Subverting the Page & Language: Visual Poetry

Workshop Description: In this workshop, we will examine the ways in which visual poetry can subvert the Western poetic page and norm of the English language. By reading and discussing works from visual poets of color such as Douglas Kearney, George Abraham, Tarik Dobbs, and Diana Khoi Nguyen, workshop participants will learn ways in which visual aspects of poetry such as text modification and creation of shapes with text can further convey themes within a poem or stand in contradiction with the text. Recognizing poetry’s long oral tradition, workshop participants will also listen to the above poets’ audio recordings (where available) of their poetry and learn how visual poetry and the vocal performance of poetry work together to create added layers of meaning.  

In addition to reading and listening from these poets, the workshop will include time for generative writing: one prompt will ask workshop participants to create a visual poem from scratch based on their heritage (whether familial, cultural, etc.), and the other prompt will ask them to revise an existing poem to create new meaning by adding a visual component to it. If time allows, participants who are comfortable can share what they worked on during the generative portion of the session.  Together we will explore the myriad of ways contemporary poets of color have used visual poetry to break the bounds of Western tradition and structure, and use these examples as a starting point to further develop their own visual poetry.

About the Presenter: Monica Kim (she/her) is a queer Korean diasporic writer living on Canarsie & Munsee Lenape land (Brooklyn, New York). She is a first reader at Augur Magazine and has received support from the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, Periplus Collective, and The Watering Hole. Her writing has appeared in Gulf Coast Journal, SUSPECT, A Velvet Giant, and other publications.

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