Michelle Cruz Gonzales, English/Creative Writing Professor & Author, September 18 2021

Michelle Cruz Gonzales will present “Inclusive Characterization: Writing ‘the other’ without Stereotypes or Appropriation” at the Tri-Valley Writers September meeting. Gonzales will discuss the delicate balance that is including diverse characters in writing to avoid invisibilizing minoritized groups and doing so in a way that is respectful, artful, and for the right reasons. Drawing on her teaching and publishing experience, she will share resources, advice, and strategies to better ensure rich characterization that humanizes us all.

Join us on Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. at Four Points by Sheraton, 5115 Hopyard Road in Pleasanton. Check-in begins at 1:30 p.m. There is a two-step RSVP & Payment process:

  1. An Email RSVP is REQUIRED at reservations@trivalleywriters.org by Thursday, September 16.
  2. Payment is REQUIRED (see below) NOTE: For safety reasons, TVW will not allow walk-ins the day of the meeting.

REGISTRATION DETAILS:

CWC adult members, $14; nonmembers, $18. CWC student members (ages 14-22), $6; student nonmembers, $10. Payment MUST be made via online below.


Speaker Meeting
Name & Email Address



Michelle Cruz Gonzales holds a BA and MFA in English and Creative Writing from Mills College, and she is the author of The Spitboy Rule: Tales of a Xicana in a Female Punk Band. Gonzales, who writes about the intersections of race, class, and gender, has published writing in anthologies, literary journals, and more recently on Latino Rebels.comFierce by Mitú.com, Razorcake.org, and the LA Review of Books.org. She will soon publish a dystopian satire novel about forced intermarriage between whites and Mexicanos for the purpose of creating a race of beautiful, intelligent, hardworking people, and hopefully a screenplay. Gonzales’ current writing project is a linguistic justice textbook collaboration with her Las Positas College colleagues, Kisha Quesada Turner and Karin Spirn. Gonzales has been on the Las Positas College faculty since 2004.

Tri-Valley Writers is committed to ensuring all attendees’ health and safety. Therefore TVW will abide by all Alameda County safety requirements.