Spell for the Journey with Anita Skeen
In this workshop series, Anita Skeen will lead us through readings and discussion of poems that can help us navigate difficult journeys, provide companionship for those journeys, and help heal trauma. We will write text-based poems and create “maps” that present or respond to the finished poem(s) and/or our own experience in a visual form. All participants will be invited to share their final products on FriendsofRoethke.org.
Lunch will be provided at the in-person workshops, and all participants will receive a Roethke tote or a hardcover blank journal. Space is limited, so please pre-register (scroll down for registration button).
NOV 9, Sat, at the Roethke House. Introduction, discussion focused on writing, words, poetry.
12pm, lunch (optional).
1pm to 3pm, workshop.
NOV 16, Sat ONLINE via Zoom. Discussion focused on art, mapping, visuals.
1pm to 3pm, workshop.
The online session will be recorded for you to watch if you cannot attend in real time. We can also arrange a time for you to watch the recording at the Roethke House.
NOV 23, Sat, at the Roethke House. Presentations of work, discussion, wrap up.
12pm lunch (optional).
1pm to 3pm, workshop.
Open studio time at the Roethke and Stone Houses will be provided for writing and creating maps. These times will be distributed at the first workshop on Nov 9.
One part of this workshop is inspired by Pulitzer Prize winning poet Lisel Mueller. When she was asked how she first came to write poems, she responded in her poem, “When I am Asked,” that “the death of the mother hurt the daughter into poetry.” If we examine those “hurts” and turn them into poetry, we may not only heal ourselves but also our readers.
The other part of the workshop is also inspired by Peter Tuchi’s book, The Writer as Cartographer, in which Tuchi suggests that the writer goes through two processes, the first discovery, the second presentation. In the first, the writer searches out all the possibilities, makes choices, and decides the path for the poem. In the second, the writer must effectively communicate that path and, ultimately, serve as a guide for the reader of the poem, providing insight for his or her journey.
To register for this event:
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Once you’ve completed check out, you will receive a confirmation email for the event. If you do not receive this email, please contact us at info@friendsofroethke.org.
This workshop series is funded through the Saginaw Harm Reduction Project to increase community awareness of addiction and recovery through public art and educational materials in the City of Saginaw. The Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation is proud to be a contributing partner. These workshops are free and open to the public.
About Anita Skeen
Anita Skeen is currently Professor Emerita in the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University where she is the Founding Director of The RCAH Center for Poetry at MSU and the Series Editor for Wheelbarrow Books.
She is the author of six volumes of poetry: Each Hand A Map (1986); Portraits (1990); Outside the Fold, Outside the Frame (1999); The Resurrection of the Animals (2002); Never the Whole Story (2011); When We Say Shelter (2007), with Oklahoma poet Jane Taylor; and The Unauthorized Audubon (2014,With Taylor, she co-edited the literary anthology Once Upon A Place: Writings from Ghost Ranch (2008). Her poetry, short fiction, and essays have appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies. Collaboration is an important aspect of her work and she is currently involved in writing projects with poets Jane Taylor and Cindy Hunter Morgan. With linocut artist Laura DeLind, she has recently completed a poetry manuscript, Even the Least of These: The 10-line Poem in the Time of Crisis.