“How to Survive as a Writer Under American Capitalism” Reading & Talk by Rita Banerjee – University of North Dakota * October 7, 7pm CT on Zoom

Dr. Rita Banerjee will be reading from her personal essay “American Caste” and presenting a short lecture on “How to Survive as a Writer under American Capitalism” for the University of North Dakota Virtual Speakers Series in Writing, Editing, & Publishing on Tuesday, October 7 at 7 pm CT via Zoom. Audience members can join the Zoom webinar by scanning the QR Code above. And here’s more information about the talk:

How to Survive as a Writer under American Capitalism

In the 21st Century, creative writers in the United States are facing unprecedented challenges to their discipline, craft, and survival. In 2025 alone, writers have witnessed large cuts in government funding for universities and humanities departments, the suspension of the NEA Fellowship for Creative Writers, and a number of class-action lawsuits against Artificial Intelligence companies, such as Bartz vs. Anthropic, in which A.I. companies are accused of illegally downloading 7.5 million literary and scholarly books and 81 million research papers to train their Large Language Model systems.[1] In this era of late capitalism, how can writers find viable ways to maintain and grow in their craft, seek the education in the humanities they desire, and create sustainable careers and communities in creative writing? As a multi-genre writer who is deeply inspired by world literature and transnationalism, Dr. Rita Banerjee will discuss her journey as a writer and literary citizen, and will share resources on how creative writers can create sustainable, nurturing, and viable careers, writing practices, and literary communities despite the pressures of American capitalism.

About the Author:

Rita Banerjee is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and Director of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She received her doctorate in Comparative Literature from Harvard University and her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington. She is editor of the forthcoming anthology Disobedient Futures (University Press of Kentucky) in which writers imagine what the future cultures of the United States and the world could look like if folks disobeyed gender, tribal, and class paradigms, and explored disobedient forms of environmentalism and borders. She is also the author of CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writing, the poetry collections Echo in Four Beats and Cracklers at Night, the novella โ€œA Night with Kaliโ€ in Approaching Footsteps, and is co-writer of Burning Down the Louvre, a forthcoming documentary film about race, tribalism, and intimacy in the United States and in France. Her work appears in Sign & Breath: Voice and the Literary Tradition, Academy of American Poets, Poets & Writers, PANK, Nat. Brut., Hunger Mountain, Tupelo Quarterly, Isele, Vermont Public Radio, and elsewhere. She serves as Senior Editor of the South Asian Avant-Garde and Executive Creative Director of the Cambridge Writersโ€™ Workshop, which she co-founded at Harvard in 2008. She received a Vermont Arts Council Creation Grant for her new memoir and manifesto on female cool, and one of the bookโ€™s opening chapters โ€œBirth of Cool,โ€ was a Notable Essay in the 2020 Best American Essays, and another chapter, โ€œThe Female Gaze,โ€ was a Notable Essay in the 2023 Best American Essays.


[1] Reisner, Alex. โ€œThe Unbelievable Scale of AIโ€™s Pirated Book Problem.โ€ The Atlantic. Online. March 20, 2025.

What the Universe Is Reading feat. Rita Banerjee & Amanda Shaw – February 11, 2025 * 7:30 pm EST on Zoom

Poet Michael Mercurio hosts and curates “What the Universe Is,” a poetry reading series featuring poets and writers Rita Banerjee and Amanda Shaw reading at 7:30 pm EST on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. Register for the reading on Zoom and join the reading live at: bit.ly/WTUIFeb2025! And here’s more information about the reading & writers below:

Make some time for poetry during this shortest of months. Come hear two exceptional poets read for you on Zoom, so you donโ€™t have to leave the house in these cold & dark days. Let these poets bring you light & warmth! ย 

