Replay: Ingrid Rojas Contreras shares Five Things She's Learned about Creativity – by Writing Through Crisis
Check out the first five minutes of her recent class.
“When we discuss writing and creativity, we always seem to be leaving behind the body, which maybe many people can—leave behind the body—and many of us cannot.”
– Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Five Thing I’ve Learned about Creativity – by Writing Through Crisis
On April 28th, celebrated author Ingrid Rojas Contreras joined us to share the five things she’s learned about writing and creativity – and about the artistic necessity to write from the emotional landscape of crisis.
Ingrid, who was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, is the author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist memoir The Man Who Could Move Clouds, which explores her lineage of curanderos and her mother’s legacy as a healer. The book received numerous honors, including a California Book Award, and was named a Best Book of the Year by outlets like TIME and NPR. Her debut novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree, was a New York Times editor’s choice and also won a California Book Award. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Cut, and Zyzzyva, and she lives in California.
Her class, Five Things I’ve Learned about Creativity – by Writing Through Crisis is the fifth session in a six-part series exploring the often challenging balance between an artist’s creative work and personal life, hosted by poet and teacher Matthew Zapruder.
Drawing from her own experience of migration and emotional upheaval, Ingrid shares five key insights on sustaining creativity through personal and collective crisis. The session offers practical strategies for writing from a place of instability, emphasizing that creativity during crisis is not only possible but vital.
And: Click the button below to watch Matthew’s introduction to the series, then follow the links at the bottom of the page to explore more and view personal invitations from each guest. Tickets are available for individual conversations, or take advantage of special series pricing for all six sessions.
Thanks for being part of Five Things I’ve Learned on Substack. Visit myfivethings.com to view personal video invitations from more than 120 more writers, thinkers, and artists we admire – and to get special discounted pricing with our Five Things I’ve Learned Multi Pass.