Falling Into Autumn Wacky Writing Week, hosted by ATDS
We are delighted to invite you to join the
Falling into Autumn Wacky Writing Week
hosted by the American Theatre and Drama Society
This is one of the Wacky Writing Week series that you may remember from the past several years. It's a low-stakes, fun way to tackle your research and push forward on your Fall writing goals!
All are welcome! Interested? Grab your pumpkin-spiced snack of choice and read on...
ATDS Wacky Writing Week
October 19-25
7 days, 10 pages.
Why not?
Getting ready for a fall conference? Need to dust off some research after the launch of the fall term? Whatever your motivation, we invite you to join us.
Here’s what you have to do: Sign up at: https://forms.gle/hUKWazeNs9btL5C59
That’s it. The Wacky Writing Challenge is open to everyone, and there’s no application process.
The schedule is below. You can set your goals. You can join the Zoom chatting sessions (links will be sent to those who register). You can share your writing selfies and word-count snapshots as you go. We’re here to cheer you on to your goal, however you get there!
If you’ve joined us before – WELCOME BACK! If you’re new to the Wacky Writing Week, ENJOY THE PARTY!
Structure:
Make-a-Plan Monday, October 19:
Create your schedule for the week, assemble the materials you need (books, notes, files), get yourself organized, re-read what you've already written (if anything), and set goals for the week. Tuesdays and Thursdays have pre-set goals, but on Wednesday and Friday, you should set your own, whether that's spent writing, word count, page count, or any other writing milestone you choose. The program’s recommended goal is 10pp for the week.
Two-Page Tuesday, October 20:
On October 20, 2026, the stars promise “innovation, independence, collaboration, and future-focused thinking,” aided by inspiring “Aquarius energy.” Use this inspiration to fuel your two pages. You can write more, but you can't write less.
Word Count Wednesday, October 21:
Set your timer for whatever you put in your Monday plan. Write. Enjoy watching the word count climb as you go! Challenge yourself to hit a certain number. Take a screen shot of your word count and send it to us at onlineresearchshare@gmail.com. Celebrate every 50 words with a piece of candy corn.
Two-Page Thursday, October 22:
Channel cozy autumn vibes to lather, rinse, repeat from Tuesday for your two pages!
Free-Write Friday, October 23:
Set your timer for whatever you put in your Monday plan. Write whatever you want to. Dance around the room to celebrate your awesomeness. Carve a pumpkin!
Sleep-in Saturday, October 24:
Enjoy the day and take 30 minutes to re-read what you've written this past week. Then head out for some well-deserved fun in the autumn weather!
Synthesize Sunday, October 25:
Now that you've written and re-read, use the time you've allocated today to edit and expand. Your goal is to hit 10pp total for the week, but whatever you do, TAKE THE WIN for committing to your writing and yourself!
We also invite you to take a victory selfie and send it in to onlineresearchshare@gmail.com!
New Books in Queer of Color Critique and/as Theatre and Performance Studies
Join the American Theatre & Drama Society for an online conversation with the authors of new books at the intersections of Queer of Color Critique and Theatre and Performance Studies:
· Extravagant Camp: The Queer Abjection of Asian America by Chris A. Eng
· Racial Care: On Asian American Suffering and Survival by James McMaster
· Reclaiming Time: Race, Temporality, and Black Expressive Culture
by Isaiah Matthew Wooden
After our panelists engage with some prepared discussion questions, we will open the session for Q&A with attendees.
Register for the roundtable. Registrants will receive the Zoom link shortly before the event.
If you’re not already a member of the American Theatre & Drama Society, please join. We continue to offer pay-what-you-can membership. Membership and donations help us to fund programming like this roundtable as part of our ongoing anti-racist initiatives.