Rita Banerjee is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and Director of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She is author of Disobedient Futures, CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writing, Echo in Four Beats, โ€œA Night with Kaliโ€ in Approaching Footsteps, and Cracklers at Night, and co-writer of the documentary Burning Down the Louvre. Her work appears in Academy of American Poets, Poets & Writers, PANK, Nat. Brut., Hunger Mountain, Tupelo Quarterly, Isele, Vermont Public Radio, and elsewhere. She serves as Senior Editor of the South Asian Avant-Garde and Executive Creative Director of the Cambridge Writersโ€™ Workshop. She received a Vermont Arts Council Creation Grant for her new memoir and manifesto on female cool, and one of the bookโ€™s opening chapters โ€œBirth of Cool,โ€ was a Notable Essay in the 2020 Best American Essays, and another chapter, โ€œThe Female Gaze,โ€ was a Notable Essay in the 2023 Best American Essays

Amanda Shaw is the author of It Will Have Been So Beautiful (Lily Poetry Review Books, 2024). Based in Washington, DC, she is a teacher and editor at the World Bank and other international organizations. Her poems have appeared in LEON Literary Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, The Mid-Atlantic Review, and Lily Poetry Review, which she recently joined as the reviews editor. Over the last 25 years, she has taught students of all ages and backgrounds in New York, Boston, Detroit, and Rome, Italy. 

Itโ€™s very easy to register at bit.ly/WTUIFeb2025 โ€” make sure you donโ€™t miss out!

KCAW Raven Radio’s “The Library Show feat. Rita Banerjee” airs May 7, 2023 – 10:30 am AKDT

During the the Tongass Mist Writing Retreat (April 12-16, 2023) in Sitka, Alaska, Visiting Rita Banerjee sat down with Brooke Shafer, one of the hosts of “The Library Show” on Raven Radio (KCAW, 104.7 FM Sitka, Alaska). Brooke Shafer asked Rita Banerjee about her favorite books, current reads, what drew her to writing, what it’s like to teach creative writing, and the memoir and manifesto on female cool that she currently working on. Banerjee also got a chance to read from “Cool as Kin,” a new chapter from her memoir on-air.

KCAW Raven Radio will be airing Brooke Shafer’s interview and conversation with Rita Banerjee on Sunday, May 7, 10:30 am Alaska Time (2:30 pm EDT, 11:30 am PDT). And you can listen to “The Library Show” broadcast live (or download it) on May 7 on Raven Radio at:

https://www.kcaw.org/program-schedule/

Tongass Mist Writing Retreat featuring Visiting Writer Rita Banerjee in Sitka, Alaska (April 13-16, 2023)

The Tongass Mist Writing Retreat featuring Visiting Writer Rita Banerjee will take place at the Tongass Fine Arts Campus in Sitka, Alaska from April 12-16, 2023. Applications are now open through March 19, 2023 at tongassmist.com.

Tongass Mist Writing is owned and operated by Ruth Underhill @ruth_elizabeth_underhill, a local Sitkan with a dream to see more writers experience and cherish the mists of the Tongass National Forest with the knock of raven call and sound of rocks rolling up the shores of this beautiful Tlingit Aรกni land where she lives as a very lucky guest. Ruth shapes retreats and writing resources to allow #artists to carry its wild and beauty into their diverse and empowered writing. The retreat includes lodging on an oceanfront campus, daily meals, wilderness excursions, six literary salons, fireside readings, a wildlife cruise, and sauna. Tongass Mist welcomes its second visiting writer to Sitka in April 2023. Rita Banerjee will join the Sitka Fine Arts Campus April 12-16th for a four day retreat featuring wilderness excursions, generative writing salons, readings by a fire, literary craft talks and the incomparable experience of creating, enjoying a welcoming art community in the heart of the Tongass National Forest. Rita comes to visit us with incredible experience writing, film making, teaching, publishing and directing writing programs across the country. To apply, submit an application on the Tongass Mist Writing Retreat website by March 19, 2023 at 3 pm Alaska Standard Time.

