I’ve been thinking a lot this week about tropes. If you read enough or watch enough films, you will begin to feel allergic to them. There’s the “Rebellious Teenager” trope. The “Nerdy Misfit” trope. The “Feminist Learns to be Soft” trope, the “Non-Feminist Grows a Spine” trope, and the “Man Learns that Women are a Thing” trope. Shallowness as far as the eye can see. How do we wrap our characters in so much meaningful writing that their situations don’t come across as tropes? First of all, we can be aware of the clichés and actively avoid them. I’m particularly

It’s the first day of my low res MFA program and this year, thanks to Covid, we are virtual. I click on the join link with all trepidation of a five year old on her first day of kindergarten. In a room of 80 participants, a handful of black, brown, and yellow people stick out. They are what I soon come to know as the school’s BIPOC group. One by one they hit my chat: “Hey! Yolanda. How are you?” “What’s up, Yolanda!” “Yolanda, nice seeing you.” I feel welcomed but on edge. Who are these people? And what do