Poetry is Not a Luxury: Writing as Essential Act

$99.00

Dates: Any
Format: Independent Study (more info)

In her essay, “Poetry is Not a Luxury,” Audre Lorde tells us that poetry “is a vital necessity of our existence.” Still, many of us struggle to get to our writing with regularity. Our list of reasons is long, variable, and real: day jobs, babies, finals, illness, family obligations, fear of failure—sheer exhaustion.

In this four-module self-paced workshop, you’re going to write anyway. You’ll apply the tenets of Lorde’s essay to your own writing lives and, in her sage words, “pursue [y]our magic and make it real.”

You’ll drink deeply from the well of inspiration by reading and listening to poems by a wide range of contemporary poets including Yusef Komunyakaa, Ada Limón, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, Maggie Smith, Ted Kooser, Jim Harrison, Chloe Honum, and Lucille Clifton, to name a few.

Each lesson offers a generative writing prompt and a revision-based prompt for those not-quite-there-yet-poems gathering dust in your bottom desk drawer.

Shortly after you register, you will receive an email containing an invitation to create an account and begin learning. Note: This class does not include feedback or interaction with the instructor or other learners, and is accessible for thirty days. If more time is needed, just contact us.

Quantity:
Enroll
 

Teaching Artist

cropped-scotland_2016-083.jpg

Kim Noriega

Kim Noriega is the author of the poetry collection, Name Me published by Fortunate Daughter Press. Her poems have appeared in textbooks, journals, and anthologies including: American Life in Poetry, Paris-Atlantic, Split Lip, and The Tishman Review. She was the winner of San Miguel Literary Sala’s 2017 Flash Nonfiction Prize, a finalist for the 2017 Edna St. Vincent Millay Poetry Prize, and one of 30 poets selected to collaborate with 30 film artists as a part of the 2018 Visible Poetry Project.

Ms. Noriega teaches children, teens, and adults in public libraries and recovery homes and was a finalist for the 2017 Toyota National Family Teacher of the Year Award. She lives in San Diego where she heads San Diego Public Library’s family literacy program. More at kimnoriega.com.

 
I’m With the Banned—Celebrating & Exercising Our Freedom to Read & Write
$99.00
Poets in the World: A Field Guide
$99.00
The Well-Turned Poem
$99.00