24Pearlstreet Workshops
Why does confessional poetry get a bad rap? Arguably, aren’t all poems confessional, revealing of truths? This workshop aims to encourage and ease the risks it takes to write about risky subjects. The focus will be on poems-in-progress, elaborating on intent, craft and process. There will also be weekly writing exercises/prompts, resulting in the creation of drafts, and study of exemplar works. In creating a narrative of the self, we will tap into memory, autobiography, experiences, culture, and history. We will work together as a group to give shape and illuminate our particular stories, situating ourselves with urgency on the page.
Biography
Joseph O. Legaspi, a Fulbright and NYFA fellow, is the author of the full-length collections Threshold and Imago, and two chapbooks: Aviary, Bestiary, winner of The Blair Prize, and Subways. Recent works appeared in POETRY, New England Review, Best of the Net, Memorious, Orion, Waxwing, and the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-A-Day. He cofounded Kundiman (www.kundiman.org), a non-profit organization serving Asian American writers.