Discussions in the West around diversity often focus on identity politics. However, true diversity can and should include different ways that cultures tell stories, including the structures of stories and the treatment of something as seemingly fundamental to storytelling as conflict. The program explores how storytelling staples in the West, such as the three-act structure and a fixation on conflict, are far from universal. It introduces viewers to the East Asian four-act story structure, which is used in everything from the film “Parasite” to Nintendo video games, and explores how it can open our minds to different views on conflict, in the stories we tell and the stories we live.

Henry Lien is a graduate of Brown University, UCLA School of Law, and Clarion West Writers’ Workshop. He is the author of the Peasprout Chen fantasy series (Holt) and the non-fiction book Spring, Summer, Asteroid, Bird: The Art of Eastern Storytelling (W.W. Norton). His books have received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist and New York Times acclaim. His writing has appeared in publications including Literary Hub, Poets & Writers, Asimov’s, Analog, and F&SF, and he is a four-time Nebula Award finalist. Henry also teaches for institutions including the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, the University of Iowa, Clarion West, and Writing the Other. He won the UCLA Extension Department of the Arts Outstanding Instructor of the Year Award. Henry has previously worked as an attorney and fine art dealer. He has been invited to speak about his work by the Library of Congress, Lectures on Tap, and Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater. Born in Taiwan, Henry currently lives in Hollywood, California. Hobbies include writing and performing campy anthems for his books and losing Nebula Awards. 

Wholehearted Writers founders Beth and Eliot lead an hour-long session on discovering and cultivating a writing practice that works for you right now. We’ll think in a curious, nonjudgmental way about our specific relationships to habits, motivations, and goals, the rhythms of our days and weeks in this season of life, and strategies for writing even when that’s a challenge!

In this workshop, participants will explore their multiple voices on the page. Building on material in Voice First: A Writer's Manifesto, we will name voices, freewrite and share short voice experiments, and discuss ways to continue working with voice.

Sonya Huber's books include the anthology, Nothing Compares To You: What Sinead Means to Us, co-edited with Martha Bayne; the essay collection, Love and Industry: A Midwestern Workbook, finalist for the 2024 PEN/Diamondstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay; and the writing guide, Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto. She is also the author of the award-winning essay collection on chronic pain, Pain Woman Takes Your Keys and Other Essays from a Nervous System. She teaches at Fairfield University and in the Fairfield low-residency MFA program.

Wholehearted Writers founders Alex and Laura dive deeper into how neurodivergence, chronic pain, and other challenges interact with our writing practices and what can work best for each of us!