Icess Fernandez Rojas
Icess Fernandez Rojas is an educator, writer, and a former journalist. She is a graduate of Goddard College's MFA program.
Her work has been internationally published in Queen Mobs Lit Journal, Poetry 24, Rabble Lit, Minerva Rising Literary Journal, and the Feminine Collective's anthology Notes from Humanity. Her most recent short story will appear in the mystery collection, Houston Noir.
Her nonfiction/memoir work has appeared in Dear Hope, NBCNews.com, HuffPost and the Guardian. She is a recipient of the Owl of Minerva Award, a VONA/Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation alum, a Dos Brujas Workshop alum, and a Kimbilio Fellow. She's currently working on her first novel and memoir. Visit her online at icessfernandez.com.
Her work has been internationally published in Queen Mobs Lit Journal, Poetry 24, Rabble Lit, Minerva Rising Literary Journal, and the Feminine Collective's anthology Notes from Humanity. Her most recent short story will appear in the mystery collection, Houston Noir.
Her nonfiction/memoir work has appeared in Dear Hope, NBCNews.com, HuffPost and the Guardian. She is a recipient of the Owl of Minerva Award, a VONA/Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation alum, a Dos Brujas Workshop alum, and a Kimbilio Fellow. She's currently working on her first novel and memoir. Visit her online at icessfernandez.com.
Excerpt from Rabble Lit Interview:
How do your experiences with all of that influence your teaching philosophy? When your students leave your class, what is the biggest takeaway you want them to have?
The biggest takeaway: I can absolutely do this thing and I know the first step to figuring it out. I want them to know that it is a process and processes take time and exposure. Most good things do.
How my experiences influence my teaching? LOADS!! I usually start out the first day telling them about the journalism part and then I tell them that I have written (and gotten paid) to write every single essay I’m teaching them. That usually gets their attention, that money can be made doing this gig. I mean, not a lot, but it’s viable and they can and will use these skills for their lives. Stories are about people and how they choose to live their lives. So, we tell stories.
How do your experiences with all of that influence your teaching philosophy? When your students leave your class, what is the biggest takeaway you want them to have?
The biggest takeaway: I can absolutely do this thing and I know the first step to figuring it out. I want them to know that it is a process and processes take time and exposure. Most good things do.
How my experiences influence my teaching? LOADS!! I usually start out the first day telling them about the journalism part and then I tell them that I have written (and gotten paid) to write every single essay I’m teaching them. That usually gets their attention, that money can be made doing this gig. I mean, not a lot, but it’s viable and they can and will use these skills for their lives. Stories are about people and how they choose to live their lives. So, we tell stories.
Recommended Books for Aspiring Writers
- On Writing Well by William Zinsser
- Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at World by Edwidge Danticat
- From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont
- Revision And Self-Editing (Write Great Fiction) by James Scott Bell
Teaching Philosophy
A workshop is a safe space to explore and live the life you always wanted – the one of the writer. I always found that the best workshops allowed its participants to not only walk away with ideas but with a game plan.
A workshop is a safe space to explore and live the life you always wanted – the one of the writer. I always found that the best workshops allowed its participants to not only walk away with ideas but with a game plan.