Événement

Diversity, Black Poetry, and Amiri

The word diversity is overused and misunderstood. If we use poetry as a guideline we might get closer to its true meaning and importance.

In the world of poetry, both published and performed, the iconic figures are rarely Black. Yeats, Dickinson, Ginsberg, Plath, are names we know, along with countless others, as if they are family or friends. Only Langston Hughes has somehow cracked the contemporary poetry canon.

In this workshop, led by reg e gaines, we will explore the poetry of leroi jones/ Amiri Baraka and its importance to our understanding of diversity. Participants will choose a Baraka poem to be learned then shared with the class. Poems will then be composed in direct response to Barakas, hopefully broadening all participants thoughts on diversity and the need to embrace cultural differences through art and communication. The workshops be in the spring of 2019.

reg e gaines has published four books of poetry including The Original Buckwheat and Abstract Sax. His poetry can be found in numerous anthologies, Aloud: Voices From The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Bum Rush The Page, The Paterson Literary Review and Bomb Magazine. reg is a Tony Award winning playwright and Grammy nominated lyricist. He is currently writing and producing, The 88, and has been commissioned to write a play, Amiri Who, about the poet Amiri Baraka. reg will share excerpts of the play as part of this workshop.

Saturdays March 23, 30, April 6, 13, 20 at noon-2 pm.