Category: Blog

FREE and live on Zoom! On March 10th, award-winning author N. K. Jemisin will be sharing behind-the-scenes insights from her writing process and how sci-fi and fantasy can open new worlds, in discussion with the next generation of writers from NYC’s Octavia Project. Hosted by Greenlight Bookstore, this event is free with a suggested donation … Continue reading N. K. Jemisin + the Octavia Project, 3/10!

We're so excited to share this very special debut--our first ever Octavia Project Zine! This digital publication is filled with artwork, stories, games, poems, and more from our incredible Octavia Project Class of Summer 2020. The title, Positive Obsessions from the Minds of the Octavia Project, was the idea of one of our teens, who … Continue reading Debuting our very first OP Zine!

Our 2020 Summer Institute ended on a high note with our first-ever Virtual Showcase! In case you missed it, you can now find a recording of the showcase.Our final week began with a Career Panel, which included professionals from the fields of medicine, game design, illustration, and animation. We spent the rest of the week finishing projects in preparation … Continue reading Closing out the summer & our 2020 Virtual Showcase

In the last two weeks, we've imagined new worlds, crafted stories, learned 3D modeling, coded games, studied astrology, and wrote fan fic (and that's not even all!)—scroll down to catch some of the highlights.First, Octavia Project co-founder and author, Chana Porter, came back to lead us in a world-building workshop. We made emergent maps of imaginary cities and then brought those worlds … Continue reading Building worlds, telling stories & learning to code

Octavia Project Summer Institute 2020--virtual edition!  This summer's program may be different in some ways--gathering on Zoom instead of our cosy Classon Ave. spot--but a lot has remained the same: we're still building community, growing our skills, stretching our creativity, and finding joy together. We're just getting started, and already we've done so much...We kicked things off with … Continue reading Characters, comics, community & more

Our fifth and final week began with a day of activities organized by the Octavia Project Fellows. They kept us busy with Rememberlution jars, games, lanyards, and LOTS of karaoke! We spent the next few days working hard to craft our digital portfolios using WordPress. To close out the summer, we invited our friends and families to join us for … Continue reading Our 2019 Portfolio Showcase & final week

So much has happened since our last update, it's hard to know where to begin! Week three started with architecture, 3D models, and a craft talk from artist and architect Bishakh Som. Architecture was followed by an amulet-making workshop with guest teacher Jessie Levandov. We were busy the rest of the week with coding our … Continue reading World-building with NK Jemisin and so much more!

Our 2019 Summer Institute is off and running, bursting at the seams with 22 participants! Week one was busy with biomimicry, book-binding, Octavia Butler, and lots of community building. Our first guest teacher, artist Miatta Kawinzi, led us in a day of speculative design. In week two, we extracted DNA with scientist and writer Ekaterina Sedia. We embodied urban planning … Continue reading Community building, biology, urban planning & more!

Our last week at the Octavia Project was busier than ever, and we want to tell you all about it!   We welcomed two more guest teachers, artist Miatta Kawinzi and literary agent Sarah Bolling... ... and we got outside to enjoy the summer weather for Field Day, a day organized by the Octavia Project Fellows. The … Continue reading Our Last Week & 2018 Portfolio Showcase!