This workshop encourages participants to consider issues of the dynamic world, and to discuss why poetry IS political; IS imaginative; IS activism. How can the vulnerability of writing in this difficult time be turned into a strength, generating powerful and necessary perspectives? The pandemic brings with it overwhelming changes; yet, for the poet, channels new creative possibilities of expression. How can we remain committed to the various social, artistic and interdisciplinary spaces we occupy as responsible community citizens? We will begin by engaging in a series of writing exercises, followed by a period of collaborative sharing. Breaks will be interspersed with sample poems by contemporary poets, artists, and activists. The latter half of the session will be guided on editing and revision. We will end with an art project to commemorate our writing in this workshop experience.
There will be ASL interpreters at this workshop.
*Young writers (under 30), and underrepresented writers—including but not exclusive to women (cis and trans), trans men, Two-Spirit and non-binary writers who are Black, Indigenous, people of colour, queer, and/or disabled—are particularly encouraged to participate.*
Isabella Wang is the author of two poetry collections, On Forgetting a Language (Baseline Press 2019) and Pebble Swing (Nightwood Editions forthcoming 2021). She has been shortlisted for The Malahat Review’s Far Horizons Poetry Contest, the Minola Review’s inaugural Poetry Contest, and shortlisted twice for The New Quarterly’s Edna Staebler Essay Contest. Her poetry and prose have appeared in over thirty literary journals, including Prism, The Fiddlehead, and Arc Poetry Magazine, and the Watch Your Head anthology (Coach House Press, ed. Kathryn Mockler). She is the Editor for issue 44.2 of Room magazine.
photo credit: Zoe Dagneault