Voice Collection


In this Craft Talk Pack, we feature writers who teach us how to utilize voice to enliven our stories and characters.


Lina Ferreira

Click for video

 

Lina discusses her work as a non-fiction writer coming from Columbia and speaking both English and Spanish. She considers the balance of writing with translation and attempting to preserve meaning while keeping the character's natural voice. She discusses writing as a truth-telling process, as well as how to think about lying in non-fiction.

Keywords: Translation; truth-telling; voice


Alisa Ganieva

Click for video: 22:22-35:40

 

Alisa discusses her work as a fiction writer and how to use a large "orchestra" of voices, including the voice of the community and setting. She also explores the challenge and importance of doing political writing in the modern era.

Keywords: Voice; Setting; Political writing


El Jones

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El discusses her work as a spoken word poet and the importance of embracing one's voice and story in writing. She empowers us to embrace our own personal story in our writing and to trust our ear as we construct the sound of a poem and ultimately perform it live.

Keywords: Voice; Social identity; Tone; Performance


Horacio Castellanos Moya

Click for video: 27:20

 

Horacio discusses his work as a fiction writer and the importance of voice in their development of plot, setting, and the rest of the story. He discusses the sensory process of using voice to craft a story and setting.

Keywords: Voice; character development; setting


Mary Jo Bang

Click for video: 2:35-14:40

 

Mary Jo discusses her work as a poet and the power of using sound and music in our poetry. She explores the process of sensory experience when we read poetry and the importance of intentionality when we write sensory words.

Keywords: Music; sound; voice