The Writer's Studio: Litmatic: Hip-Hop and the Short Story

The Writer’s Studio is a free workshop series open to all students from all majors. Come study the art of writing in intensive, fun, hands-on workshops with dynamic faculty from the Creative Writing program, the Stanford Storytelling Project, and others. You’ll leave with an expanded understanding of what your writing can do.

In the words of Shad, rapper and host of the critically-acclaimed docuseries Hip-Hop Evolution, “hip-hop was built on overcoming limitations,” and the same could be said about the form of the short story. Students should come to the studio (pun intended) ready to share bars from their favorite hip-hop song so that our workshop can examine and appreciate the artistry and poetry of rap while also discovering how the structure of a hip-hop song can catalyze the creation of a short story. We will discuss (and draft) what constitutes the equivalent of an intro, verse, hook, bridge and outro in the contemporary American short story and ultimately arrive at the conclusion that language — whether it’s laid over a beat or laid out on the page — is power.

Jenn Alandy Trahan, a first-generation college graduate, grew up in Vallejo during the golden age of hip-hop. A former Wallace Stegner Fellow, she is a Jones Lecturer who has taught courses in Filipinx fiction, nonfiction, and service-learning through creative writing. She’s currently teaching English 9CE: Creative Expression all year (her favorite course to teach), as well as co-teaching English 177B: Contemporary American Short Stories with Professor Gavin Jones in Winter 2021. Also, Jenn believes that Tupac and Eminem are two of the greatest MCs of all time.