Remote 3-Hour Workshop: Sunu P. Chandy: Poetry that Keeps Us Going

Poetry that Keeps Us Going 

Some of us may have particular sayings that help us to keep perspective in these times, whether it’s advice from a grandmother, a line from a religious text, or a line of favorite poetry. In the context of author Oliver Burkeman’s reminder that most of us get 4,000 weeks in this life if we are lucky, how do we keep the faith, despite the barrage of wrongly decided legal cases that impact society for the worse (for example), microaggressions, or whatever else makes up our day? Can poetry help us to stay hopeful and hold fast to that which is good?

We will use poems, including those by Marie Howe, Aracelis Girmay, and Naomi Shihab Nye, as jumping off points for writing prompts during this 180-minute generative workshop. We will use this time to pool our collective wisdom and build each other up.

No pre-work is required, but participants are invited to bring favorite lines of poetry that have sustained them. Click here to watch Sunu’s Hard Hat Reading!

Saturday  |  Sep 23  |  12-3pm ET  |  $105 ($90 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:

Sunu P. Chandy (she/her) is a social justice activist through her work as a poet and a civil rights attorney.  She’s a queer woman of color and lives in Washington, D.C. with her family. Sunu is the daughter of immigrants from Kerala, India. Her collection of poems, My Dear Comrades, was selected for the 2021 Terry J. Cox Prize, and published by Regal House in 2023. Sunu’s work can also be found in publications including Asian American Literary Review, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Poets on Adoption, Split this Rock’s online social justice database, The Quarry, and in anthologies including: The Penguin Book of Indian Poets, The Long Devotion: Poets Writing Motherhood and This Bridge We Call Home: Radical Visions for Transformation. Sunu earned her B.A. in Peace and Global Studies/Women’s Studies from Earlham College, her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law and later, her MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) from Queens College/The City University of New York. Sunu is on the board of the Transgender Law Center, and was included as one of the 2021 Queer Women of Washington and one of Go Magazine’s 100 Women We Love: Class Of 2019. Sunu is delighted to celebrate her first collection of poetry, My Dear Comrades, with all of you and with the book’s fabulous cover artist, Ragni Agarwal.

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.