Poetry of Crisis: Can Poets Speak? (In-Person)
Adult (Ages 16+) | This program has been canceled
This workshop will look at the challenges every writer faces when considering the sorrows, dangers, and crises in the world. Daily headlines offer so many of these: war, environmental threats, racial injustice, hunger and poverty, gun violence. The pandemic has added its own shades to the story. The very strong impulse is to write—but how?
The first challenge is to give oneself permission to write. The circumstances may not be yours, but you may have something true to say. After general discussion about starting this creative process, the workshop will use freestyle writing exercises from prompts and we’ll talk about the results, providing early comments on what may become poems. We will also read several examples of poets writing about the problems of their times.
After the workshop, participants may want to continue researching such poetry, as well as developing their own approaches to the large subjects we all face.
With Poet Susan Donnelly
COVID Requirements
Based on current guidance from the Arlington Department of Health, CDC, and other local and national public health agencies, Arlington Center for the Arts (ACA) will no longer require proof of COVID vaccinations for participation in our programs, including classes, camps, exhibits, performances, and events. While masks continue to be optional at ACA, they are strongly recommended, and we encourage everyone to review current masking recommendations from the CDC to inform their personal choices.
ACA is aware that public health guidance re: COVID-19 continues to change and evolve – all current policies are subject to change, in order to best align with current guidance and to preserve the safety of all of our constituents. Please be on the lookout for updated policies and protocols moving forward.
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- Students should bring a notebook & pen (and a laptop, if desired).
Susan Donnelly
Of Irish American heritage, Susan Donnelly (she/her) was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, and raised in Brookline, outside of Boston. She earned a BA in English from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Her poetry collections are Eve Names the Animals (1985), winner of the Samuel French Morse Prize, Transit (2001), and Capture the Flag (2009).
Donnelly’s poems have been published in numerous anthologies, including The Norton Introduction to Poetry (1985), Vital Signs (1989), and The Book of Irish American Poetry from the Eighteenth Century to the Present (2007).