OPA 70th Celebration Poetry Workshops
Tarot For Poets: Writing Down The Cards
with Allie Marini
This generative poetry workshop takes a secular approach to using cards (tarot, oracle, playing, or any other type of deck) as a writing tool. Rather than using cards to divine the future, here they will be used to divine your poetry. Ekphrasis, timed writing sprints, esoteric symbolism, and keyword brainstorming will be utilized in this workshop with one group writing exercise. Workshop handout will include recommended reading and a generative writing exercise to take home. Attendees need not have any knowledge of cards/divination to participate in this workshop. Attendees are welcome to bring their own decks if they wish, but are not mandatory, as all workshop materials will be provided.
Making Art from Rare Experience:
The Poem Defying Embarrassment or Shame
with Carol Barrett
This workshop will encourage all of us to use exceptional life experience as a springboard for poetry, without being deterred by internal doors which sometimes slam us in the face. The presenter, originally trained as a psychologist, will offer examples from her own poetry, as well as from former students. These include Heid E. Erdrich, Don Mee Choi and others, who have claimed unique life experiences to generate powerful poems.
Participants will be encouraged to consider one exceptionally positive event in their lives, and one exceptionally negative. What happens when we give voice to the symbolic meaning of the experience, without giving way to pride, embarrassment, shame or guilt? There will be opportunity to reclaim such rare experiences as the center of a new poem.
Given the brevity of the workshop, and the potential sensitivity of the emerging work, new poems will not be shared. Instead, we will reflect as a group on how the activity affects our freedom as writers, and as persons living in an often challenging world.
Celebrating 70 Years of OPA!
with Christine Delea
Prompt Party!: In this workshop, we will be inspired by three prompts (plus one to do at home) showcasing Oregon poets and poetry of endurance, of resilience, of strength, and of rarity. We will use words, lines, and entire poems by current and past poets with some connection to Oregon, including poets who have presented workshops at past OPA conferences. As we have only 75 minutes, these prompts are to get participants started on drafts; they may or may not write a full first draft.
Making Peace (and Poetry) with your Obsessions & Fascinations
with Colette Tennant
“Obsession is a wellspring of genius and madness,” claimed Michel de Montaigne. In this workshop, we’ll draw from obsession’s wellspring. We’ll give voice to our obsessions and fascinations, and we’ll study the ways successful poets have tapped into their preoccupations to produce amazing poems. Afterall, the best creativity can verge on danger. We’ll analyze and then imitate poetic approaches on how to transform what might be seen as a fixation into a fund of productivity. This will be a generative workshop, and participants will have the opportunity to write two poems.
Braided Voices: Writing a Bilingual Poem
with Concepción Sámano
(Bilingual Spanish/English) This workshop invites participants to write poetry inspired by migration. After viewing two images (European and Latin American migration), each participant chooses one and writes verses based on it, drawing from themes such as resistance, resilience, strength, and rarity. Participants then select one line from their poem and collectively build a bilingual piece by alternating lines in English and Spanish. The session ends with a group reading. This activity fosters creative expression, cultural reflection, and dialogue across languages and experiences.
Poetry as Dialogue
with Denise Diamond
(Bilingual English/Spanish) Working with 2 voices, exploring a wide range of topics, using Spanish and English, invitation to use one’s own native language, example of 2 voices with Driftwood art as statement on Ecology (I’m a member of artist co-op working with small driftwood pieces and Written Word).
Stop Short: The Power and Craft Behind Brief Poems
with Doug Cox
At its core, poetry derives much of its strength from precision and compression of language. Since our first poetic utterances, this economy of words has taken the form of very brief lyrics, often 10-lines or less. In this generative workshop, participants will explore the various techniques both classic and contemporary poets–from Catullus to Cavafy to Lucille Clifton, from Dickinson to Danez Smith–utilize to make a lasting impact in so few words. More specifically, our discussions will address how these and other linguistically diverse poets develop intimacy with their audience, employ elegiac modes, invective tones, elements of narrative, prayer, and even humor to create haunting works of art. Participants will also have time to compose their own drafts and will leave our workshop with several writing prompts and strategies to help with future short poems, as well as a personalized “playlist” of brief lyrics they can add to and share.
