Past events
Poetry as Counternarrative
October 19, 2024— 11am - 12:15pm PST
Workshop Description
“I have crafted a counter-narrative liberated from the judgment and classification that subjected young black women to surveillance, arrest, punishment, and confinement …”
— Sadiyah Hartman
We all have adopted narratives about ourselves and others that have been passed down through family, learned in schools or religious spaces, received through the media, or even from ourselves. These narratives shape our thinking and perception of the world and ourselves. But are these narratives telling the whole story? In this generative workshop, we’ll look at ways to counter the dominant narrative and center our narratives and histories. This 75-minute online workshop will look at literature from writers like John Keene, Dionne Brand, M. NourbeSe Philip, Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta as a starting point to create poems that give a fuller story of our existence. Participants will have opportunities to generate and share work, and receive feedback.
Note: This is a virtual offering via Zoom limited to 15 participants.
Additional information and registration instructions are provided here or visit our Instagram page.
It’s starts with saying “yes” to yourself.
“finding joy in the ache”
a creative writing experience
december 9, 2023 | 11am pst
Why You should join:
we’ll be doing a creative deep-dive into our own stories and experiences, opening portals of awareness for creativity, joy, ease, revelation, and surprise to come through. It is a good time — it being the ending of the calendar year, with a new one just ahead — to re-vision who we are, why you are, and what we are. If you’ve been wanting to write more, paint more, create more, be more present, rest more then this is the space and experience for you.
tell me more:
The JOY+WELL's Finding Joy in the Ache creative writing workshop is a 2-hour generative safe space for women-identifying people to explore life experiences through creative writing. With help from the works of Toni Morrison, Lucille Clifton, and participants' personal archives, participants will find themselves creating, discovering, and elevating their sense of self. NO WRITING EXPERIENCE IS NECESSARY to benefit from this workshop.
what to expect:
expect to come into a creative, chill, judgement free space where you can learn tools to create greater self-awareness, say yes to your creativity, and write your most powerful, authentic stories. you can expect to be inspired through the works of afro-diasporan authors and create your own narratives. you will also have the opportunity to receive feedback from the facilitator. you will leave the experience more in tune with yourself, your stories, your vision, and with a greater ability to say “yes” to yourself. you may even leave the experience with a package of material, new insights, and creative works to share with others.
cost:
the cost for this workshop experience is $55.
about your host:
This workshop is facilitated by award-winning Cave Canem Fellow, poet, and childhood trauma expert, .CHISARAOKWU.. She has been published in numerous online and print literary journals and academic journals, and has supported authors and writers through her editing services. She is working on a collection of poetry exploring the body archive of enslaved women of Igbo descent. Learn more about her work at www.chisaraokwu.com/poetry.
Testimonials
For someone who is just starting to explore my identity as a writer, this was a safe, affirming, and warm place to dip my toe in the waters. I was able to disconnect from the world and reconnect with my love for such expression. -ANNA
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The exercises caused me to do some deep thinking and I came out of it with a commitment to clean up the cluttered spaces in my life. It was a pleasant experience in a journey to find what joy there is in the midst of a pandemic! -AMINA
The workshop offered very practical tools for getting "unstuck" and finding small ways to reconnect with your writing practice. I would definitely do another Joy+Well writing workshop in the future. -TIFFANY
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Going through the Joy Well workshop, rekindled that desire to write. I actually found it fun because there were no right or wrong answers and no grades to have to try to achieve. -GEORGIA
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the joy+well writing workshop was just what I needed. The instructor motivated me to start once again considering my thoughts about writing my novel. -MK