Justice & Joy: Writing Powerful Political Poems, with Sarah Browning
In times of extremity and peril, when so many communities are under daily attack and the future of our very home, this planet, is imperiled, how do we express our outrage? How do we dream another world in poems that move beyond the rhetoric of speeches and the reasoned arguments of power point presentations? How do we reach people in their hearts, where change begins? Contemporary poets are taking an enormous variety of approaches to this question, both thematically and stylistically. We’ll take a look at some model poems, refer to resources to find more. Then, with the help of some inspiring prompts, we’ll try our hand at writing poetry that inspires change. Everyone welcome!
Saturday, January 15, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. EST ($75)
Sarah Browning is the author of two books of poems, Killing Summer (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2017) and Whiskey in the Garden of Eden (The Word Works, 2007). She is co-founder and for 10 years was Executive Director of Split This Rock: Poems of Provocation & Witness. She is an Associate Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies and recipient of the Lillian E. Smith Writer-in-Service Award as well as of fellowships from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, Yaddo, Mesa Refuge, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She has been guest editor or co-edited special issues of Beltway Poetry Quarterly, The Delaware Poetry Review, and three issues of POETRY magazine. She is a student in the MFA program in poetry and creative non-fiction at Rutgers University Camden and lives in Philadelphia.
