Garden of Literacy Sci-Fi Writing Workshop

Making the Impossible Possible: The Art of Social Justice Speculative Fiction

Participants will gain an understanding of the power of speculative fiction to act as social commentary. We will examine the work of multiple speculative authors and unpack their symbolic use of speculative elements, and folks will have the opportunity to pitch and workshop an original speculative “novum,” or a fantastical story element that marks a narrative as speculative fiction. Participants will gain an understanding of the process of “mind mapping,” a structured brainstorming technique that allows writers build out an initial story idea into a full outline. In the second half, there will be time to begin drafting their own stories and an opportunity for final reflections and Q&A.

Introduction
Discussion: Speculative Fiction as Social Commentary
Developing a Novum and Mind Mapping a Story
Free Writing
Reflections and Q&A

This workshop is designed for all ages

Limit of 12 people, registration is required

Cost: $35 per person | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

About Brenna Harvey

Brenna Harvey (they/them) is a writer, comedian, and museum educator from Hartford, Connecticut. They hold an MA in sociology from the University of Connecticut and are currently pursuing an MFA in fiction writing at Southern Connecticut State University. They teach improv performance and comedic sketch writing through the Sea Tea Comedy Theater in downtown Hartford. They also work as a museum educator at Hartford’s Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, where they facilitate conversations about history in order to inspire social change in the present.

Their short fiction has been published in Cossmass Infinities, Strange Religion, Land Beyond the World Magazine, Night Frights, Cast of Wonders, and OMGQueer. Their story “The Land of Rought Draft” was awarded third place in the Royal Nonesuch Humor Writing Contest by the Mark Twain House & Museum, and their story, “‘Are My Underwater Sperm Darts Normal?’ And Other Teen Questions” was a judge’s pick for Queer Sci Fi’s annual flash fiction contest.

School Group Interest Form

School Group Interest Form 2024

Thank you so much for your interest in a group tour at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center! Please help us schedule your visit by answering the questions below.

School name:

Please suggest three dates and times when your group would like to visit. (Note: the Stowe Center is closed on Sunday and Tuesday.)

Contact Teacher Name:

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Please enter a number from 8 to 40.

Please identify the grade level(s) of attending students:(Required)

Likely number of chaperones (including other teachers):

The Stowe Center requires one adult per every 10 students.

Are there special student, teacher, or chaperone accommodations that can help us serve you best?

Do you plan to have lunch on site?

Yes, please.

No, thank you.

Are you interested in scheduling a joint visit with our neighbor, The Mark Twain House and Museum?

Yes, please

No, thank you.

If yes, have you already contacted The Mark Twain House?

Yes

Adult Group Interest Form

Group Tour Interest Form 2022

Thank you so much for your interest in a group tour at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center! Please help us schedule your visit by answering the questions below.

Group Name:

Name of Primary Contact:(Required)

Contact Email:(Required)

Contact Phone Number:(Required)

What date would you like to visit? (The Stowe Center typically books group tours for Thursday through Sunday visits.)

Expected number of visitors:(Required)

Please enter a number from 20 to 42.

Please indicate the number of adults, seniors, and children expected in your group:

Are there special accommodations that can help us serve you best?

Are you interested in a joint visit with our neighbor, The Mark Twain House and Museum?

Yes, please.

No, thank you.

If yes, have you already contacted The Mark Twain House?

Yes

Isabella Beecher Hooker

Isabella Holmes Beecher Hooker (1822-1907)
An ardent member of the woman’s suffrage movement, Isabella Holmes Beecher Hooker joined in the cause along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.

Isabella was the first child of Lyman Beecher and his second wife, Harriet Porter Beecher.

Isabella began her education at Catharine Beecher’s Hartford Female Seminary and lived with her sister Mary Perkins. In 1841 she married John Hooker, a descendant of Thomas Hooker, the founder of Hartford. John Hooker was a lawyer and an abolitionist.

In the early 1860s Isabella got involved in the woman’s suffrage movement. Isabella joined Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony as a member of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in 1869. She was a founding member of the Connecticut Woman’s Suffrage Association. Isabella’s ideas of equality were influenced by John Stuart Mills’ On Liberty and the Subjection of Women.

In 1871, Isabella organized the annual convention of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in Washington D.C. and presented her argument before the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate. Her husband, John Hooker, believed in his wife and supported her activities. He helped Isabella draft a bill to the Connecticut Legislature giving married women the same property rights as their husbands. The bill passed in 1877. Isabella annually submitted a bill granting women the right to vote, but it did not pass in her lifetime.