ArtStart

Beginning-Level Adult Poetry Class: Revision, Reuse, and Resurrection: The Wheel of Poetry, with RLASW Fellow, Davi Gray

This workshop will focus on the art of poetry regeneration: taking work that is unpolished, unfinished, or just plain unsatisfying, and turning it into something miraculous. Or at least better.

Davi Gray (they/she) is a queer, trans, nonbinary poet & writer, storyteller, artist, activist, and abolitionist. They live in North Minneapolis (Bde Óta Othúŋwe), within Mni Sóta Makoce, traditional homelands of the Dakota and Ojibwe. Davi has won several prizes in PEN America Prison Writing Contests in multiple genres; was nominated for an AWP Intro prize; and was awarded Honorable Mention in the 2023 Muriel Craft Bailey Poetry contest. Their writing has appeared in Poetry, Rogue Agent, NonBinary Review, and elsewhere. They can often be found performing around the Twin Cities. You can find more on Davi Gray and their work, including upcoming events, at davigray.com.

We will practice reading, writing, rewriting, and workshopping poems; discuss, experiment with, and practice a plethora of revision techniques; explore forms specifically designed for reusing and repurposing work, including the Golden Shovel, the cento, blackout/erasure poetry, and visual techniques; and discuss and practice various techniques for reading poems out loud, both as a way to present one's work and as a tool for improving the poetry. The class runs for four weeks on Monday nights from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. beginning June 17.

Mentored by Michael Kleber-Diggs 

Michael's website: michaelkleberdiggs.com/aboutmkd

This workshop is the second of two offered as part of the Reentry Lab & ArtStart Writing Fellowship program. For more information on the program: https://reentrylab.org/artstart-fellowship

To register for the first course: https://artstart.coursestorm.com/course/line-sound-meter-and-voice-poems-as-beautiful-songs?search=line

Space is limited to 10 participants. 

For adults