LVP supports local workshops and festivals, and there are many resources right now for writers who are interested.
At this time, we offer special workshops connected to festivals (Such as “Revolutionary Cento” at the Easton Book Festival) and we offer something we call a “mini workshop” before the monthly Lehigh Valley Salon and Open Mic. This monthly event is virtual and will remain so (regardless of the pandemic) to allow for accessibility and convenience. They are hosted by zoom. (Cameras always optional.) The LVP events are always on the facebook page under “events”. The zoom information is typically provided as a post in the event page as it gets closer. The zoom link is subject to change.
The updates, discussion, and open mic start at 8:30. Prior to that, from 8:00 PM-8:30, we do a short prompt, exercise, technique, or other generative or reflective session.
E. Lynn Alexander, host of the salon, facilitates this session. Since they are short, they are meant to be more of a “takeaway” topic that a writer can think about later on and maybe turn to for inspiration or experimenting.
If you are interested, the presentation notes are available from past mini-workshops. These include: Ekphrastic, Cento, Pop Culture References and Accessibility, Poetry Roots, and more.
Please check the workshops tab (top) for posts on upcoming mini workshop topics. Please note that the space is intended to be open, accepting, respectful, and kind. All are to be treated as welcome and valuable members of the community. Criticism is something we ask for, not something we are given unsolicited. We prefer suggestions, vs. rudeness. Workshops, even short ones, are vulnerable spaces of learning.
Contact: elynnalexander@gmail.com on workshop information
See posts for upcoming months.
About the April 2021 and May 2021 Mini Workshops– notes so you can see some of the discussions to get a sense of how the mini workshops go:
April 2021 Thinking More About Pop Culture References – Notes From April Mini Workshop
In this mini workshop, we looked at pop culture references in poetry: when poets refer to certain things from tv, books, music, popular culture- with an assumption that readers will make the connection and find meaning.
But what happens when a poem is too rooted in the poet’s world, and many references are not understood by many people, such as those from a different generation? Is it important that a poem’s references be understood, or does that turn readers off? Does it seem self indulgent, or does it seem like just another area of creative license? Should a reader need to google the content? Does it feel like an inside joke?
Like all things poetry related, there are differences of opinion about what the writer owes the reader. Poetry can range from very accessible, to cryptic. While that is for us to figure out, we did a casual exercise to illustrate the reader experience that required two parts. One was to listen to a list of words, and note if we knew what the words referred to. They were mostly pop culture references, but some were very specific or pertained to a short window of time and experience.
The second part was to focus on the feeling of hearing others laugh or comment later, the feeling of being in the know vs. having no idea. (part of it, vs. feeling outside of it)
We also looked at a poem with many references to pop culture, and what the poet was trying to do. (Sean Hanrahan’s “Puce Monte Carlo”)
Did the references help provide a more nuanced understanding of the female subject? Did the poet provide sufficient context clues so a reader would still be able to infer meaning?
Can a pop culture reference give a needed snapshot, with fewer words?
Example: The song “Betty Davis Eyes”- the reader who is familiar with Betty Davis can quickly develop a mental picture of exactly what the singer means, when words might not be adequate. Example vs. description can be useful, but only if people knew who she was and about her striking appearance.
A few things to think about:
Can we exclude people when we use references? Can we perpetuate academic/intellectual elitism?
Can obscure references be funny, when self aware?
Can you identify some pop culture references of your own?
Looking at your list, which ones are effective and or have a universality? Which would mostly be understood by your social circle or similarly aged peers?
Can you think of a source of reference material you often draw from in your work?
Example: I would say mythology, biology, anatomy, Judaic, anarchism
Sample poem: Sean Hanrahan’s “Puce Monte Carlo”
Writing: Try to write a poem that uses the pop culture references in your list to construct some lines of poetry. Try to show something about a character or subject by relying on the characteristics that are known, vs. describing.
May 2021
Mini Workshop May 2021: Examining The Drive To Write: Poetic Eudaimonia
This is a different kind of poetry exercise, less focused on generating and producing, and more about the drive to produce poems in the first place. Connecting with the “why”, and this can do a few things:
*It can help us make time to read and write poetry, writing as enjoyable vs becoming a “chore”
*It can help us examine how we lose the joy- what are we responding to in ourselves when we write to produce? (Sense of what success looks like, wanting a poet identity, feeling like you need a book, comparisons to other poets and wanting to keep up, wanting to practice and improve, discipline, push through, ego, self imposed rules about progress, etc. )
*It can motivate us to continue, by revisiting what we like about writing, bringing us back to our creative bottom line.
Why is it important to have activities that bring us joy, and to nourish those things even when it is difficult?
Eudaimonia is a big concept to discuss in a thirty minute mini workshop. For the sake of simplicity, we will use common summaries: A life worth living, happiness, flourishing, highest human good.
We do more than eat, sleep, and stay warm. We write, or enjoy writing, or we probably wouldn’t be here.
It is rewarding on some level, and hopefully contributes to the “happiness” piece.
So the exercise this week is simple reflection, which is a good thing to do to stay grounded in the things that bring us joy.
- Three things that I like about writing or reading poetry
- Think about a poem that you ENJOYED writing. It might not be your “best”. It might even make you cringe. But you enjoyed the craft, doing it.
- What was enjoyable about it?