The Vermont Arts Council awards Rita Banerjee a Creation Grant for her new memoir and manifesto on female cool

The Vermont Art Council announces that Rita Banerjee is among the 23 outstanding writers and artists who received a Creation Grant, one of its most sought-after award this year. The grant is funded in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, state, and private donors. Banerjee received a Creation Grant to support the creation of her memoir and manifesto of how female “cool” subverts social, sexual, and economic pressure. Recently, one of the opening chapters of Banerjee’s book “Birth of Cool” was named a Notable Essay in the Best American Essays 2020. Here is more information about her memoir-in-progress:

In Rita Banerjee’s new memoir and manifesto, she demonstrates that for women, and especially young women of color, keeping oneโ€™s cool is a psychic shield against social trauma.ย  Cultivating female cool is what allows women to subvert social, sexual, and economic pressure.ย  The memoir follows Banerjee as she keeps her cool through 9/11, the 2008 and 2020 stock market crashes, #MeToo, Trumpism, and the pandemic, and in doing so, finds her own agency and self-expression.

Among this yearโ€™s Creation Grant winning proposals are works that span visual arts, literary arts, dance, music, film, and multidisciplinary fields, including a music video exploring unjust land ownership for African Americans;ย a nonfiction book tracing five generations beginning in Iran and ending in Vermont; a tintype photography series capturing Vermont women and aging; and several works exploring social justice themes.

Artistic excellence is the most important criteria in evaluating an application for this highly competitive award. A record 202 applications were received for the FY2022 program, collectively requesting a total of $808,000.

The Council typically has funding to support approximately 12-15% of requests for the annual grant. But thanks to the Vermont Community Foundationโ€™s Arts Endowment Fund, along with generous contributions from Vermont Performance Lab and individual donors, the Council was able to provide eight additional Creation Grants this year.

Recipients were selected by two independent panels comprised of 28 practicing Vermont artists and arts professionals. Applicants could submit audio or video files for their proposals in place of written applications.

“The range of artistic talent in Vermont takes my breath away,” said Vermont Arts Council Executive Director Karen Mittelman. “We are pleased that new partnerships and generous private donations — so vital in this pandemic year — have enabled us to support the creative endeavors of twenty-three outstanding artists.”

For more information about the Creation Grant program, visit https://www.vermontartscouncil.org/grants/artists/creation

CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writing (C&R Press, May 2018) Now Available for Pre-Order!

Rita Banerjee’s edited volumeย CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writing (C&R Press, May 2018) is now available for pre-order!ย  The cover illustration has been designed by Eugenia Loli, and the anthology is edited by writers Rita Banerjee and Diana Norma Szokolyai and assistant editors Alexander Carrigan and Megan Jeanine Tilley.ย  You can nowย  pre-orderย CREDO on the C&R Press Website hereย and on Amazon.com!

Here is some information about theย CREDO:

CREDO. I believe. No other statement is so full of intent and subversion and power. A Credo is a call to arms. It is a declaration. A Credo is the act of an individual pushing back against society, against established stigmas, taboos, values, and norms. A Credo provokes. It desires change. A Credo is an artist or community challenging dogma, and putting oneself on the front line. A Credo is art at risk. A Credo can be a marker of revolution. A Credo, is thus, the most calculating and simple form of a manifesto.

CREDO creates a bridge from the philosophical to the practical, presenting a triad of creative writing manifestos, essays on the craft of writing, and creative writing exercises.ย CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writingย is a raw look at what motivates authors today.

Contributing Authors:

