In this session, we will spend time with our heartbreak(s). In Camonghne Felix’s memoir, Dyscalculia, she says that Black women aren’t allowed the cliché of heartbreak. This session will allow us the space to be cliché–to write about the hurt and everything in between.

We will read multiple genres that explore the many facets of heartbreak–how it affects mental health, the ability to work or function daily, the willingness to love again. Between readings, we’ll respond to generative prompts that allow us to be vulnerable about our heartbreak(s) and dig into the multiple stages of grief we’ve experienced.

Arriel Vinson is a Reese's Book Club LitUp Fellow who writes about being young, Black, and in search of freedom. She earned her MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College. Her poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in Kweli Journal, Catapult, The Rumpus, Waxwing, and others. A Tin House YA Scholar, 2020 Walter Grant recipient, and 2019 Kimbilio Fellow, her work has been nominated for Best New Poets 2020, Best of the Net 2019, and a Pushcart Prize. You can connect with her on Twitter @arriwrites and read her work at arriwrites.com