DREAMing Out Loud
DREAMing Out Loud is a paid, tuition-free creative writing workshop series for migrant writers.
DREAMing Out Loud is a paid, tuition-free creative writing workshop series for migrant writers, primarily those who are undocumented, DACA recipients, and/or DREAMers who came to the United States when they were children. By providing community and professional support to the next generation of immigrant writers, the program seeks to counter anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. and to amplify the voices of many living in this country who are marginalized because of their immigration status.
In workshops led by established writers from immigrant backgrounds, 40 participants are provided a modest stipend to develop original fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and plays to perform at public readings and to publish in various print and digital formats, including our annual anthology. The program also helps build a pipeline to publishing and theatre industries in New York City, empowering DREAMers to develop their own unique artistic voice and craft to ensure that any future literary canon will include their stories, perspectives, and lived experiences. Participants receive access to resources tailored for immigrant artists, including at least one author-led talkback about writing and publishing each year.
Applications for the 2025 cycle are open through November 30.
To learn more about the program, including how to enroll or make a donation, email TC Mann ([email protected]).
DREAMing Out Loud is supported by Karen Pritzker, RJ Julia Booksellers, Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, CUNY Mexican Institute, New York Theater Workshop and National Queer Theater. It is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Sponsored by
The Anthology
DREAMing Out Loud, PEN America’s series of tuition-free writing workshops for emerging migrant writers in the U.S., was founded by the award-winning Mexican novelist Álvaro Enrigue in 2016. Under his vision, and with the support of accomplished teaching-artists, including writer Charlie Vázquez, writer and playwright Cherry Lou Sy, writer and illustrator Claudia Rueda, and actor, writer, producer, and filmmaker Dominic Colón, students are empowered to develop their own unique artistic voice and craft to ensure that any future literary canon will include their stories, perspectives, and lived experiences.
DREAMing Out Loud: An Anthology of Migrant Writersis an act of courage, a rendering of truths, and a testament to the power of dreams. The sixth volume in this anthology series includes new short stories, poems, plays, and illustrations by writers from Venezuela to Albania, Nigeria to Bangladesh, Costa Rica to Slovakia, and beyond. Between these pages, students share stories of hope, healing, and joy from around the world, amplifying not only the experience of migrant life in New York City, but the country at large.
Past Anthologies
Teaching Artists
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Álvaro Enrigue
Álvaro Enrigue is a Mexican writer who was a Cullman Center Fellow and a Fellow at the Princeton University Program in Latin American Studies.
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Charlie Vázquez
Charlie Vázquez is the director of the Bronx Writers Center at Bronx Council on the Arts, as well as the New York Coordinator for Puerto Rico’s Festival de la Palabra. He writes speculative fiction and is inspired by the crossroads where history meets spirituality.
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Cherry Lou Sy
CHERRY LOU SY is a writer & playwright originally from the Philippines of Chinese and Filipino heritage. Currently based in Brooklyn, New York, she received her BA at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study and attended Brooklyn College’s MA in English Literature as well as the MFA in Playwriting program under Mac Wellman and Erin…
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Claudia Rueda
Claudia Rueda is a Colombian author and a New York Times bestselling illustrator of over thirty picture books for children. Rueda’s books have been published in the United States, Mexico, and Spain and have been translated into fifteen different languages for Asia and Europe. She’s a 2016 Hans Christian Andersen and Astrid Lindgren Awards nominee.…
Program Highlights
PEN America x VICE Media present: DREAM to Tell
How do our stories live in our bodies?
In this visual project, student DREAMers explore this question’s inherent possibilities, using their own creative writing as a template.
Developed as part of PEN America’s DREAMing Out Loud writing workshops, DREAM to Tell seeks to elevate the voices of young aspiring writers from New York City who are undocumented and have been marginalized due to their immigration status, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or for being perceived as “other.”
As a collaborative venture, DREAM to Tell takes an experimental approach to visual representation, as participants work actively with storytelling and film professionals to translate their stories onscreen.
2020 DREAMing Out Loud Virtual Reading & Book Release
DREAMing Out Loud at the 2018 World Voices Festival
DREAMers share their stories with original pieces created under the guidance of author Álvaro Enrigue. Co-presented with the Nuyorican Poets Cafe for the 2018 PEN America World Voices Festival.