Sharing Our Stories: Coming-of-Age Storytellers’ Workshop

Interest List

Many LGBTQ+ and disability stories are described as coming-of-age narratives.

Yet, queer and disabled lives frequently unfold in ways that challenge the assumptions built into that genre, assumptions about recognition, identity, and belonging.

This workshop explores what happens when storytellers like us critically approach coming-of-age narratives with those questions in mind.

What this Workshop Explores

The Sharing Our Stories: Coming-of-Age Storytellers’ Workshop brings together LGBTQ+ and disabled storytellers interested in exploring the possibilities and limits of coming-of-age storytelling across media.

Participants may be working in fiction, memoir, poetry, theatre, film, comics, or hybrid forms.

They may also be at different stages of their storytelling process — from early ideas to projects that have already taken shape.

Three Core Pillars

The workshop combines three complementary approaches.

Critical exploration of the genre

Participants engage key ideas from queer theory and disability studies to examine how traditional coming-of-age narratives are structured and how LGBTQ+ and disability stories challenge those structures.

Community witnessing

Through guided group discussions and individual project workshopping, participants encounter their work as readers and listeners, experiencing how stories resonate with others.

Editorial engagement

Each participant receives dedicated editorial attention, including individual 1:1 meetings and developmental insight into their project.

Why an Interest List?

The first cohort will convene from mid-May through mid-July, 2026.

Joining the interest list means you’ll receive:

  • early details about structure and dates

  • advance notice when enrollment opens

  • reflections related to the workshop’s themes

There’s no obligation to participate later.

Join the Interest List