POETRY BY THE PEOPLE
Community Writing Intensive
Durham, NC
May 8-10, 2007
Dear Lovers of the Word,
You are cordially invited to write and discuss poetry in and with the Durham community. You will be surrounded by people who love poetry and believe in its transformative power. Here's what you can expect:
Daily Schedule
1:00 ~ 3:00 Silent Writing/ Manuscript Conferences
3:00 ~ 4:00 Late Lunch/ Early Dinner
4:15 ~ 5:15 Community Sharing/ Open Mic
5:30 ~ 6:30 Poetry Exercises
6:30 ~ 8:30 Workshop/ Critique
8:30 ~ 9:00 Wrap – Up
Sponsors
This year betty's daughter arts collaborative, broken beautiful press, and SpiritHouse-NC have graciously decided to sponsor Poetry By the People, so you don't have to. There is no charge for attendance, just come with poems, an open heart, and a love for community art.
Funding
For poets who are not in the Durham-Raleigh-Chapel-Hill area, two very modest travel scholarships are available.
1. The Betty Ann Sims, Ed.D. Artist/Scholar Travel Scholarship is available to any poet who can demonstrate how expressive art will impact future or current scholarly projects.
2. The Talya Pierce Travel Scholarship for Emerging Poets is awarded to a woman of color who is beginning to explore the field of poetry. The recipient of this award must not hold any publications or academic degrees in creative writing.
Application
Please submit a five-page manuscript, a cover letter that explains the role of poetry in creating community, and your contact information to inthepeopleshands@gmail.com by May 6.
Contact Person
Ebony Noelle Golden, MFA
Director of betty's daughter arts collaborative
furiousflower@gmail.comwww.myspace.com/mamashieroglyphics
Poetry by the People-A Community Writing Intensive
POETRY BY THE PEOPLE
Community Writing Intensive
Durham, NC
May 8-10, 2007
Dear Lovers of the Word,
You are cordially invited to write and discuss poetry in and with the
Durham community. You will be surrounded by people who love poetry
and believe in its transformative power. Here's what you can
expect:
Daily Schedule
1:00 ~ 3:00 Silent Writing/ Manuscript Conferences
3:00 ~ 4:00 Late Lunch/ Early Dinner
4:15 ~ 5:15 Community Sharing/ Open Mic
5:30 ~ 6:30 Poetry Exercises
6:30 ~ 8:30 Workshop/ Critique
8:30 ~ 9:00 Wrap - Up
Sponsors
This year betty's daughter arts collaborative, broken beautiful press,
and SpiritHouse-NC have graciously decided to sponsor Poetry By the
People, so you don't have to. There is no charge for attendance, just
come with poems, an open heart, and a love for community art.
Funding
For poets who are not in the Durham-Raleigh-Chapel-Hill area, two very
modest travel scholarships are available.
1. The Betty Ann Sims, Ed.D. Artist/Scholar Travel Scholarship is
available to any poet who can demonstrate how expressive art will
impact future or current scholarly projects.
2. The Talya Pierce Travel Scholarship for Emerging Poets is awarded
to a woman of color who is beginning to explore the field of poetry.
The recipient of this award must not hold any publications or academic
degrees in creative writing.
Application
Please submit a five-page manuscript, a cover letter that explains the
role of poetry in creating community, and your contact information to
inthepeopleshands@gmail.com by May 6.
Contact Person
Ebony Noelle Golden, MFA
Director of betty's daughter arts collaborative
furiousflower@gmail.com
www.myspace.com/mamashieroglyphics
A Spelling Lesson
for this and every survivor
drop
is a four-letter word
an instruction after catching fire
a movement behind stop
a command we must memorize
and tell ourselves
if we would be safe
drop
is what we do to the kids
at school, at practice, at auntie's
training for a next that will keep them (running)
warning that they will not be at home anywhere
treason required by our other jobs
drop
is what the dj plays
what the hypeman says
the entrance of the beat(ing)
stretching our skin like a place to call
drowning our knees like a new heartbeat
and today
drop
is what my stomach does
is a frame for the rain
is the shape of the blood
that would seek to be the last word
as if we weren't students as well
but we know how to spell
so when i see D-R-O-P
dropped open in front of me
like it was new(s)
all i do is add you
all of bright breaking you
all of impossibly speaking
light leaking
you
and the next word is yours
P-R-O-U-D
love always,
alexis
