Amherst, Mass.--On Saturday, April 10, as part of "Celebrating
Emily Dickinson's Words" and in honor of National Poetry Month, the Emily Dickinson Museum and the Jones Library will sponsor three
poetry-writing workshops (two for adults and one for youth). Each workshop will begin at 11 a.m. and conclude at 1 p.m. The workshops will take place at the Jones
Library, 43 Amity Street, and are limited to twelve participants each.
Participants will be invited to share their work during the Poetry Open Mike at
4 p.m., which will conclude "Celebrating Emily
Dickinson's Words." Workshops are sponsored in part by a grant from the Friends
of the Jones Library System and the Amherst Cultural Council. Space is limited
and registration is required.
Led by poets from the MFA program at the University of Massachusetts, the workshops
will use Dickinson quotations and
topics as springboards for generating new verse. Poet Hannah Brooks-Motl will lead a workshop
for adults that examines "obsession." Poet Henk Rossouw will help adult participants "Loose the
Flood" by working with specific lines from Dickinson's poetry. In "The Soul has Bandaged Moments," a special
workshop for youth ages 13-18, poet Gale Thompson will help participants
explore the emotional side of being a poet.
Anyone from long-time writers to poetry appreciators with a
sincere interest in giving poetry a try are welcome to participate. For the
adult workshops, a $10 advance registration fee is required (scholarships are
available). The youth workshop (geared for ages 13-18) is free, but
pre-registration is required. For more information or to
register for one of the workshops, contact the Reference Department at the
Jones Library at reference@joneslibrary.org or
413-259-3096.
Poet
Hannah Brooks-Motl will lead a workshop for adults that examines
"obsession." Poets are often obsessive
creatures, compulsively scratching at their own lives and ideas, and the lives
and ideas around them. This workshop
will focus on the idea of obsession and pursuit, looking at poems by Dickinson and other poets, and
generating new work. Hannah Brooks-Motl
is an MFA candidate in poetry at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, with
degrees in literature from Macalester College and the University of St Andrews.
In a
second workshop for adults, poet Henk Rossouw will help participants
"Loose the Flood" by working with specific lines from Dickinson's
poetry, such as "The Table is not laid without / Till it is laid within" or
"This World is not Conclusion," to prompt new creative verse. Last year
Rossouw gave a poetry reading in Times Square as a winner of the Poetry Society of America's 2nd annual
Bright Lights Big Verse competition. Originally from South Africa, Henk lives in Amherst, where he's in the MFA
Program for Poets and Writers at the University of Massachusetts.
In "The
Soul has Bandaged Moments," a special workshop for youth ages 13-18, poet Gale
Thompson will help participants explore the emotional side of being a poet. Originally from South Carolina, Gale Marie Thompson
lives in Amherst and is an MFA student
in poetry at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She works in the
Writing Program at UMass teaching Freshman Composition, and is the editor of
the online poetry magazine Jellyfish.
The Emily Dickinson Museum, comprising the
Dickinson Homestead and The Evergreens, is devoted to the story and legacy of
poet Emily Dickinson and her family. Both properties are owned by the Trustees
of Amherst College. The museum is overseen by a separate Board of Governors
charged with raising its operating and capital funds. The Homestead was the birthplace
and residence of the poet (1830-1886). The Evergreens was the 1856 home of the
poet's brother and sister-in-law, Austin and Susan Dickinson. The official
museum website is www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org.
Regular museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. March 31
through December 20, 2010, with extended summer hours 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.,
June through August. The Emily Dickinson Museum is located at 280 Main Street in Amherst, Massachusetts.
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