Emmett Wheatfall
Performance Poetry: Practical Tips from a Poet
INTRODUCTION: Performance Poetry is as old as poetry Itself. Through the ages, it has existed in many artistic expressions, be it spoken (individually, choral, troupe, e.g.}, written, sung lyrically, recorded, and other artistic forms. In this the 21st century performance poetry is growing like the Beetles invasion. Spoken Word is producing incredible performance poets. Poetry to music is making its comeback. Poets are recording their verse as lyric and releasing singles and albums.
WORKSHOP: This is a 1-hour workshop. It is designed to offer tips for poets interested in performance poetry. 1 hour is insufficient for workshop attendees to experience the tips offered. Workshop attendees are encouraged to take ample notes from performance poet Emmett Wheatfall.
TIPS:
- Things to consider when writing and creating performance poetry
- Gathering the necessary equipment needed to perform performance poetry
- How to perform various types of performance poetry
- Knowing, reading, and keeping audience attention
Emmett Wheatfall resides in Portland, Oregon, where he has twice been nominated for Oregon Poet Laureate. His poetry has been published in several books, collections, anthologies, and one of them, As Clean as a Bone, was a 2019 Eric Hoffer Award Finalist and a da Vinci Eye award finalist. He frequently speaks about poetry and recites his own work, including during the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the March on Washington (Portland event), and as the keynote speaker at two Oregon Poetry Association's Annual Conferences. In 2020, Corban University produced a 9-part series documentary, A Brief History, that showcases Emmett’s life and poetry.
Eva Sheehan
Marketing Oneself as a Poet
Poetry is a continuously diversifying genre. Looking at the most recent poetry best-sellers, we can see that they come from a wide variety of backgrounds and beginnings. This diverse environment has allowed poetry to evolve and grow as this multifaceted genre that doesn't necessarily fit into one box. This has allowed the poetry readership to grow and diversify as well! In a recent poll, we have found that, "Among racial/ethnic subgroups, African Americans (15.3 percent in 2017 up from 6.9 percent in 2012), Asian Americans (12.6 percent, up from 4.8 percent), and other non-white, non-Hispanic groups (13.5 percent, up from 4.7 percent) now read poetry at the highest rates." (Sunil Iyengar). Poetry also holds a younger readership with Millennials and Generation Z making up the majority. Why is this important? Though poetry is evolving, it's marketing and promotion has not. Within the publishing industry, poetry is stigmatized as inaccessible or academic. A lot of the marketing for poetry is geared towards an outdated readership. This workshop will help poets and poetry presses learn tips and tricks on how to create successful marketing campaigns for poetry collections/books. I will show people how to create social media templates and branding briefs through Canva, how to fill-out a marketing plan template, how to write up enticing copy and social media captions, and how to brainstorm events/readers that are geared towards the brand of the poetry book.
Eva Sheehan is a book publishing professional with a special interest in poetry. In her undergraduate degree at Georgia College & State University, she studied creative writing with a concentration in poetry. From there, she went to receive her MA in Book Publishing at Portland State University. Within this degree, she found a need for stronger and updated marketing tactics for the poetry genre and became passionate to change the way readers and publishers view poetry as a “less popular” genre. Outside of academics, she lives in Portland, OR with her partner and two kitties. She loves reading (poetry of course!), thrifting, runs up to Washington Park, true crime podcasts, and venturing around town for new cafes.
Renee Roman Nose
Finding and Elevating Your Voice
Since time immemorial, human beings have utilized language to inform, to preserve, to teach and learn, and to entertain. Participants will be guided to clear their minds of the noise we live with in our modern lives. Through a brief, guided meditation, the everyday chaos which often overwhelms our lives and our art will be silenced as participants learn how to elevate their own, individual voices.
Participants will then be given prompts to create poems, learn to edit for deeper meaning, and then be guided to improve their performance skills. This workshop will be transformative, improving writing, editing and performance skills for participants, resulting in work and inspiration to create from within their hearts and minds. Workshop attendees will be given the opportunity to grow their own, unique voice, as their own messaging through their art will be honed and elevated.
