Thursdays on the Stoop is a series of free, virtual writing workshops led for and by our community members. With topics ranging from generative prompts to editing strategies, these informal workshops are sure to shake up your Thursday routine. RSVP below to get the link.
In this free hour-long workshop, we'll study the components of poetic spells (e.g. repetition, invoking powerful forces, spoken delivery) and practice writing our own. We'll start with source texts like June Jordan's "Intifada Incantation: Poem #8 for b.b.L." then gather materials to generate (and optionally share) our own incantations. We'll close with strategies for giving our incantations power, asking ourselves: What physical form could the words take? What happens when you sing it to the air, paint it on a banner, or write it on a stone and throw it in the ocean?
Miriam Saperstein (they/them) is a poet, mixed-media artist, and arts educator. Miriam engages history, ritual, and art to teach practical skills for sustaining communities, which is all we’ve got at the end of the day. They know our struggles are interconnected, from Lenapehoking to Palestine, and thus they strive to teach, create, and strategize accordingly.