LIVE via Zoom: 8:30pm-10:30pm (Eastern Time)

You cannot, you cannot use someone else’s fire. You can only use your own. And in order to do that, you must first be willing to believe that you have it. ― Audre Lorde

The poems and poets we love most are often unfettered, unique, and unabashedly themselves. But writing such poems takes courage—to mine your life’s true language and imagery, to delve into your individual psyche and experience, and to trust the structure of your mind to guide the structure of your poems. In this generative workshop, you’ll work with prompts designed to foster courage and elicit your unique gifts as a poet. Looking at work by poets such as Diane Seuss, Lucille Clifton, George Ella Lyon, Ama Codjoe, Jennifer Chang, Nâzim Hikmet, and Paul Tran, we’ll explore what makes specific poems feel so alive and vibrant, and we’ll work to identify the most alive and vibrant aspects of each other’s writing.