The new writers’ collective, Write Away, is debuting their collection of work this weekend at TALEA on November 15th at 7pm in a live essay reading event.
Since its formation in December of 2020, Write Away has been focused on developing personal essays and works of narrative nonfiction with the mission of telling authentic stories from writers of color with different backgrounds and life experiences.
The Foundation
Founder Jin Kim started writing in her last year of college and, while she doesn’t consider herself a natural writer, she was sold when realized it’s the best way to create a world for herself. As an immigrant child who grew up in a white suburb and felt “plagued by feeling out of place,” she’s looked for a sense of belonging in the physical world, and that just wasn’t cutting it. In her writing, Kim discovered she could create worlds in which she could flesh out her thoughts, feelings, and experiences in a place that always makes her feel safe and heard.
The only downside to writing, for Kim, was how solitary the experience was. Being an extrovert, Kim was missing the social aspect and wanted to make writing a communal experience.
With the goal of giving writers of color the space to banish self-doubt and feelings of imposter syndrome, and to lift each other up, she decided to create Write Away. Shortly afterward, she was joined by three other dedicated, talented writers of color equally as engaged in this mission. Kim hopes Write Away will inspire other artists to find the courage to use their talents and express their voices.
The Process
In December of 2020, the group started Zooming weekly to tackle different writing topics and then provide structured feedback to one another. After realizing that this could be more than just an uplifting writers forum, the group decided to work towards more established goals. Now, we all have the chance to appreciate that year of hard work.
What To Expect
Three of the four writers with Write Away will be sharing their work at TALEA on the 15th. The writers include Jin Kim, Celeste M. Scott, and Chuckry Vengadam.
Celeste M. Scott works in tech and marketing with a background in screenwriting and essay writing. She moved to Greenpoint in 2019 and was looking for a space outside of her day job to practice writing consistently.
“Her work focuses on young adult life, Blackness, and her religious upbringing. She runs a newsletter called Not A Writers Club. In her free time she enjoys bouldering, posting her food on finsta, and asking people what their signs are.”
Celeste M. Scott – courtesy of the Write Away Instagram
Chuckry Vengadam works in software and has a newsletter called Only Child in which he writes and publishes short story fiction about Indian family dynamics and culture with non-stereotypical storylines. His personal essays and other short stories are similar in topic, and he’s taken a few months to focus on self-publishing his collections.
How To Support
The group is especially excited to be sharing their writing at TALEA, seeing as it was one of the first spots they met to “work from home” together. Scott, the Greenpointer, is also especially excited to bring this work to our community.
While they are not looking to bring in new writers at the moment, they do hope that this event will help spread the ethos of what they have accomplished and allow them to expand their reach, the genres they cover, and the events they will host in the future.
To learn more, click here to register for the event, and click here to follow Write Away on Instagram! (@_writeaway_) If you do get the opportunity to attend in person, physical prints of the essays will also be available at the event. You won’t want to miss it!