South-Asian Young Writers’ Collective (SYWC) is about writing as South-Asian American girls. SYWC is an exciting summer workshop for high school girls, that will meet three times a week at Asian Arts Initiatives (AAI) in Chinatown, Philadelphia, during July and August. Participants will engage in discussions and writing exercises in class, reflect at home in a personal journal, as well as create and contribute to an online blog as a group. Each week, we will explore different themes like labels and identities, gender, food, South-Asians in the media, and applying to college.

In addition, we will have a number of field trips on Fridays and feature writers Bushra Rehman and Kishwer Vikaas, and Samip Malik from South Asian American Digital Archives, as guest speakers.

SYWC will be an opportunity for South-Asian American girls in two main ways:

1. SYWC is a forum for creative self-expression of South-Asian American identity. We approach writing not merely as a technical skill, but also a method to explore the South-Asian diaspora.

2. SYWC is also a safe space to develop a South-Asian American network by exploring our shared identities, differences and establishing personal relationships.  Funded by the Swarthmore Foundation, SYWC is the summer project of Afsana Oreen and Sabrina Singh of Swarthmore College.

Details Dates: 07/08/13 – 08/21/13

Days: Mondays and Wednesdays, with some Fridays for field trips

Time: 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with an hour for lunch (provided) at noon

The priority deadline for applications is 06/21/13. We encourage all woman-identifying high school students who are interested in reading, writing, and the South Asian American identity to apply. Application and the program are both free of charge.

Email us at sywc13@gmail.com for an application, or to ask questions.

Please also Like on on Facebook for updates!

https://www.facebook.com/sywcaai?fref=ts

Sincerely,

Sabrina Singh, ’15

Swarthmore College South-Asian Young Writers’s Collective, Co-Founder