Before introducing the selected works from this summer’s workshop, Hi, I’m jayy dodd. This collection of selected work is the first in my new role as Winter Tangerine’ Workshops Director. I’ve been blessed to learn under WT founder, Yasmin Belkhyr, & senior editors Sarah Maria Medina & Brianna Albers on what makes the workshops so integral & necessary for the magazine. Over the last few months, after participating & advising in several workshops, I began collaborating with the staff to look toward the future & I hope you all enjoy what we’ve got planned in the coming year!

This summer over 100 students during two sessions, came together digitally to push their craft, voice & community. The summer online workshop is a critical part of Winter Tangerine’s community platform. As with our themed workshops (e.g. Sing That Love Dovesong & Orchids Without Attached Thighs) it was so exciting to see a community of writers from around the world converge & constructively build each other’s practice.

All gratitude to our guest lecturers Safia Elhillo, Rachel Mckibbens, Franny Choi, Christopher Soto, Bhanu Kapil, & Hanif Abdurraqib for their generous gifts of insight, guidance, & ultimately presenting us with new, urgent ways to approach our work. The summer’s workshop also could not have happened without the amazing team of advisors supporting the writers through our assignments & group discussions. With most advisors being workshop alumni, it is deeply encouraging to see the community maintained.

Now, to the real reason you’re here. Welcome. These six selected works speak to a range of necessary voices we seek to amplify & support at Winter Tangerine. What each writer presents is a kind of dynamic familiarity. There is the unapologetic declaration of self (I speak the language so good now / Even my laugh has a tax), the anxiety of heartbreak out of your control (He stayed in the yard for a while looking at me and the broken flower, but he didn’t ask me for any stories), the deft simplicity of survival (you gotta catch the bug, & plenty cats do, but then you gotta keep hustlin), & more salient offerings that are sure to stir you.

We appreciate all of the participants who submitted to the anthology & hope you apply for future WT Workshops.

Enjoy the Winter Tangerine Summer Workshop Anthology & make sure to check out our next workshop Hollows Shout the Mountain Down: Exploring the Spectrum of Disability.

jayy dodd,

Winter Tangerine Workshops Director