Surprising Readers and Ourselves: Playing with Hermit Crab Essays, Poems, and Stories

Upon first glance, “Hermit Crabs” (stories or poems or essays that borrow another “shell” or form, also known as the False Document or Trojan Horse poem or Constraint Essay) look like literary play (and they are fun!). But they’re also great tools to break through writers’ block or overcome resistance to topics that feel heavy, complex, or overwhelming. Author, editor and teacher Faith Adiele will review the history and rules of the form, share best practices for fusing form and content, and provide prompts for playing with this deceptively accessible form that has the potential to surprise both your readers and yourself.

Join Straw Dog Writers Guild for this craft Workshop “Surprising Readers (& Ourselves): Playing with (Hermit) Crab Essays, Poems & Stories” on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, 7:00-8:30pm via Zoom. Register for this free event HERE.

Faith Adiele is author of Meeting Faith, an innovative account of becoming Thailand’s first Black Buddhist nun (PEN Award), and Her Voice and Voice/Over, two recent hybrid chapbooks about growing up Nigerian–Nordic-American in the Pacific Northwest. Her essays explore travel, race, gender, family, identity, and social justice, while her media credits include My Journey Home, a PBS documentary about finding her Nigerian father and siblings, Sleep Stories for the CALM App, and A World of Calm (HBO-Max). Named as one of Marie Claire Magazine’s “Five Women to Learn From,” Faith teaches at California College of the Arts, Stonecoast Low-Residency MFA, and around the world.