Author Bios:
Chris A. Eng is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park. Primarily situated at the intersections of Asian American cultural studies and queer of color critique, his research and teaching engage the fields of critical ethnic studies, performance studies, and post45 literatures alongside theorizations of affect, diaspora, and empire. His first book, Extravagant Camp: The Queer Abjection of Asian America (NYU Press, 2025), illuminates Asian American camp as a prevalent yet underappreciated cultural strategy for contesting accounts of racialization that overly rely on terms of abjection. The book follows campy performances that imaginatively restage the camps that have been central to dominant narratives of Asian American history: Chinese railroad labor, Japanese American incarceration, Vietnam War refugee resettlement, and counterinsurgency camps across US imperial entanglements in the Philippines. Theorizing Asian American camp as both a performance strategy and reading practice, Eng examines how artists drag up the maligned racial roles of the coolie, the internee, the refugee, and the diva to make different sense of these histories. Extravagant Camp shows how Asian American camp takes on queerness as a resource to enliven modes of joy, beauty, and pleasure within structures of constraint, revealing the types of power camp retrieves for racialized communities in the face of abjection. This monograph was a recipient of the CLAGS Fellowship Award and a finalist for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s Outstanding Book Award.
James McMaster is an interdisciplinary scholar who analyzes twenty-first century American cultural production and social movements for what each can teach us about how minoritarian subjects have experienced moments of prolonged crisis in the United States His first book, Racial Care: On Asian American Suffering and Survival (Duke University Press, 2025), examines the forms of care that Asian Americans have performed to survive their experiences of racism in the United States throughout the Obama-Trump years. As Assistant Professor of American Studies and English at the George Washington University, his classes span a diverse range of topics, with titles like “Introduction to Asian American Studies,” “The Politics of Care,” and “Minoritarian Performance Studies.” His critical writing and cultural criticism have been published in numerous venues including the Journal of Asian American Studies, American Quarterly, QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, Howlround, VICE, Teen Vogue, and a number of edited volumes. He serves on the advisory board for Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory (2019-present). He is also a previous political chair of GAPIMY: Empowering Queer and Trans Asian Pacific Islanders (2017-2019). As a speaker, consultant, and content expert on matters pertaining to the LGBTQ+ and Asian American communities, Dr. McMaster has worked with numerous professional, community, and student organizations. As a public intellectual, he has shared his knowledge internationally on television, stages, and podcasts.
Isaiah Matthew Wooden is a scholar-artist who researches and writes about contemporary drama, performance, and visual culture. Wooden is the author of Reclaiming Time: Race, Temporality, and Black Expressive Culture (Northwestern UP, 2025), which was a finalist for the 2026 Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) Outstanding Book Award. He is also the co-editor of several volumes including August Wilson in Context (Cambridge UP, 2025), Tarell Alvin McCraney: Theater, Performance, and Collaboration (Northwestern UP, 2020), and “Manifestos for Black Theatre, Then and Now,” a special section of Theatre History Studies (Univ. of Alabama Press, 2024). Wooden has contributed more than sixty articles, essays, and reviews on contemporary art, drama, and performance to scholarly and popular publications. His research has been awarded myriad fellowships and honors from within and beyond Theatre and Performance Studies. As a director and dramaturg, Wooden has collaborated on projects in venues ranging from the Uganda National Theatre to the Kennedy Center, including works by Lee Breuer, Kia Corthron, Eisa Davis, Lorraine Hansberry, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Charles L. Mee, Lynn Nottage, Robert O’Hara, Natsu Onoda Power, Nilaja Sun, Lisa B. Thompson, and Mary Zimmerman. He has served on the Governing Council for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education; Executive Boards for the American Theatre and Drama Society, the August Wilson Society, and the Black Theater Association; the Editorial Boards for Imagined Theatres, PAJ, and Theatre Topics; and as the Performance Review Editor ofTheatre Journal.
ATDS 2026 Graduate Student Postconference Series: Demystifying the Journal Publication Process (virtual)
ATDS 2026 Graduate Student Postconference Series
Demystifying the Journal Publication Process
July 31, 2026 (virtual)
The ATDS 2026 Graduate Student Postconference Series aims to demystify the journal publication process for graduate students and early career scholars. Through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous panels, events, and mentoring sessions, the postconference addresses questions including: How do you approach transforming a seminar paper into an essay ready for peer-review? How do you figure out what journal to submit your work to? What are the steps of the journal publication process? How might you respond to peer reviews? Attendees will have an opportunity to discuss questions and anxieties about the publication process with editors, faculty mentors, and peers.
