diverse characters in books and the assumption that unless otherwise noted, all characters are white.
• “Who Can Tell My Story?” by Jacqueline Woodson, another great piece on cultural appropriation.
• “I Wanted to Know What White Men Thought About Their Privilege. So I Asked,” by Claudia Rankine, in which the brilliant Rankine examines her interactions with white men and asks them about their privilege.
• “How Women See How Male Authors See Them,” by Katy Waldman, a hilarious piece following the two-dimensional and objectifying way women are sometimes portrayed by men.
• “Thomas Pynchon Shows Us How White Writers Can Avoid Appropriation,” by Ariel Saramandi, on how Pynchon wrote responsibly about an African country.
• “Race, Publishing, and H.P. Lovecraft: A Conversation with Daniel José Older and Victor LaValle,” by Leah Schnelback, on the racist legacy of Lovecraft, the revolutionary power of happy endings, and marginalized voices in publishing.
• “Reckoning with the Insidious Myth of Positive Discrimination” by Monica Ali, on how people of color are judged in a literary landscape still heavily weighted in favor of white men.
• “What Should I Call You?” Vanderbilt University’s guide to using gender inclusive pronouns in classrooms. 
• “When Defending Your Writing Becomes Defending Yourself,” by Matthew Salesses (NPR).  
• “Who’s At the Center of the Workshop and Who Should Be,” by Mattew Salesses (Pleides blog).
• Much more from Matthew Salesses in his book, Craft in the Real World (Catapult, 2021).
• Book/memoir about the need to create healthy, sustaining writing communities: The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop (Haymarket, 2021), by Felcia Rose Chavez. 

Please note the above resource is a finite list of an infinite subject. If you know of resources, that would be a good edition to the above, please send them to the Ethics Committee.