Blaise Allysen Kearsley

 
 
BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY

Hello, it's me. I know the name looks complicated. I would like to help you with that: 
My first name is pronounced BLAZE, my middle name is just ALISON, but with some 
different letters, and my last name sounds like KEEEER-S-LEE. 
 
That's it for this first section of my website. It's been pretty demanding already. 
 

[ about

Blaise Allysen Kearsley is a New York-based Black-biracial writer and teacher and the creator/producer/host of How I Learned, a long-running storytelling, comedy, and reading series. 
 
Her writing has appeared in Catapult, Longreads, VICE, The Boston Globe, Midnight Breakfast, Electric Literature's The Nervous Breakdown, Oldster, Elle.com, and four anthologies—Nonwhite and Woman (Woodhall Press, 2022), PEREGRINE (Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. VII, No. 2, 2002), Cringe (Crown Publishing, 2008), and Mortified: Real Words. Real People. Real Pathetic. (Gallery Books, 2006). She has written for several magazines and online outlets dating back to 2001 that are perhaps not worth mentioning by name and probably don't even exist anymore. 
 
She teaches mostly memoir and personal essay writing at Gotham Writers Workshop, 7 Daughters of Eve Theatre & Performance Co., Writing Workshops, and Blaise Writers Workshop, which she founded in 2017. 

She is a contributing editor at Vestal Review, the oldest flash fiction journal on the planet. As a storyteller she has performed at The Moth, Risk, Literary Death Match, Mortified, The Gotham Storytelling Festival, and at various venues that serve booze and sometimes snacks. In another life she took a lot of pictures with actual cameras, and some of those pictures were published in places like New York Magazine, Gawker, Playbill, The Morning News, JPG Magazine, and Nerve. 
 
She lives in Brooklyn but if you need her for something somewhere else, maybe she'll go there.

[ select writing

🜃 Words to Call a Sweater PEREGRINE, Yellow Arrow Journal (Vol. VII, No. 2), 2022
🜃 A Jet All The Way Oldster Magazine, 2022
🜃 The First Time It Happened Nonwhite and Woman Anthology, Woodhall Press, 2022
🜃 The Story of My Father's Hands Catapult, 2022
🜃 Finding Oneself in 'Surviving the White Gaze' The Boston Globe, 2021
🜃 Why Mr. Bauer Didn't Like Me Longreads, 2019
🜃 3 Songs About Being Young and Disenfranchised Before The Internet The Weeklings, 2014
 

 
 
Blaise Writers Workshop + Consulting is committed to cultivating a safe space for writers BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled writers. (In a perfect world that would go without saying.)

 
[ current classes + consulting
 

Intro to Memoir Writing

6 weeks; Thursdays; March 2nd - April 12th*; 7:00-9:30 pm ET. (Zoom); Limited to 7 people. *No class on March 23rd.

How do we mine our memory and navigate gaps in our recall? How do we shape real people into real characters on the page? What makes a good 
story in the first place and why would anyone want to read mine?  Who do I want to reach and why? What is it that I've come here to say? Why say it now? 

There will be short readings and in-class writing with purpose-driven prompts. You'll share work, commune with your peers, and 
learn how to give constructive feedback in an inclusive, thoughtful 
environment.
 
This is for people who are new (or fairly new) to memoir and writers 
looking to brush up on their skills and discover new approaches to 
craft.
 
Sponsored by Writing Workshops
 
[Class Full] 

1-Day Webinar: 
When to Show 
and When to Tell

Tuesday, March 28th; 7:00 - 9:00pm ET (Zoom); Open to all.

You've heard the age-old axiom, "show, don't tell." Less a mantra than a pointed maxim, "show, don't tell" is an important writer's reminder 
that works for crucial moments in a story. 

But what about balancing showing and telling? How do we know when to do what? At any 
given moment in our storytelling, will a scene best serve our story? A lengthy description? 

When do we drop info and backstory and move along, keeping pace and ensuring the reader sticks with us? 

This intensive seminar will explore these questions and more. 
 
Sponsored by Writing Workshops 
Join

2-Day Intensive: Sudden Stories: Writing Super-Short Narratives

Tuesday, April 18th and  Tuesday, April 25th; 7:00 - 9:00 pm ET (Zoom); Open to fiction and creative nonfiction writers.
 
A compressed and adapted version of the 6-week Flash workshop, this serves as a deep-dive intro or a generative practice for those who have 
already dabbled in flash form. 

What is flash and why write it? What can we convey in a 500-1000 word story that we could—or perhaps 
couldn't—say in a 12-page piece and how do we say it? What are the most crucial elements in the art and craft of flash? How does the super-short form benefit our writing practice, our storytelling, and our 
relationship to our intended audience?
Sponsored by Writing Workshops 
Join

One-On-One / Consulting

One-on-one work gives writers an opportunity to receive individual expertise, personalized creative direction and guidance—whether you're working on a book or trying to finish stand alone pieces to pitch for publication.

During one-hour sessions (remotely or in person, as the pandemic allows), we'll identify your goals and projects, and develop a work plan. You'll receive extensive critical feedback and other forms of support catered to your needs.

In the universally perpetual quest for accountability and momentum, signing up for 3 sessions at a time is recommended.
 
Sliding scale for BIPOC, LGBTQ+ disabled writers. 
Payment plans available.
 
Free Initial Consultation

 
Work by current and former students has appeared in Modern Love, Blavity, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Bright Flash Literary Review, McSweeney's, Elle.com, Rolling Stone, Manifest Station,  Narratively, Refinery29, Texas Monthly, 11th Street Journal, The Lunch Ticket, Dame Magazine, and elsewhere.
 