The series also includes a roundtable for graduate students to discuss key issues impacting them in the field today.
To attend the postconference, please use this Google Form to sign up by July 28 to receive the Zoom link. The Zoom link will be sent out two days before the event.
Please reach out to Michelle Granshaw (president@atds.org) with any questions.
ATDS 2026 Graduate Postconference Series Committee: Natasha Cole, Michelle Granshaw, Mina Kawahara, and Bess Rowen.
Program
12PM-1:15PM ET – Demystifying the Journal Publication Process Editor Roundtable
(All faculty, students, and independent scholars are welcome to attend)
David Bisaha (Associate Editor, Theatre Annual), Benjamin Gillespie (Editor, Journal of American Drama and Theatre), Bess Rowen (Editor, Journal of American Drama and Theatre), and Jonathan Shandell (Editor, Theatre Annual)
1:30PM-2:45PM ET – Navigating Graduate School Today: A Roundtable
(All faculty, students, and independent scholars are welcome to attend)
Payne Banister, Ryan Nock, Patrick Mark Saunders
3PM-4PM ET – Graduate Student Mixer (Graduate Students Only)
An informal mixer for graduate students to meet other grad students, talk about their research interests, discuss journal publication, share success stories and advice, and commiserate about challenges of graduate school.
Journal Article Works-in-Progress Mentoring Sessions
Graduate student authors will be matched with a faculty mentor who will provide written and/or verbal feedback on a full-length essay. This will be an asynchronous process that is designed to be flexible and low-pressure for all involved. ATDS hopes that this will be an opportunity to not only provide graduate student authors a fresh set of eyes on their writing, but also a look into how editors and peer reviewers might approach their work. Deadline passed.
ATDS First Book Bootcamp
APPLY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE 2026 FIRST BOOK BOOTCAMP:
Can you write your first book? Yes, you can!
The annual First Book Bootcamp pairs contingent and tenure-stream faculty with experienced faculty mentors to develop book proposals. Mentoring faculty will read participants’ materials in advance and meet during the Bootcamp in one-on-one sessions for targeted feedback.
In addition to these one-on-one mentoring sessions, the First Book Bootcamp includes workshops on the book proposal process, panels with series and acquisition editors and recent first-time authors, open writing sessions, and peer conversations. After the two-week Bootcamp, participants will attend a virtual reunion to update mentors on their progress, solicit advice, and sustain this supportive community of scholars.
Eligibility
Anyone working on a research monograph in the fields of theatre or performance studies broadly defined is eligible to apply. The First Book Bootcamp is NOT intended for those still completing their PhDs (we hope you will apply in the future!).
Schedule
The Bootcamp will run via Zoom from July 28-August 7, with multiple group gatherings and one-on-one sessions. Participants will be selected and will be assigned to a mentor by June 20. Participants must submit their materials (sample chapter, draft book proposal, etc.) to mentors no later than July 1. Accepted participants are expected to attend all scheduled sessions.
At the conclusion of the bootcamp, participants will have engaged in a minimum of 10 hours of intensive mentorship, workshopping of their research materials, and conversations with professionals in the field.
Application
To apply, fill out this google form: https://forms.gle/EvXmGN68Zf9HvwKp9
Applications include your project title, 150-word abstract, status of your project, goals for the First Book Bootcamp as well as your CV and contact information and are due June 1. Please email convenors Michael Y. Bennett, Jennifer Buckley, and Heather S. Nathans: atdsfirstbookbootcamp@gmail.com.
ATDS @ ATHE
Join us for a special slate of panels sponsored by ATHE for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s 2025 Virtual Conference!
New Books in Asian American Theatre and Performance Studies
Please join us for our upcoming roundtable on New Books in Asian American Theatre and Performance Studies this Friday, May 8th from 4:30-5:30pm Eastern (1:30-2:30pm Pacific). We will spotlight:
Performing Vulnerability: Risking Art and Life in the Burmese Diaspora by Emily L. Hue
Spoiled: Asian American Hostility and the Damage of Repair by Summer Kim Lee
Unsettling Acts: Performing Transnational Adoption by Jieun Lee
Register for the roundtable to receive the Zoom link shortly before the event.
