Online | Poetry | Workshop

1-Day Generative Poetry Workshop for Writers of Color

In this one-day generative poetry workshop, we will draw upon key concepts from Lama Rod Owens’ book Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation Through Anger and Audre Lorde’s essay “The Uses of Anger” to explore the institutional and interpersonal impacts of love, rage, and healing through a BIPOC feminist and social justice framework. Then, we will apply this framework to analyze poems by Audre Lorde, June Jordan, Wanda Coleman, and other BIPOC poets. Through mindfulness and generative self-reflective prompts, participants will learn about ways to skillfully respond to our anger, emotions, and vulnerabilities through poetry.

Ultimately, workshop participants will explore how the inner work of healing and embracing our anger as a response to racism can strengthen relationships with ourselves and our BIPOC communities through the tender and liberatory practice of poetics.

Participants can expect to walk away with a set of generative prompts and new poetry drafts. No previous poetry experience required.

Our class platform works best on laptop or desktop computers. Class meetings will be held over video chat, using Zoom accessed from your private class page. While you can use Zoom from your browser, we recommend downloading the desktop client so you have access to all platform features. The Zoom calls will have automated transcription enabled. Please let us know ([email protected]) if you have any questions or concerns about accessibility. 

Check out this page for details about payment plans and discount opportunities.  

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

- Generating new poetry drafts based on the intersections of anger, love, and healing with a BIPOC feminist framework.

- A safe space for writers of color to discuss and write poems about our shared, daily lived experiences with racism and how it informs our creative work.

- Verbal feedback from the instructor on poems that are generated during the workshop.

- 10% discount on all future Catapult classes

COURSE EXPECTATIONS:

Since this is a 1-day workshop, no prep is required. However, during the workshop, I will share short excerpts from two essays and we will closely read and analyze a few poems.

COURSE SKELETON:

1. Welcome!

2. Prompt #1

3. Sharing time/verbal feedback

4. Prompt #2

5. Sharing time/verbal feedback

6. Wrap up/goodbye.

Cecilia Caballero, PhD

Based in Los Angeles, Cecilia Caballero, PhD, is a poet, creative nonfiction writer, lecturer of Ethnic Studies, and co-editor of the bestselling book, The Chicana Motherwork Anthology. Cecilia is an alum of workshops and fellowships with VONA, Macondo, Tin House, the Women’s National Book Association, and Roots. Wounds. Words.  She also served as a 2022 Visiting Teaching Artist with the Poetry Foundation and she is a 2023 Aspen Words Emerging Writer Fellow. As a teaching artist, Cecilia's goal is to cultivate more communal spaces of storytelling and social justice for BIPOC folks. Her prose and poetry have been published in Dryland, Raising Mothers, The Acentos Review, and elsewhere, and her work has been nominated for a Pushcart, Best of the Net, and Rhysling award. Cecilia is currently writing a memoir and a book of poetry. Find her on Twitter: @la_sangre_llama and Instagram: @bookworm_por_vida

Testimonials

"Be ready to be moved. To be led to a different dimension of creativity and exploration. Be ready to be in conversation with your feelings, and for me, at times, my own tears. Cecilia validates each of the brave participants when they show up as their authentic selves through their poetry. Her workshops are medicina."

Dr. Christine Vega

"The workshop gave me an experience of having been invited to be my authentic self, in words on paper, while also being in the presence of others. It was an invitation into creativity and self-reflection; and now, if I want to, I can return to that landscape. It was a real gift of a time...Cecilia is a brilliant poet, scholar, and teacher who has shown me how to invite creativity and compassion into my writing. I couldn't trust anyone more to host the kind of workshops Cecilia leads."

Carlos Antonio Delgado