Adult Workshops
LiTFUSE: A Poets' Workshop
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Sponsored by Tieton Arts and Humanities
in Tieton, WA on September 28-30, 2018
Based in north-central Washington, LiTFUSE is an annual weekend-long poetry conference featuring workshops, readings, and a poetry slam.
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In 2019, I taught a Master Class on "Poetry of Witness: Using Form to Spark the Political Imagination" and a class on "Insisting on Joy: Poems of Reconciliation and Loving the World." The former was inspired by my admiration for contemporary poets with a social conscience, including Martín Espada, June Jordan, Craig Santos Perez, and Patricia Smith. The latter was inspired by the words of award-winning journalist Krista Tippett at the inaugural On Being Gathering in February of 2018: "Insist on joy. Make the muscular choices of love and hope."
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Photo: Opening of the Eyes Photography
Photo: Opening of the Eyes Photography
"First and foremost: Cindy Williams Gutiérrez has changed my world."
—WORKSHOP PARTICIPANT, LiTFUSE
I also had the joy of performing my Aztec-inspired work, featured in my debut collection: the small claim of bones, accompanied by musician Gerardo Calderon, and of reading from my new book, Inlay with Nacre: The Names of Forgotten Women.
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Learn more here about LiTFUSE.
POETIC FORMS AND EKPHRASIS: Shaping Poems in Response to Photography
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Collaboration with photographer Russell J. Young
at Studio 410 in Portland, OR
"I really appreciate all the time and preparation you put into the class, and the encouraging, constructive atmosphere you foster."
—KAREN WELIKY, Workshop Participant
Joyus Lippincott, Karen Welkiy, Joaquin Lopez
For several years I have offered ekphrastic poetry workshops featuring the photography of Russell J. Young. The first workshop culminated in a multidisciplinary performance, "In Response: An Exhibition of Poetry, Photography, and Music" in Studio 410, Russell's art studio and gallery. Original poetry read by Nan Collie, Nancy Flynn, Joaquin Lopez, Alida Rol, Karen Weliky, and me was accompanied by the projection of Russell's photographs and live music performed by cellist Kendra Carpenter, saxophonist Joyus William Lippincott, and vocalists -guitarists Nan Collie and Joaquin Lopez. The photographs and broadsides of the poems were also exhibited in the gallery. The performance featured a cycle of ekphrasis: the poets writing in response to the photographs, the photographer creating new work in response to the poems, and the musicians creating music in response to both.
Nan Collie
Kendra Carpenter