Get notified about upcoming workshops

[ things people say

 
​"Blaise's class made me a stronger writer. 
It was the hardest workshop I've ever done, but also one of the most important." 
— Jennifer Stewart
 
***
 
"I've taken several workshops over the years, all over the country, and this was by far the best. Blaise is a goddamn treasure."
— Anonymous
 
"I feel so inspired, enriched, encouraged, and empowered in my writing practice. I've been sitting at my desk since we all logged off just feeling how full of gratitude my heart is—for you, the workshop, and the entire group."
— Adaeze Elechi 
 
"Blaise was really able to build a community on Zoom. This is an incredibly difficult thing to do, and she made it seem so easy."
— Anonymous
 
"Deadlines do wonders for circumventing procrastination. Nothing sharpens the mind like presenting personal work to a great, vetted group of writers."
— Ravi Kroesen
 
"This is a fantastic format. The small class size ensures everyone gets ample time and submission opportunities. Blaise is such a skilled reader and editor, and her notes are always valuable. She offers wonderful perspectives, and assembles groups of writers with keen perspectives of their own. Highly recommend."
— Anonymous
 
"I love that the readings center BIPOC, women, and LGBTQ voices. That has been an important and edifying element." 
— Kimberly Balsam
 
"Blaise believed in me and my writing and showed me how I, too, can believe in myself and my writing. The level of care she provides for her students is unparalleled."
—Tiffany Yo
 

"1. Your exuberance and contagious laughter made everyone feel more open. 2. My God, revising is your super power. The before and after is astonishing and I might frame a page or two. I will take anything of yours I can get a spot for."
— Robert Bond, Jr. 
 
"I genuinely looked forward to each week. The advice you gave sent me back out into the world with confidence and purpose." 
— Anonymous
 
"During quarantine I had to show up for myself and others who counted on me, even when I felt like all I wanted to do was hide under my couch. Being part of this creative group of writers saved me."
— Anna Grundström
 
"This class has been water in the desert for me."
— Mary Robertson
 
"What Blaise does is so specific and special. You can't find that in other workshops."
— Jennifer Stewart 
 
"I want to thank you for not only helping me improve my writing, but the confidence and practical knowledge I got from your classes to polish and submit my work. Your feedback and mentorship has meant so much to me."
— Anonymous
 
"You treat every question with such a genuine desire to give the best possible answer and it made me happy every time. I admire that you focus on building people up. For someone like me, that means the world."
— Anonymous 
 
"Thank you for creating this generous space for us to try new things and be vulnerable, for the insightful feedback, and for leading us through the last 8 weeks. I'm really grateful." 
— Alex Fendrich

[ how i learned

Photo: Jon Boulier

 
Blaise Allysen's Kearsley's HOW I LEARNED series, a live reading/storytelling/comedy show, was born on the Lower East Side in 2009 and had a 10-year(!) run. The series featured Janelle James, Aparna Nancherla, Alexander Chee, Anna Sale, Ayo Edebiri, Joel Kim Booster, Nore Davis, Dodai Stewart, Jo Firestone, Jami Attenberg, Chloe Caldwell, Ophira Eisenberg, Isaac Fitzgerald, Nick Flynn, Mira Jacob, Rakesh Satyal, Lizz Winstead, Sasheer Zamata, Isaac Oliver, Mike Albo, Phoebe Robinson, Choire Sicha, Dan Kennedy, Rob Sheffield, Rosie Schaap, David Crabb, Kevin Allison, and many, many, many, many, many more. 
 
~
 
Named one of "Five Best Comedy Shows Hosted By Women" by CBS New York and one of the Best Storytelling Series and Best Reading Series by Time Out New York.

 
"Hostess Blaise Allysen Kearsley makes sure to keep it awkwardly funny." -CBS New York
 
"...Always hilarious, sometimes touching, and without fail entertaining." -Brooklyn Magazine
 
"This show has renewed my faith in this whole storytelling endeavor and what it means in the world." -David Crabb, Host of The Moth

"Blaise Allysen Kearsley is a charming host with an irrepressible, humming little laugh that seems to be a compromise she’s made with some wicked guffaw within." -LitWrap

And another thing:
 
[ silent virtual write-in

Join me and other creatives for a free 2.5-hour virtual write-in, a held space for quiet focus and accountability. No prompts. No sharing. Just good vibes and productive energy. 
Pop in for part of the time or stay for the whole thing.

 
OK, this is the end of my website. You did a great job.
 
Email: thisisblaise@gmail.com

BLAISE ALLYSEN KEARSLEY

[ about

[ select writing

Blaise Writers Workshop + Consulting is committed to cultivating a safe space for writers BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled writers. (In a perfect world that would go without saying.)

[ current classes + consulting

Intro to Memoir Writing

1-Day Webinar: When to Show and When to Tell

2-Day Intensive: Sudden Stories: Writing Super-Short Narratives

One-On-One / Consulting

[ things people say

[ how i learned

Photo: Jon Boulier

[ silent virtual write-in

OK, this is the end of my website. You did a great job. Email: thisisblaise@gmail.com

Photo: Adam Paul VerityLogo: Andy Ross Creative© 2023 Bazima Productions

1-Day Webinar:
When to Show
and When to Tell

OK, this is the end of my website. You did a great job.

Email: thisisblaise@gmail.com

Photo: Adam Paul Verity
Logo: Andy Ross Creative
© 2023 Bazima Productions