About
This session examines the hustle required to sustain a writing practice in an increasingly precarious economy, where artistic work itself is often underpaid, unstable, and dependent on short-term opportunities. For immigrant, newcomer, and refugee writers, these pressures are compounded by the demands of rebuilding a life in a new country, navigating the devaluation of previous experience and qualifications, and taking on other forms of work to survive. How do writers make a living? When do they write, what kinds of jobs do they take on, and what keeps them returning to the page despite financial pressure and uncertainty? The session also includes a theatrical performance based on Blessing O. Nwodo’s Time to Earn a Living that interrogates the absurdity of the phrase “earning a living,” questioning a system that demands proof of worth for the very act of being alive, and insisting instead on our inherent right not just to survive, but to live well.
Featuring: Blessing O. Nwodo, Mahnoor Khan, Janielle Browne
Moderator: TBD