The Hawthorn Archive, named after the richly fabled tree, has long welcomed the participants in the various Euro-American social struggles against slavery, racial capitalism, imperialism, and authoritarian forms of order. The Archive is not a library or a research collection in the conventional sense but rather a disorganized and fugitive space for the development of a political consciousness of being indifferent to the deadly forms of power that characterize our society. Housed by the Archive are autonomous radicals, runaways, abolitionists, commoners, and dreamers who no longer live as obedient or merely resistant subjects. Gordon creatively uses the imaginary of the Archive to explore the utopian elements found in a variety of resistive and defiant activity in the past and in the present, zeroing in on Marxist critical theory and the black radical tradition. Fusing critical theory with creative writing in a historical context, The Hawthorn Archive represents voices from the utopian margins, where fact, fiction, theory, and image converge.

In this workshop, participants are invited to respond and contribute to the Archive, with a text, image, little bit, concrete question mark, thread, or other fragment. The session will begin with a discussion of the collectively compiled materials, and then lead into an experimental writing workshop guided by a series of responsive prompts from the Hawthorn Archive’s ‘keeper’ Avery Gordon.

In English
How to Attend
  • At the venue (registration required): Fully booked. Add yourself to the waiting list, using the form below.
  • Please send us a few lines explaining your interest in the workshop (in “Additional Note”).

Kindly observe the following COVID-19-Visitor Guidelines prior to your visit.

Organized by

Amelia Groom, Anja Sunhyun Michaelsen, and M. Ty

image credit © Sarah Beddington, Binocular viewer (2013). Courtesy of Hawthorn Archive

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