Macondo Workshop

A favorite of Red Room authors Leslie Larson, Fan Wu, and Lucha Corpi.

Founded by: Sandra Cisneros

Year founded: 1995

Mission: The Macondo Writing Workshopis a unique summer gathering for writers working on geographic, cultural, social, and spiritual borders.

Accomplishments: Macondo is a masters-level workshop. Its authors must have fulfilled one of the following :

• Published a book or several stories in journals or magazines
• Enrolled in or completed an MFA program
• Studies under at least three professional writers

Profile: Named after the sleepy town in Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, Macondo creates a weeklong space of intense and cultural creativity. An essential aspect of its ethic is a global sense of community. Another is a spirit of generosity. While monetary contributions are accepted to allow members unable to fund their travel and lodging expenses to attend, there is no fee to attend the workshop. Instead, workshop members are expected to contribute in other ways. This means they may teach a workshop, offer yoga instruction, drive other participants around town, or work on the Macondo website.

The workshop is divided into three mixed-genre groups, each of them headed by an accomplished writer or team of writers. Members spend their mornings individually reading each other's work, afternoons consist of workshopping by groups, and evenings are spent discussing various artistic, political, and spiritual issues related to writing.

To learn more or to apply for membership, please go to Macondo's website.

–Huntington W. Sharp, Senior Editor, Red Room

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