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SYZYGY UNEQUIVOCALLY SUPPORTS THE STRUGGLE FOR PALESTINIAN SELF-DETERMINATION AND DE-COLONIZATION

SYZYGY

/ˈsɪzɪdʒi/

01. a straight-line conjunction of three or more celestial bodies in a gravitational system (such as an eclipse)
02. a Heung Coalition writing workshop

ABOUT US

SYGYZY, an off-shoot of Heung Coalition, is a group of anti-colonial and anti-racist writers dedicated to cultivating craft and community in opposition to — and in spite of — enduring legacies of intersecting oppressions. As writers of varying backgrounds, we understand that writing is a political act, so we approach writing as a practice that is embedded in the material conditions and social relations of both ourselves and our readers. We actively resist the forces that shape racist, patriarchal, cisheteronormative, capitalist institutions by building something that prioritizes community and conversation.

Through critiques, generative writing sessions, teaching workshops, publication, and other literary pursuits, we are collectively improvising new ways of writing and workshopping that do not follow traditional models of literary production. We believe there’s a better way — especially one that better serves writers of marginalized and oppressed identities.

Community building is a key aspect of our writing workshop. All members are welcome to participate and contribute at any level, including leading workshops, suggesting improvements and activities, and helping define SYZYGY as a collective space. We are a product of everyone’s combined visions and efforts, a place of organic growth and multifaceted possibilities.

Moreover, as SYZYGY is a sister organization to Heung Coalition, we share the same community space and therefore the same values of political activity through a critical, leftist lens. We believe this cross-pollination of disciplines to be necessary and generative, especially in the context of producing creative work — rigorous, academic analysis and limitless imagining of better futures should not be mutually exclusive. To that end, we believe in prioritizing each other as people before producers of artistic or academic content, and also believe in taking an explicit ethical stance and jumping into political action whenever we are called.

We hold politics so closely and indivisible to our craft precisely because we do not believe in a “neutral” aesthetic mediation — that is to say, all art is created from one’s individual perception of the world, and how aware one is of the forces that formed and structured it. As writers, we aim to craft creative works that bring into relief better futures of human dignity and liberation.