This workshop is not an opportunity to rush to success, but to provide greater understanding of the strength and power of poetry and storytelling, to help participants grow in their own abilities through improved understanding of themselves and of the messages they are sharing through poetry, through the written and spoken word. Performance abilities are vital to sharing, if that is a goal of poets and writers, to share their views of the world through their own work, words and skills.
This workshop will consist of four sections, like the four sacred directions, attendees will feel the power of their words, the vital need to weave together their stories through poetry and performance, attendees will be transformed.
Renee Roman Nose, MAIS, citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, is an activist, artist, motivational speaker, poet, photographer and cultural anthropologist. Author of Sweet Grass Talking, published by Uttered Chaos Press, Roman Nose is inspired by historical and contemporary issues. Her Spoken Word CD, The River of Life, with noted Native flute player, Peter Ali, is available in person, on Spotify, and on Amazon. Her second book is currently in progress, with an anticipated release in the fall of 2024.Roman Nose lives and thrives in the Pacific Northwest. You can reach her on Facebook: Renee L. Roman Nose, and on Instagram and Threads: renee_roman_nose, or email at [email protected].
Tiel Ansari
Anatomy of a Ghazal
Participants will read classic ghazals and learn to recognize elements of the form. Members will contribute couplets toward a collaborative poem in the form of a ghazal, and all will work through the construction process collaboratively.
Tiel Aisha Ansari is a Sufi warrior poet. Her work has appeared in over a hundred journals and anthologies including Fault Lines Poetry, Windfall, an Everyman’s Library anthology, and The Strategic Poet, among many others. Her collections include Knocking from Inside, High-Voltage Lines, Country Well-Known as an Old Nightmare’s Stable, The Day of My First Driving Lesson, and Dervish Lions. She works as a data analyst for the Portland Public School district and is former host of the Wider Window Poetry show on KBOO Community Radio, https://www.kboo.fm/program/wider-window-poetry Visit her online at knockingfrominside.blogspot.com
Dale Champlin
Bridge Between Art & Poetry
Make Your Own Broadsides! Participants will be provided with cardstock, colorful papers and illustrated “scrap.” There will be plenty of glue sticks and scissors to use. Please bring a fairly short poem to edit down to a size that will combine well with your image. If you are especially adventuresome you may write your poem during the workshop. Participants will leave with inspiration, a piece to take to Office Depot to print, or a finished one-of-a-kind broadside. There will be a variety of prompts, collage materials and specifics on how to write a concise short poem that will work well on a smaller format. Suggestions will include line length, shaping the line (similar to a concrete poem) and using found printed pieces to shape an erasure poem. Dale has compiled a variety of examples from low to high art! She will bring her collection of broadsides as examples of how she formed her poems to fit with the illustrations.
Dale Champlin, a prizewinning poet with an MFA in fine art, has had collages published in various journals, including Stoneboat, Montana Mouthful, Calyx, Triggerfish Critical Review and Willawaw. She designs book covers and books for The Opiate, Cirque and Just a Lark books, her own publishing company. Many of her poems have appeared in The Opiate, Timberline Review, VoiceCatcher, Pif, CatheXis, and other journals and anthologies. She is the editor of /pãn| dé | mïk / 2020: An Anthology of Pandemic Poems from the Oregon Poetry Association. Dale’s honors include a Pushcart nomination, the Banta Award from OPA, and a first place in the OPA Adult contest. Dale hosts Head for the Hills, a poetry appreciation group and open mic, featuring readings by prominent poets. Her poetry collections are: The Barbie Diaries, Callie Comes of Age, Cirque Press 2021, Isadora, and Andromina: A Stranger in America. Medusa, an illustrated collection of poetry, is her most recent as yet unpublished book.
Colette Tennant
Digging for Treasure at The Coast
Throughout time, people have loved digging in the sand at the coast – some building castles, some hoping to find treasure. In this workshop, participants will dig into ways to imitate and improvise on Terrance Hayes’ invented form, The Golden Shovel. Using different approaches to this format, participants will write two poems, treasures in the making.
