Tuesdays, January 27 to March 3rd, 7-9pm Eastern Time
online; 8 students max
$300
Enrollment Opens Jan 1, 2026
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Travel and food writing can go beyond the commercial spheres—there are many more stories that are worth discovering. Travel and food writings are foundational ways for us to document our past journeys, our connection with languages, places, and memories; it also brings us a chance to learn how best to write about the things and environments that once nourished us.
During this 6 week workshop, we’ll do generative writing exercises together, workshop one another’s piece, and read works from international writers such as Sanmao, Bryan Washington, Grace Talusan, Samanta Schweblin, Gabriela Wiener, Sulaiman Addonia, and more. We’ll also be reading together some short travel and food essays from lit mags such as Fare, Off Assignment, etc. It’ll be six sessions with all of us having fun exploring and writing together!
Each week, we’ll focus on reading 2-3 essays about travel or food that intersect with the theme of migration and home. Both emerging and established writers who work in various genres are welcomed. If you have your writings to be workshopped, or are just looking for a place to kickstart your work, this is the workshop for you. The goal for the 6 weeks is for us to generate more writings and to foster a safe writing community down the road. If you’re interested in the business side of writing and pitching, we’ll also include resources in the last session.
Week 1 Introduction & Building a Sense of Place and Writing into the Texture
Week 2 On Living Spaces, Intersections, and Emotional Landmarks
Week 3 On Flavors, Textures, and Memories Beyond the Tongues
Week 4 Exploring the Unfamiliar and Understanding the Unvoiced
Week 5 Writing Through the Historical Past & the Environmental Consciousness
Week 6 On Migration and Belonging—Redefining the Idea of Home
Enrollment opens January 1, 2026
About the Instructor
Jenna Tang is a Taiwanese writer and a translator who translates between Mandarin, French, Spanish, and English. Her translations and essays are published in The Paris Review, Lit Hub, Restless Books, Latin American Literature Today, AAWW, McSweeney’s, Catapult, Fare Magazine, and elsewhere. Her translations include works from Taiwanese feminist authors, Lin Yi-Han (Fang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradise), Lâu Tsí-û (“Not Your Child”), Leah Yang, and more. She is currently working on books written in her disappearing dialect. She is a board-member at the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA). She has given talks about translation, languages, and gender movements across 22 universities in the States, Canada, China, and Taiwan.
Testimonials from Previous Tenderness and Home Students
“I had a wonderful experience taking Jenna’s class, Writing About Place, Travel, Food, and Migration to Home! Absolutely loved the readings that were given, very diverse collection of writing, perspectives and authors. Jenna is a brilliant facilitator and her feedback in class was always very thorough and generous. 10/10, highly recommend to anyone jumping into a writing class again after some time or someone who wants to look at their writing practice with new eyes.”
“Jenna cultivates an incredible class atmosphere, allowing us to engage with and discuss our readings and shared work with confidence. The structure of the class, along with the variety of texts, makes the 6 weeks fly by - if only it were longer! I loved every minute.”
Other Testimonials about Jenna Tang’s Teaching and Work
"Jenna Tang is doing incredible and important work as a translator and writer. She is so generous and always opens the door for others. Her work challenges the status quo and creates a space for resonant stories and writers to find many audiences and communities across languages and borders. She helps us see what is possible in the literary world and how to find our way toward it. I can't think of anyone I'd rather learn from more!" — K-Ming Chang, writer
“Jenna Tang works tirelessly and generously to promote literature in translation and to build community within the translation sphere. As a translator from Taiwan now based in the US, she moves fluidly between the cultures she translates from and to, probing the bounds of the English language and seeking out voices who have hitherto not received sufficient attention.” — Jeremy Tiang, translator
“Jenna is a thoughtful translator and creative spirit who works from multiple lineages and myriad inspirations, toggling between the minutest of details and big-picture issues in a text with ease. Warm and inquisitive, she's committed to community in all senses and brings passion and energy to every one of her endeavors.” — Mike Fu, Literary Translator of Sanmao’s Stories of the Sahara
“Jenna made each one of us feel valued and comfortable during class. She was a fantastic teacher, genuinely enthusiastic about the subject. Her thoughtfully-prepared class discussions were directly applicable to my translation practice, and I am now a better translator because of it.” — Former Student