• Photo by Adam Verity

     

     

    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

     

    1

    BIPOC Writers' Creative Nonfiction Workshop

    8 weeks; Wednesdays, November 30th - January 18th; 7:00 - 9:30pm ET (Zoom); Limited to 8 people.

    Whatever form of creative nonfiction you're working in—personal essay, short-form narrative nonfiction, full-length book, flash memoir, or hybrid—if you're a writer of color, here's a creative working and growing and bonding space just for us. The focus will be on workshopping submissions and discussions on issues relevant to being underrepresented in the world and the particular challenges creative BIPOC face. We'll soak up the insights and expertise of writers: Amy Tan, Toni Morrison, Margo Jefferson, Cathy Park Hong, Felicia Rose Chavez, David Mura, and Matthew Selesses, and more.

     

    $400

    Sliding scale + payment plans are available.

    Info / RSVP

     

     

     

    2

    Writing a Whole Book-Length Memoir

    12 weeks beginning January 4th; Text-based and virtual discussion, feedback, plus optional write-ins. Open to all.

     

    So I've been asked to develop a text-based and asynchronous course called "Write Your Memoir in 12 Weeks." I know, I know, It sounds gimmicky. Or maybe good. Also both.

     

    The deal is you want to finish a complete draft of your book. Any draft of your book. Think of your narrative nonfiction opus not as an ALL-CAPS GOAL but more as a system—one that is built ground-up from craft insights, self-knowledge, and writerly intuition. Gather up all the intentiosn for writing your memoir. Consider what you can see yourself actualizing in your real life in this real wild world. Let the unrealistic (for now) intentions fall away. Channel your fear, pride, recklessness, discombobulation—any and all of the things you feel—into next right steps. Make space and time for getting lost, unexpected detours, and heavy emotional traffic. Power straight through pages and pages and don't turn back. Find the path by walking.

     

    Lectures posted weekly. Four Zoom meetups and optional self-guided silent, communal writing sessions. My feedback on up to 2,000 words each week. Let's have fun y'all.

     

    Here's a comprehensive syllabus.

    Message me for registration info and other details.

    3

    One-Day Webinar Intensive:
    Writing The Hard Stuff

    December 1st, 12-2pm ET. Open to all.

    **Postponed until February. If it's not yet listed here, contact me for date and time.

    Writing is hard. Personally, I don't always feel better when I write, but I feel worse when I know I need to pull up to the page and I talk myself out of it / clean my apartment / organize my folders / rearrange my bookshelves / make 10 new playlists... You get it. In this intensive we'll talk about how to confront the hard stuff without torturing ourselves. Whether we're writing about straight up trauma or just trying to put into words what's most difficult to say, we'll consider various strategies for finding our way through it.
     
    What are the stories we've tucked away? What needs to come out? How do we even know if we're ready? Must we trigger ourselves? Where and when do you proceed with a light touch or bulldoze your way through? What level of safety do you need? What are the risks worth taking? How do we avoid victim overload in our narrative? We'll also discuss humor in darkness. Does it have a place? If so, how do we incorporate levity into painful stories without forcing the funny? We'll dig into it all and we'll hold space for one another. We got this.
     
    Recording will be available to everyone who registers.
     
    Coming Soon

     

    4

    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

     

  • [ 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 (Essayist; creative nonfiction teacher; Columbia MFA 2023; mentee and long-time Blaise Writers Workshop participant)

     

    ***
     

    "I've taken several workshops over the years, all over the country, and this was by far the best. Blaise is a goddamn treasure."

    — Tim Conover White (Long-time Blaise Writers Workshop participant)

     

    "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 (Creative Nonfiction 101 participant)

     

    "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

     

    "What Blaise does is so specific and special. You can't find that in other workshops."

    — Jennifer Stewart (Essayist; creative nonfiction teacher; Columbia MFA 2023; mentee and long-time Blaise Writers Workshop participant)

     

    "I love that the readings center BIPOC, women, and LGBTQ voices. That has been an important and edifying element."

    — Kimberly Balsam (Sudden Stories: Writing Super-Short Memoir + Personal Essays participant; Silent Write-In member)

     

    "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 (Writer, Narratively; BodyMind Movement Facilitator; founder of Adoptees Only Workshop; mentee and long-time Blaise Writers Workshop participant)

     

    "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 (Sudden Stories: Writing Super-Short Memoir + Personal Essays and BIPOC writers workshop participant)

     

     

    "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 (Filmmaker; author, Harmattan: A Chapbook; Long-time Blaise Writers Workshop Participant; Silent Write-In member)

     

    "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."

    — Alexandra Fendrich (Middle school teacher; Silent Write-In member)

     

    "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. (Frequent Blaise Writers Workshop participant)

     

    "This class has been water in the desert for me."

    — Mary Robertson (Sudden Stories: Writing Super-Short Memoir + Personal Essays participant)

     

    "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 (Creative Nonfiction 101 participant)

     

    "I genuinely looked forward to each week. The advice you gave sent me back out into the world with confidence and purpose."

    — Anonymous (Creative Nonfiction 101 Participant)

     

    "Submitting something for publication for the first time was one of my goals for our eight-week workshop and that gave me the push I needed to hit the send button. Everything this group taught me about specificity, vulnerability and vivid storytelling made a huge difference."

    — Genevieve Kingston (Playwright; Writer, New York Times Modern Love)

     

    "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 (Creative Nonfiction 101 Participant)

     

    Work by current and former students has appeared or is forthcoming in Modern Love, Blavity, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Bright Flash Literary Review, McSweeney's, Elle.com, Rolling Stone, Manifest Station, Refinery29, 11th Street Journal, Dame Magazine, and elsewhere.

     

  • [ how i learned

    Photo by Jon Boulier

    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

  •  

     

    Photo: Adam Paul Verity

    Logo: Andy Ross Creative and Amanda Villalobos

    © 2022 Bazima Productions

     

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