Colette Tennant has three books of poetry: Commotion of Wings, Eden and After, and Sweet Gothic, recently published. Her book, Religion in The Handmaid’s Tale: a Brief Guide, was published in 2019 to coincide with Atwood’s publication of The Testaments. Her poems have won various awards and have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes along with being published in various journals, including Prairie Schooner, Rattle, Southern Poetry Review, and Ireland Poetry Review. Colette is an English and Humanities Professor who has also taught art in Great Britain, Germany, and Italy. She has taught many writing workshops, including at Port Townsend Writer’s Conference, Anderson Island, Las Vegas Kahini, many Oregon conferences, and national workshops on Zoom.
Nicole Zdeb
Echoes Through Time; Talking to The Future
This workshop encourages participants to use poetry to express hopes, fears, and dreams for the future. It is grounded in the belief that we co-create many possible futures, and that words have the power to transform. Participants will engage in creative exercises and write poems to the future that weave in their personal legacies and their hopes and fears for the future. They may choose to create poems to their future selves; poems to the grandchildren that they may never meet; or poems to a future that is far, far away. What would you say to the future, given the chance?
Nicole Zdeb is a writer, visual artist, and astrologer based in Oregon. She holds a MFA from the University of Iowa and studied translation at CUNY and the University of Paris. After starting as a classroom teacher, she embarked on a dual career in educational publishing and astrology. She has designed learning games, an after-school arts curriculum, and consulted for NBC’s Education Nation. In 2021, Zdeb completed a Practitioner’s Level Certificate from the School of Traditional Astrology in London and launched Angela Alston Astrology, a consulting practice focused on astrology and creativity coaching. She currently resides in Portland, OR, with her husband, writer Jamie Cooper. She is a poetry editor at Airlie Press. Her book Tremulous Landscapes is forthcoming in 2025, and her chapbook, The Friction of Distance, was published by Bedouin Books in 2011.
Lisa Kagan
Coming Home to Myself
“Dwell as near as possible to the channel in which your life flows.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
Join us for this “mini writing retreat” immersion at this year’s OPA conference. Inspired by the majestic power of the Pacific Ocean, this workshop offers you the chance to step away from the demands of daily life to connect more deeply with yourself through engaging in the creative process. Honoring the importance of following your own inner compass, we will explore essential elements of the human experience: courage, passion, patience, grace, faith, resilience, wonder, gratitude, and renewal through a variety of generative poetry writing exercises as well as a facilitated sharing process. Through our writing we will consider what, “Lines in the Sand,” means to us in terms of our personal boundaries, growth edges, and sense of freedom. This workshop is oriented towards those who are interested in the meditative aspects of the creative process, the healing power of poetry during these tumultuous times, and exploring different ways we can participate in and facilitate generative community writing experiences designed to uplift our diverse voices and strengthen our connections with each other. This program offers you the chance to awaken your creative spark in a dynamic and supportive circle of other writers. Content for this program is inspired by themes central to Lisa’s book of original poetry and art entitled, Coming Home to Myself.
Lisa Kagan is a writer, artist, creative facilitator, and personal historian. Her business, Family Heirloom Arts, is dedicated to helping individuals and families celebrate their life stories and significant life milestones through conducting oral history interviews and creating illustrated heirloom books. Lisa is also the co-founder of the Touchstone Retreats program, offering art and writing retreats throughout the Pacific Northwest. Lisa believes in the transformative nature of the creative process to heal, empower, challenge, inform, and awaken the human spirit. Lisa received her BA from Wesleyan University in Connecticut with a focus on writing and fine art. She has completed intensive studies in the arts at Skidmore College, the University of New Mexico, Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and the Maine Photographic Workshops. Lisa has published two books of original art and poetry, Coming Home to Myself (2021) and Emergence (2009). Lisa is based in Portland, Oregon. Learn more at: familyheirloomarts.com .