Kazim Ali \ Forrest Anderson \ Rita Banerjee \ Lisa Marie Basile \ย Jaswinder Bolina \ Stephanie Burt \ Alexander Carrigan \ Sam Chaย \ย Melinda J. Combs \ Thade Correa \ Jeff Fearnside \ Ariel Franciscoย \ย John Guzlowski \ Rachael Hanel \ Janine Harrison \ Lindsay Illichย \ย Douglas Charles Jackson \ Caitlin Johnson \ Christine Johnson-Duellย \ย Jason Kapcala \ Richard Kenney \ Eva Langston \ John Laue \ Stuart Lishanย \ย Ellaraine Lockie \ Amy MacLennan \ Kevin McLellan \ E. Ce. Millerย \ย Brenda Moguez \ Peter Mountford \ Nell Irvin Painter \ Robert Pinskyย \ย Kara Provost \ Camille Rankine \ Jessica Reidy \ Amy Rutten \ Elisabeth Sharp McKettaย \ย David Shields \ Lillian Ann Slugocki \ Maya Sonenberg \ Kathleen Spivackย \ย Laura Steadham Smith \ Molly Sutton Kiefer \ Jade Sylvan \ Anca L. Szilรกgyiย \ย Diana Norma Szokolyai \ Marilyn L. Taylor \ Megan Jeanine Tilley \ Suzanne Van Damย \ย Nicole Walker \ Allyson Whipple \ Shawn Wong \ Caroll Yang \ Matthew Zapruder

Editors:

ritabanerjeeRita Banerjeeย the Executive Creative Director of the Cambridge Writersโ€™ Workshop and editor ofย CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writingย (C&R Press, May 2018).ย  She is the author of the poetry collectionย Echo in Four Beats (Finishing Line Press, March 2018), which was a finalist for the Red Hen Press Benjamin Saltman Award, Three Mile Harbor Poetry Prize, and Aquarius Press / Willow Books Literature Award, the novella โ€œA Night with Kaliโ€ inย Approaching Footstepsย (Spider Road Press, 2016), and the poetry chapbookย Cracklers at Nightย (Finishing Line Press, 2010).ย She received her doctorate in Comparative Literature from Harvard and her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington, and her writing appears inย theย Academy of American Poets,ย Poets & Writers,ย Nat. Brut.,ย The Scofield,ย The Rumpus, Painted Bride Quarterly, Mass Poetry,ย Hyphen Magazine, Los Angeles Review of Books,ย Electric Literature, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, AWP WC&C Quarterly, Queen Mobโ€™s Tea House, Riot Grrrl Magazine, The Fiction Project, Objet dโ€™Art,ย KBOO Radioโ€™sย APA Compass, and elsewhere. ย She received her doctorate in Comparative Literature from Harvard and her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington.ย  She is an Associate Scholar of Comparative Literature at Harvard and teaches at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany.ย  She is the judge for theย 2017 Minerva Rising โ€œDare to Speakโ€ Poetry Chapbook Contest,ย and she is currently working on a novel, a documentary film about race and intimacy, a book on South Asian literary modernisms, and a collection of lyric essays on race, sex, politics, and everything cool.

Headshot.McCarrenPark,WillamsburgDiana Norma Szokolyaiย is a writer and Executive Artistic Director of Cambridge Writersโ€™ Workshop. Her edited volume,CREDO: An Anthology of Manifestos and Sourcebook for Creative Writingย , will be released by C&R Press in May 2018. ย She is author of the poetry collectionsย Parallel Sparrowsย (honorable mention for Best Poetry Book in the 2014 Paris Book Festival) andย Roses in the Snowย (first runner-ยญup Best Poetry Book at the 2009 DIY Book Festival). She also records her poetry with musicians and has collaborated with several composers including David Krebs (US), Robert Lemay (Canada), Claudio Gabriele (Italy), Peter James (UK), Jason Haye (UK), and Sebastian Wesman (Estonia). Diana Norma is a founding member of the performing arts groups Sounds in Bloom, ChagallPAC, and The Brooklyn Soundpainting Ensemble. ย Her poetry-music collaboration with Flux Without Pause, โ€œSpace Mothlight,โ€ hit #16 on the Creative Commons Hot 100 list in 2015, and can be found in the curated WFMU Free Music Archive. Herย work has been recently reviewed byย The London Gripย and published inย VIDA: Reports from the Field,ย The Fiction Project,ย Quail Bell Magazine, Lyre Lyre, The Boston Globe, Dr. Hurleyโ€™s Snake Oil Cure,ย The Dudley Reviewย andย Up the Staircase Quarterly,ย The Million Line Poem, The Cambridge Community Poem, and elsewhere,ย as well as anthologized inย Our Last Walk,ย The Highwaymen NYC #2, Other Countries: Contemporary Poets Rewiring History, Always Wondering,ย andย Teachers as Writers.ย ย She is currently at work on her next book andย an album of poetry & music. ย Diana Norma holds aย M.A. in French (UCONN, La Sorbonne) and anย Ed.M in Arts in Education (Harvard). ย Diana Norma Szokolyai is represented byย Nat Kimber (The Rights Factory).