Apuntes para empezar una aventura literaria
con Efraín Díaz-Horna
La poesía es el reflejo de nuestra obediencia a los mandatos de nuestros corazones, de nuestras vidas… Somos obedientes porque sabemos escuchar los murmullos de nuestras aspiraciones, sueños, dudas, tribulaciones y deleites humanos más recónditos…La poesía es el valiente intento de esculpir nuestra identidad como seres humanos enfrentados a una agridulce realidad. La poesía nos permite resistir con gallardía los embates del destino, nos enseña la esencia de la resiliencia, nutre nuestra fortaleza espiritual y marca nuestra singularidad.
Este taller explora temas conectados a la poesía de resistencia, resiliencia, fortaleza y singularidad, tales como la importancia de escuchar y leer, del diálogo, de la escritura como instrumento para apreciar y entender la esencia y el valor de las relaciones humanas y como fuerza liberadora
Como parte del taller, vamos a leer, escribir, revisar y corregir, a partir de un tema escogido, explorando elementos narrativos esenciales como narrador, suceso, personaje, espacio y tiempo.
Excavating the Bones: Starting Points for Poetic Practice
with Jamae Ann Sabangan
This workshop will guide writers in exploring three different methods of starting poetry through an exquisite corpse, a story arc, and a gamified setup / bingo card. As an introduction, I will provide an example for each respective method. Afterward, with these tools, students will draft their poems. At the end of the workshop, I will offer space for participants to share their drafts if they so choose.
Poetry 1, 2, 3
with Sue Fagalde Lick
Do you ever get tired of writing about yourself? Do some of your poems fall flat because they’re just I, I, I, me, me, me? Let’s change that. In poetry, as in fiction, we can use many different points of view. We are not restricted to first person singular. In this workshop, we will look at poems written in first, second and third person and how changing the point of view can open the door to new possibilities. We will try writing the same poem in three different POVs and see what happens. Prompts will be provided and we will share the results as time allows.
Cartografías del sentir:
Un taller de exploración poética desde el cuerpo y los afectos
con Ximena Keogh Serrano
Este taller propone un acercamiento a la poesía desde el cuerpo, los sentidos y la afectividad. Partiremos de preguntas fundamentales: ¿cómo sentimos?, ¿cómo nos afectan las palabras?, ¿de qué manera la escritura puede abrir espacios de imaginación, resistencia y transformación?
A través de la lectura y la creación poética, tejeremos puentes entre las artes escritas y las prácticas visuales y sonoras. Nos acercaremos a la obra de creadoras referentes como Cecilia Vicuña y Ana Tijoux, entre otras artistas que expanden las posibilidades del lenguaje poético más allá de la página.
Schedule – in progress
| Friday | ||||
| Time | Activity | Location | ||
| 2 PM
3:30-4:45 PM |
Attendee Sign In
Friday Afternoon workshops |
|||
| 5:00-5:45 PM | Reception and President’s Welcome… | |||
| 5:45 – 7:00 PM | Free Time | |||
| 7:00-10:00 PM | Open Mic | |||
| Saturday | ||||
| Time | Activity | Location | ||
| 7:00 – 8:00 AM | Breakfast Buffett | |||
| 8:00 – 8:45 AM | Opening Keynote | |||
| Workshops | ||||
| Time | Location | |||
| TBD | TBD | TBD | ||
| morning I 9:00 – 10:15 AM | I-A | I-B | I-C | |
| morning II 10:30 – 11:45 AM | II-A | II-B | II-C | |
| 12:00 – 1:30 PM | Lunch Buffett | |||
| Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Banta Award | ||||
| TBD | TBD | TBD | ||
| afternoon III 1:45 – 3:00 PM | III-A | III-A | III-A | |
| afternoon IV 3:15 – 4:30 PM | IV-A | IV-A | IV-A | |
| Time | Activity | Location |
| 4:45 – 6:25 PM | closing open mic | |
| 6:25 – 6:30 PM | Closing Remarks
David Goodrum (President) |