Peace Pen Foundry
A peer-mentoring
creative writing group
to tell stories about
our changing world.
Presented by Bombshelltoe Policy x Arts
Facilitated by Maher Akremi
The Story
The Peace Pen Foundry (PPF) began as a humble writing group among friends working in the peace and security field to keep each other company during the COVID-19 quarantine. Now, the Foundry is eager to grow into a hybrid virtual/in-person experience based in Washington, DC.
The Foundry invites a group of early- and mid-career professionals working on foreign policy to attend a series of writing workshops scheduled throughout May - August 2024. During these workshops, participants will explore more creative writing styles (i.e., creative nonfiction, sci-fi, screenwriting, poetry, etc.) as an alternative means to communicate their personal experiences and policy expertise.
At the heart of Peace Pen Foundry is the belief that the words we choose and the narratives we tell about the world matter. Foreign policy is often framed and conveyed through bureaucratic and inaccessible language that obscures the impact of policy decisions on real lives. By encouraging foreign policy scholars and practitioners to incorporate storytelling into their research practice, the Foundry invites clarity and humanity into this their work.
Overall, the Foundry helps participants recognize that writing is not only an art craft, but also a means to bond with friends (not just colleagues!), receive honest feedback in a supportive space, and pursue creative work beyond their professional comfort zones.Our sources of inspiration:
George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language,” Horizon, 1946.
James Baldwin, “The Creative Process,” Creative America, Ridge Press, 1962.
Words About War Matter: A Language Guide Discussed War and Foreign Policy, 2023
We are a resource for foreign policy scholars and practitioners to help them find joy in writing, generate ideas, and share their knowledge through story.
The Benefits
Writing craft: The foundry workshop series features resources to improve writing and bring creative writing skills into foreign policy analysis and communication.
Community: This is an opportunity for participants to learn from one another’s writing, policy expertise, and personal experiences. We prioritize building a safe space for creativity and collaboration.
Accountability and encouragement: The foundry is grounded in supporting creative writers in the peace and security field. Experts across the field write in ways dictated by their work, and often it does not leave space for creative work. The foundry is a space that champions creativity, as well as offers mechanisms to a consistent creative writing practice. Sometimes we need an encouraging push to make space for it!
Pitching knowledge and publishing support: Workshops include advice on pitching to publishers and identifying opportunities to get participants’ work out into the world.
The Details
WHO CAN JOIN?
Peace Pen Foundry seeks participants who —
Work on foreign policy issues (i.e., international diplomacy, regional politics, peace and security, nuclear security, etc.),
Been in the field for 1 - 5 years (identifies as early or mid-career),
Engages in creative writing as a hobby and/or integrating it into research practice,
preferably based in Washington, DC but open to all U.S.-based individuals. International applicants will be considered in limited numbers.
The Foundry is open to any writing level, though we ask that you be willing to take risks, allow for vulnerability in your writing, and be ready to provide honest and constructive feedback. It thrives in mutual learning, so participants must be able to attend a majority of the workshops (see tentative calendar below).Given the deep level of engagement and time commitment, the Foundry accepts participants through an application process.
WHEN AND WHERE?
The 2024 cycle will begin in May and end in August as a combination of virtual workshops
(on Zoom) and in-person meet-ups/readings in Washington, DC (for those who cannot attend physical meetings, a virtual option will be offered). Please see timeline below for more information.
WHAT DOES THE WORKSHOP ENTAIL?
Each workshop (series of virtual meet-ups and two in-person events) will feature
close readings of inspirational essays about writing and communication, in-depth conversation with participants, an ample time to write and receive feedback from one another.
Reading: Close engagement with reading materials facilitators and participants recommend about the craft of writing itself. In the past, participants have read George Orwell, James Baldwin, Teju Cole, John Hersey, Toni Morrison, among others.
Conversations: Honest, open feedback for our colleagues on their written pieces. The goal is to improve as writers and communicators, and for each participant to get the opportunity and support to carry a piece of creative writing to fruition.
Creative writing: Opportunities to engage in writing exercises, including quick 10-min prompts as well as longer-form independent writing. Each participant will contribute a piece to be workshopped by the others in the group for feedback.
Our Timeline
Below is a notional timeline to help interested participants evaluate their ability to engage in the entire workshop cycle. Our goal is to create a cohort willing to provide quality feedback and support one another.
As such, we will identify specific dates via Doodle that aligns with all selected participant’s schedules once they have been accepted.
2024 application window: April 3rd and close April 22nd
Participants selection (8 participants max): May 6th
Introductory virtual workshops (1 workshop per week, 1.5-hr long):
Weeks of May 13th | 20th | 27th
Two-week independent writing period (own time):
First two weeks of June
Two-week independent review of cohort writing (own time):
Last two weeks of June
1st in-person/hybrid workshop (2.5 hours on a weekend):
Early July
Two-week independent writing period (own time):
First two weeks of July
2nd in-person/hybrid workshop (2.5 hours on a weekend):
End of July or Early August (subject to participant schedules)
Virtual workshop: final pieces and future plans:
August (subject to participant schedules)
Join Peace Pen Foundry
Application now open
OPEN: APRIL 3, 2024 || CLOSE: APRIL 22, 2024
The Team
Maher Akremi is a dedicated program manager in the international policy/peacebuilding field and a trained fiction writer. Maher's work has been published numerous times including by the Peace Studio, Inkstick Media, and in his Alma Mater's arts and letters journal. Fiction writing is a passion for Maher and an avenue for advocating for change.
Bombshelltoe Policy x Arts Collective (www.bombshelltoe.com)
is a coalition of nuclear policy experts, historians, scientists, activists, and artists working to create projects that encourage young people to become active global citizens and support nuclear disarmament. It is one of the few research entities presenting research and creative work at the international (United Nations); national (US Dept of State and other USG institutions); state / private (museums such as MoMA PS1, The MET, Wende Museum, others) and community (grassroots activist and artist spaces) levels simultaneously. Nuclear weapons are not a thing of the past – their existence reverberates into our present and futures. By making nuclear history and policy accessible and showing its connections with other social and environmental issues, Bombshelltoe opens the doors for everyday people to join the fight against nuclear weapons.
