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Join us for a conversation with two of the most compelling voices in contemporary literature. A defining voice in cultural criticism–essayist, screenwriter Jia Tolentino joins author and multidisciplinary artist J. Mae Barizo (Director of the Riggio Writing and Democracy Program, Assistant Professor of Writing, NSSR) for a generative dialogue on media, performance, and cultural production. Together, they will explore the possibilities of the essay form, artistic process, and what it means to write and sustain a creative life.
This event is part of the New School for Social Research Festival of Ideas. Learn more HERE.
Presented by the Creative Writing Program at The New School for Social Research.
Jia Tolentino is a staff writer at The New Yorker, the author of the bestselling essay collection Trick Mirror, and a screenwriter. Previously, she was the deputy editor of Jezebel and a contributing editor at the Hairpin. She is the recipient of a Whiting Award, Jeannette Haien Ballard Prize and a National Magazine award. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine and Pitchfork, among other places.
J. Mae Barizo is a poet, essayist, and artist who works at the intersections of poetics, media, and performance. She is the author of three books of poetry; Becoming Hybrid, her book of essays on transdisciplinary theory, is forthcoming in 2027. She was an artist resident at Baryshnikov Arts and her monodrama "Cloud Variations" had its world premiere at Carnegie Hall in 2025. She teaches in the MFA in Creative Writing at The New School.
The New School offered the first academic creative writing workshop in 1931 and pioneered a new philosophy of education. The idea: students would make their own lives and their own stories part of their education. Today, The New School continues to celebrate and cultivate daring and diverse new voices through its Creative Writing program. The value of this approach is reflected in the publications and achievements of our MFA Creative Writing graduates and faculty.
Visit New School Writing, the blog of the MFA Creative Writing Program, for interviews, profiles, and a digital bookshelf featuring the New School writing community.
Discover more Creative Writing Program events here.
Committed to amplifying diverse voices, The New School offers more than a thousand public programs and events each year, providing fresh perspectives and unique learning opportunities. These lectures, exhibitions, concerts, and performances feature prominent and emerging artists, activists, and thought leaders.
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