Land, Body & Voice: A Poetry Workshop

Description

Writing poetry is an embodied practice rooted in place and lived experience. It can ground us in our environment and in our bodies. It can also help us advocate for social progress and justice for the people and places around us. In this generative writing workshop, we will explore how poetry and art can serve and inspire us amidst existential threats to marginalized communities and our shared, natural world. Through readings, interactive exercises, and generative prompts, we will explore the power and joy of writing together. You will work on producing a variety of forms from lyric essays to sonnets to elegies. We’ll also be inspired by a diverse set of voices and subjects, including Pascale Petit, Tracy K. Smith, Natalie Diaz, Joy Harjo, Jenny Xie, Nyssa Chow, Sarah Howe, Ross Gay, and Warsan Shire. Session themes include: - ecopoetics & environmental writing - writing about mental health - poetry in protest & resistance - the poetics of orality & speech - migration, movement & crossings. By the end of the workshop, you will have: - begun drafting 15-20 new poems, with 3-4 generative exercises planned for each week. - developed a critical and interdisciplinary framework for analyzing poetry. - built confidence in sharing your work with peers. - the tools to continue crafting and refining creative work, whether your goal is publication or personal practice. This workshop is suited for anyone who would like to develop a body of original poetry, and will be especially useful to writers who seek literary community and (gentle) accountability in their creative practice. Poets of all stages are welcome. Looking forward to collaborating with you all and seeing your beautiful words! *ENROLLMENT ENDS SEPTEMBER 27 OR WHEN CLASS IS FULL* About the Instructor: Serena Alagappan received her A.B. in comparative literature and creative writing from Princeton University in 2020. She then studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, where she received an MSc in Social Anthropology and an MSt in World Literatures in English. She has edited poetry for the 30th annual Mays Anthology and the Oxford Review of Books. Her poems have appeared in The London Magazine, The American Journal of Poetry, the Colorado Review, and elsewhere. A recipient of the 2022 New Poets Prize, her pamphlet ‘Sensitive to Temperature’ was published by The Poetry Business under the Smith|Doorstop imprint.