The Historian’s Writerly Craft: A Summer Intensive Grounded in Discipline and Artistry
We congratulate the following scholars for securing a place in the first Historian’s Writerly Craft workshop so that they can develop their projects in progress. The application pool was large and excellent. We thank all who applied.
- Tara Bynum, A Revolutionary History of Black Joy
- Erika Edwards, Her Presence Insults Me: A Micro-History of the Church, Crime and the Crown in the Rio de la Plata
- Hannah Farber, The American Lawsuit, Civil Litigation from the Revolution to the Age of Jackson
- Santiago Muñoz-Arbeláez, Catalina’s Fleeting Freedom: An Indigenous Woman’s Journey and the Making of Colonial Bogotá
- Tessa Murphy, Slavery in the Age of Abolition
- John Sweet, The Captive’s Tale: Venture Smith and the African Roots of the American Republic
- Andrew Wherman, Shocking Shambles of Flesh: A Morbid History of New York City and the Constitution.
This 12-week craft intensive online workshop is premised on the belief that historians of vast early America are writers, too. We are drawn as much to character, narrative, and storytelling technique as we are to evidence and argumentation. Yet we are often underserved by writing workshops that privilege fiction, memoir, popular/modern history, and journalism. The Historian’s Writerly Craft will balance our particular disciplinary priorities and challenges with our commitment to artistic development.
During Summer 2026, these dedicated historian-writers will meet on a bi-weekly, virtual basis (for 3-hour blocks between June and August). The sessions are led by Dr. Tamara J. Walker (Barnard College) and Scott Heerman (Omohundro Institute). Meetings will focus on a mix of shared readings, craft how-to’s paired with writing exercises, dedicated writing time, and communal sharing of excerpts and feedback. A sample breakdown follows:
Session 1: Orientation, Goal Setting, and Craft How-To (Focus: Worldbuilding)
Session 2: Communal Sharing and Feedback (each participant will circulate and receive feedback on 2- to 3-page excerpts during our session)
Session 3: Craft How-To and Writing Exercises (Focus: Character)
Session 4: Communal Sharing and Feedback (each participant will pre-circulate and receive feedback on 2- to 3-page excerpts)
Session 5: Craft How-To and Writing Exercises (Focus: Narrative and Voice)
Session 6: Communal Feedback (each participant will pre-circulate and receive feedback on 2- to 3-page excerpts) and Closing
In addition, each participant will receive two individual coaching sessions focused on their specific project and goals.
Upon completion of the intensive, participants will receive $500 to be used to support the development of their project. These funds reflect the Omohundro Institute’s ongoing investment in scholarly excellence.
About the Conveners
Tamara J. Walker is the Claire Tow Associate Professor of Africana Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University. Her research interests focus on the history of slavery, gender, and racial formation in Latin America, their legacies in the modern era, and the theme of global Black mobility. She is the author of Exquisite Slaves: Race, Clothing, and Status in Colonial Lima, which was published by Cambridge University Press in 2017 and won the 2018 Harriet Tubman Prize from the Schomburg Center for Research on Black Culture. Her most recent book, Beyond the Shores: A History of African Americans Abroad (Crown, June 2023), was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice. She is currently at work on two new research projects, one focused on race and visual culture in Latin America (under contract, University of Texas Press), and the other on the interconnected history of slavery and piracy.
In addition to her scholarly pursuits, Tamara is the co-founder of The Wandering Scholar, a 501c3 nonprofit focused on making international travel accessible to high school students from underrepresented backgrounds. This work has, in turn, shaped her writing and creative projects: she has published essays about race, culture, and travel for Afar, Time, Smithsonian Magazine, Slate, The Guardian, The Root, and Columbia Global Reports; and produces multi-media content focused on all things travel.
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Scott Heerman is Associate Professor of History and Editor of Books at the Omohundro Institute. He is a scholar of slavery and emancipation in comparative perspectives. His current project Freedom’s Ensemble examines the international abduction of people into slavery across multiple empires, from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth century.