Dear delight-dealers and troublemakers,
O, how I hope the year has been gentle and good to each of you. I’ve so much to share with you about my writing plans for 2022, as well as some behind-the-scenes details from my significant updates for Unkillable, but first…
Following the swift oversubscription to my workshop in October last year, I promised I would offer another, exclusively to you, my Substack coven. Lo, the time is nigh! Here are the details.
Expressing Your Authentic Self: A Free Poetry Workshop with Shivanee Ramlochan
Do you have an unspoken truth buried within you? Are you hungry to write poems that speak honestly of your lived experiences?
This poetry writing workshop is geared toward equipping young writers with an adaptive toolset in writing authentic, unapologetic poems. Examining the work of Caribbean women poets Malika Booker, Safiya Sinclair and Danielle Boodoo-Fortuné, participants will be encouraged to assess the hallmarks of forthright, confident storytelling (narrative and lyrical) in contemporary poetry. The elements to be covered in this session will prove useful for written and performance poetry alike, as well as any of its various combinations.
When? Sunday, February 20th, 2022, 10:00 - 11:30 AM AST
Where? Zoom
Skill Level? Suitable for poetry mavericks as well as debutantes
Registration: https://bit.ly/authenticityworkshop2022
Other Details: This workshop will contain strong language. Participants are asked to include their pronouns in their Zoom name onscreen. A list of content notes for the workshop poems will be circulated via email before the session.
Fine Print: Free to all of you (my Substack fam), but capped to 15 participants, to ensure adequate time for personalized feedback. Spots will be allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis once you’ve registered. You’ll receive a confirmation email once you’ve booked one of the 15 spots, and sign-ups will automatically close thereafter. Don’t worry if you can’t make this one; I’ll be offering more in 2022.
If you attended the October 2021 workshop, please don’t sign up for this one, as it’s essentially the same material.
I so look forward to dwelling in this space with 15 of you on the 20th, and to the poems we’ll create! As for what else I’m sharing this month, you can look out for:
the long-awaited conclusion to “Silk Saris & Sweet Sorrel”
process notes & photographs from the research notes of my first published essay of the year, “Caribbean Virgins, Caribbean Whores: Unlacing Goodness / Dismantling Perversion”
a detailed reading wrap-up for January & February, including highly anticipated books, personal favourites, and recommendations for many palates
Til soon, yours as the witch flies,
Shivanee