Learn more about our authors below:
Emily Hue is an Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies and core faculty in Southeast Asian Text, Ritual, Performance (SEATRiP). Her research and teaching are in the fields of Asian American Studies, feminist studies, and performance, and more recently, in new materialisms and sustainable design. Her first book Performing Vulnerability: Risking Art and Life in the Burmese Diaspora (University of Washington Press, 2025) uses visual and performance analysis to explore how Southeast Asian diasporic artists use, in some cases, self-injury, to express their vulnerability to challenges of military rule as well as resettlement. You can find her most recent writing in the Critical Ethnic Studies Journal, AmericanStudies Quarterly, Amerasia, and the Routledge Handbook of Refugee Narratives.
Summer Kim Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at UCLA. She specializes in feminist theory, queer theory, performance studies, critical race and ethnic studies, and Asian Americanart, literature, and culture. She is the author of Spoiled: Asian American Hostility and the Damage of Repair (Duke University Press, 2025). Some of her published work can be found in ASAP/Journal, Los Angeles Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, Post45, Social Text, and Women & Performance.
Jieun Lee is an Associate Professor of Theater Studies at Emory University. She is the author of Unsettling Acts: Performing Transnational Adoption published in 2025 by the Ohio State University Press. Her research and teaching focus on Asian American and Korean diaspora theater and performance. Jieun is currently working on an anthology of contemporary dramas written and performed by Korean American adoptees.
This event is organized through ATDS’ Anti-Racist Initiative, led by Donatella Galella and Janet Werther.
Zoom Meetup for Students and Faculty Navigating Censorship
On February 20 at 3PM EST/2PM CST/12PM PST, Becca Worley and Michelle Granshaw will be holding a virtual meet up for faculty and students navigating censorship and oppression at their colleges and universities to share experiences, strategies, and resources. We will use this Zoom link and we hope you will join us! We also are working on other resources requested by faculty navigating these circumstances and will be sharing them soon.
ATDS Wacky Writing Challenge!
We are delighted to invite you to join the Dog Days of Summer Wacky Writing Week hosted by the American Theatre and Drama Society!
It's a low-stakes, fun way to tackle your research and polish off your summer writing goals!
All are welcome!
Developing Diversity Statements
We are happy to announce ATDS's Spring 2025 virtual Career Conversations workshop. On Wednesday, April 16th from 6PM-7:30PM EST, please join us for the Developing Diversity Statements for the Academic Job Market workshop. You can sign up for the event using this Google Form. The workshop, – which will feature one-on-one feedback from faculty Sarah Fahmey, Jenna Gerdsen, Noe Montez, and Kristen Wright – has limited space, so please apply by March 16!
This event is open to both ATDS members and non-members. Please see the links and attached posters for more details and sign-up information! We appreciate you passing on the information to colleagues and students who may be interested. If you have any questions, please contact co-organizers Michelle Granshaw (ATDS Board Member, mkg31@pitt.edu) and Victoria LaFave (ATDS Graduate Representative,gradstudentrep@atds.org).
If you are not a member of ATDS, please consider joining (membership includes a pay-what-you-can option) and help us continue to offer these opportunities and others.
Cultivating a Digital Presence in TAPS
We are happy to announce ATDS's Spring 2025 virtual Career Conversations series. On Thursday February 13 from 6PM-7PM EST, please join us for a roundtable conversation about Best Practices for Cultivating a Digital Presence in Theatre and Performance Studies featuring Shelby Brewster, Leticia Ridley, Alexis Riley, and Samuel Yates. You can sign up for the event using this Google Formthrough February 10. The event is open to members and non-members. Everyone who signs up will receive a Zoom link to join the conversation before the event.
Our second Career Conversations event will be an April workshop on diversity statements. We will send out more information later in the spring.
Both events will be open to ATDS members and non-members. We appreciate you passing on the information to colleagues and students who may be interested. If you have any questions, please contact co-organizers Michelle Granshaw (ATDS Board Member, mkg31@pitt.edu) and Victoria LaFave (ATDS Graduate Representative, gradstudentrep@atds.org).
If you are not a member of ATDS, please considerjoining (membership includes a pay-what-you-can option) and help us continue to offer these opportunities and others.