Remote 3-Hour Workshop: Shyanne Figueroa Bennett: Black Documentary Poetics

Black Documentary Poetics

In this 3-hour interactive workshop, each participant will begin with a document of their choice, such as a newspaper article, diary page, immigration card, stranger’s scribbled note, historical record, letter, grocery list, marginalia, or whatever they want. Then, learning from innovative black writers like M. NourbeSe Philip, Kamau Brathwaite, Tyehimba Jess, Elizabeth Alexander, A. Van Jordan and others, we will explore various techniques to question, cut, erase, fill-in and remake our chosen documents to forge new dialogues and unveil new meanings. These writing exercises will allow each person to generate several new poems during the workshop. Open to all participants. 

Saturday  |  April 29th  |  12-3pm Eastern  |  $120 ($96 for Members)

All are welcome, space is limited. A limited number of need-based scholarships are available. Please email support@poetshouse.org with any questions.

About the educator:

Shyanne Figueroa Bennett is a Brooklyn poet and teaching artist whose work has been published in Green Mountains Review, The Rumpus, The Acentos Review, and other publications. She earned her MFA in Poetry at Columbia University, where she was a recipient of a Creative Writing Teaching Fellowship. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Panama to support writing and researching her documentary poetry collection. Photo credit Tova Katzman.

While our physical space is closed for construction, workshops will be held over Zoom. While you can use Zoom from your phone or browser, we recommend downloading the desktop client.