Pre-Order CREDO on the C&R Press website here or on Amazon.com!

Applications Open for the Cambridge Writersโ€™ Workshop Summer in Paris Writing Retreat (July 25-30, 2018)!

Theย Cambridge Writersโ€™ Workshop Summer in Paris Writing Retreatย will take place fromย July 25-30, 2018.ย  Situated in heart of Parisโ€™ Montparnasse neighborhood, amongst the fresh and popular open air markets and charming boutiques, the hotel stay is full of Parisian charm and our classes will take place in a beautiful Moroccan themed room that opens to a courtyard that can also be used by our writers.ย  Retreat activities will include craft of writing seminars and creative writing workshops, literary tours of Paris.ย If youโ€™re serious about writing and want to soak in some exquisite French culture this summer, join our retreat in Paris!ย  ย The faculty includes award-winning writersย Kathleen Spivack, Kristina Marie Darling,ย Rita Banerjee, andย Diana Norma Szokolyai.ย ย Genres include poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.ย If youโ€™d like to join us in Paris, France, please apply online atย cww.submittable.comย byย May 15, 2018.ย More info:ย cww.nycย 

Applications Open for the Cambridge Writers’ Workshop Spring in New Orleans Writing Retreat (April 13-16, 2018)!

Theย Cambridge Writersโ€™ Workshop Spring in New Orleans Writing Retreatย will take place fromย April 13-16, 2018. Known for its Spanish and French architecture, live jazz, cajun food, and street festivals, New Orleans offers an inspirational and one-of-a-kind environmentย for creative writers.ย During the retreat, we will be staying in the lovely Algiers Point neighborhood, just a short ferry ride away from the Historic French Quarter. ย Our retreat features multi-genre workshops, as well as craft seminars and time to write. ย The faculty includes award-winning writers and literary agentย Rita Banerjee,ย Diana Norma Szokolyai,ย andย Natalie Kimber. There will one-on-one consultations with our literary agent, and workshop genres include nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.ย If youโ€™d like to join us in New Orleans, please apply online atย cww.submittable.comย byย March 20, 2018.ย More info:ย cww.nycย 

 

Register by March 15 for CWW Writing Retreat in Newport, RI ( April 2-5, 2015)

CWW-Newport-March15DeadlineJoin the Cambridge Writersโ€™ Workshop April 2-5, 2015 for our first annual springtime writing & yoga retreat at the historic Victorian โ€œInn Blissโ€ in beautiful and gilded Newport, Rhode Island.ย  Our Newport retreat offers the opportunity for writers of all genres and levels to work alongside award-winning authors & editors to hone their craft and expand their writing skills, while working on new or existing projects. Famous for its seafood and coastline, we chose this location for its inspiring beauty and history. During free sessions in the afternoon, take a mansion tour of gilded-era Newport, visit the Newport Museum, listen to some Newport jazz classics, or just relax beside the ocean watching the sailboats and let the stunning location influence your writing.ย  Faculty includes internationally renowned author and writing coach Kathleen Spivack (fiction, poetry, nonfiction), Stephen Aubrey (playwriting, screenwriting), Diana Norma Szokolyai (poetry, nonfiction), Rita Banerjee (poetry, fiction), and Elissa Lewis (yoga, meditation).ย  If youโ€™d like to join us in Newport, please apply online at cww.submittable.com by March 15, 2015. ย More info: cww.nyc