• Photo by Adam Verity

      Photo: 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 KEY-ER-S-LEE.

       

      That's it for this first section of my website. It's been pretty demanding already.

       

    • [ about

      I'm a Black-biracial writer and teacher and the creator, producer, and host of How I Learned, a long-running storytelling/comedy/reading series. I've appeared at The Moth, Risk, Mortified, Story Collider, The Liar Show, Literary Death Match, Gotham Storytelling Festival, and various New York venues that serve booze and sometimes snacks.

       

      My writing has appeared in Longreads, VICE, The Boston Globe, Midnight Breakfast, Electric Literature's The Nervous Breakdown, Elle.com, three anthologies including Nonwhite and Woman (forthcoming, September 2022), Cringe: Teenage Diaries, Journals, Notes, Letters, Poems, and Abandoned Rock Operas, and in several magazines and online outlets a long time ago that are perhaps not worth mentioning by name and probably don't even exist anymore.

       

      In another life I took a lot of pictures with actual cameras and some of those pictures were published in places like New York Magazine, Playbill, JPG, Nerve, An-Mag, The Morning News, Gothamist, and Gawker.

       

      I teach mostly creative nonfiction and I'm currently a contributing editor at Vestal Review, the oldest flash nonfiction journal on the planet. I live in Brooklyn, but if you need me for something somewhere else maybe I'll go there.

    • [ select writing

      🜃   Finding Oneself in 'Surviving the White Gaze' (The Boston Globe)

      🜃   Why Mr. Bauer Didn't Like Me (Longreads)

      🜃   "The First Time It Happened": Nonwhite and Woman (forthcoming anthology from Woodhall Press, 2022)

      🜃   The Mail Club (Midnight Breakfast)

      🜃   3 Songs About Being Young and Disenfranchised Before The Internets (The Weeklings)

       

    • [ teaching

       

      ​"Blaise's class made me a stronger writer.

      It was the hardest workshop I've ever done,

      but also one of the most important." -JE

       

      "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." -AG

       

      "Her workshops are led by a writer,

      not an academic, so there is a real-world,

      practitioner feel to the class. It attracts people

      committed to the art of the practice." -MW

       

      ☉

       

      I teach public workshops for Gotham Writers and independently design and lead my own curated series of workshops for emerging and advanced writers. I teach memoir, personal essay, autobiographical fiction, and flash memoir. I coach writers at all levels and I occasionally lead workshops for aspiring teen writers.

       

      My workshops are creatively rigorous but safe spaces in which we not only think critically about the tools of the craft, but we dig deeper for the real story, the nuance, and the singular voice that's sometimes simmering below the surface.

      We lean into both the heartache and hilarity that good storytelling and intimate, vital learning communities require.

       

      The work of many of my students has appeared in outlets like The New York Times, NYT's Modern Love, The Root, Dame, The Rumpus, Blavity, McSweeney's, Man Repeller, 12th Street, and Manifest Station.

       

      But getting published isn't always the ultimate goal. Most people join my workshops because it forces them to write. Sometimes it's hard to stick to a practice when no one's expecting you to.

       

      So they get closer to the goals they've identified for themselves, whatever those may be. They connect with other writers. They watch their own work evolve. They walk out of the workshops or one-on-one sessions a little differently than they walked in.

       

       

      ☉


       

       

    • [ current private workshops

      1

      Open Workshop

      Limited to 7 writers.
      8 weeks; Wednesdays, November 17 - January 12,
      7:00 - 10:00 pm EST.
      *No class November 24*
      By invite, referral, or request.

      Open to writers working on personal essay, long and short-form memoir, autobiographical fiction, and fiction. See your work through the fresh eyes of other wise, attentive writers and their critical feedback. There will be writing prompts to foster experimentation, enliven simmering ideas, cultivate new work, and dig deeper into current projects. Everyone will have three opportunities to submit their work to the group for feedback.
      $500 / $460 - $470 for returning writers*

      *$30 off for writers returning for a second workshop; $40 off for writers who've taken three or more workshops.

      Payment plans available.
       
      2

      Generative Workshop

      Limited to 7 writers.
      8 weeks; Tuesdays, December 14 - February 1;
      7:00 - 9:30 pm EST.
      By invite, referral, or request.

      An exercise intensive workshop for boosting creativity and inspiration, and getting unstuck. We'll work from specific prompts, try out new things, build larger pieces, and flesh out projects already in progress. We'll share some of our work and offer critical feedback to each other. There will be occasional at-home assignments for consistency and accountability. For writers working on memoir, fiction, or whatever you find in between.
      $450 / $420 - $430 for returning writers*

      $30 off for writers returning for a second workshop; $40 off for those who've taken three or more workshops.

      Payment plans available.
       
      3

      One-On-One

      For accountability and momentum, signing up for a minimum of 3 sessions is recommended.
       
      One-on-one work is for writers looking for individual attention and personalized creative direction. Over the course of three coaching sessions, we'll meet remotely (or in person if possible) to identify your goals and develop a work plan. You'll receive extensive critical feedback and other forms of guidance based on your needs. You can also sign up for a one-off session if you're just looking to generate new material and get back into your writing practice.
       
      Payment plans available.
       
    • Stay up-to-date on future workshops.

    • [ 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. The series has featured Aparna Nancherla, Janelle James, Alexander Chee, Anna Sale, Ophira Eisenberg, Isaac Fitzgerald, Nick Flynn, Mira Jacob, Nore Davis, Lizz Winstead, Amanda Duarte, Sasheer Zamata, Isaac Oliver, Jo Firestone, Mike Albo, Phoebe Robinson, Choire Sicha, Dan Kennedy, Rob Sheffield, Rosie Schaap, David Crabb, Jami Attenberg, and many, many, many, many others.

       

      ~

       

      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, 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

      The free virtual write-in offers 2 1/2 hours of creative focus. No prompts. No chatter. Just that writing energy.

      Pop in for part of the time or stay for the whole thing.

      Sign up below to get notified about the next one.

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

    •  

      © 2021 Bazima Productions

       

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