Grace, beauty, hardship, resiliency, humor, creativity. Such are some of the themes found in the poetry of community. In establishing her landmark program Poetry for the People, poet-activist June Jordan recognized the power of poetry to inspire the powerless of all backgrounds to speak their truths and ignite change. That inspiration, wrote Gaston Bachelard in The Poetics of Space, comes from "a consciousness associated with the soul." In cultivating both the expansiveness of the soul necessary to write poetry and the voice needed to speak our truths, this program will explore how communities engage poetry to illluminate stories and images of grace, beauty, creativity, hardship, resiliency and humor. Our basis of exploration will be grounded in both content and form. Regarding content, we will ground our studies in poetry as expression of empowerment among communities, including ones that have traditionally been marginalized. Regarding form, we will explore several poetic structures or genres, from ekphrastic to spoken word, as well as engage with poetic techniques such as metaphor and simile.

This program welcomes students with all levels of expertise in poetry, from novice to experienced, as well as those new to poetry who bring a sense of curiosity and openness to experiment with this art form. All students need to come with a willingness to share their poetry, engage in critique, and revise their work. Activities may include extensive reading of published poets, workshopping student poems, field trips, guest speakers, in-class writing exercises, films and seminar. We may also take advantage of opportunities as part of National Poetry Month in April. For final projects, students may choose to create either an individual or small group chapbook of poetry, or a spoken word video. Students will also participate in a public reading/performance of their original work.