Cancelled: Achy Obejas on The Art of Storytelling, A Cross-Cultural Experience, Jan. 13, 2024

Sadly, Achy was not able to attend in January. We hope to have her speak at a meeting next year.

Born in Havana, Cuba, **Achy Obejas**, a finalist for the 2023 John Dos Passos Prize, is the author of Boomerang/Bumerán, a unique and inspiring bilingual collection of poetry written in a bold, mostly gender-free English and Spanish that addresses immigration, displacement, love and activism. A journalist for two decades, she wrote for the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post. She has authored several novels including Memory Mambo, and The Tower of the Antilles, which among other honors, was a PEN/Faulkner finalist. Her novels include Ruins and Days of Awe, which was among the Los Angeles Times Best Books of the Year. Her poetry chapbook, This is What Happened in Our Other Life, was both a critical hit and a national best-seller. As a translator, Achy has worked with Wendy Guerra and Junot Díaz. Among her many awards, she was a recipient of fellowships from USA Artists, NEA and Cintas. She was a Writer in Residence at Mills College, Oakland and is an Adjunct Professor in USF’s Creative Writing program.

The Art of Storytelling, A Cross-Cultural Experience

For writers, storytelling is the process of weaving language into a concrete narrative, with the purpose of creating rich, believable experiences. It is the interactive art of using words and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while engaging the listener’s imagination.

In other words, storytellers don’t just relay facts: they use words in a way that the reader or listener can sit inside the story itself as though they were really there.

With examples from her own writing, Achy Obejas will share with us how: