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In conjunction with best practices learned through the Certificate in Social Emotional Arts program with The Arts & Healing Initiative, this creative writing workshop, inspired by K.E. Ogden's poem of the same name, utilizes this title poem as well as work from poets Annie Marhefka, Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, and others to present several different writing prompts to support participants’ expressions of grief in a supportive space. Participants often find the workshop to be a cathartic outlet, a means of processing experiences, and a place to find community with others navigating similar experiences. Though this workshop is trauma-informed, it is not a trauma specific service.  

 Anne Marie Wells will guide participants through a brief history of traditional poetic forms before diving heart first into modern poetic forms that give a throbbing middle finger to convention. Together, the group will explore constraint as a means of defying constraining societal structures as well as a means of experimentation and fun! Poetic forms don’t have to be metered or rhyming or trite. Poetic forms can be cultural, they can be political statements, they can contain secret messages, they can be puzzles, they can be math, they can be nonsensical, and they can be even more than all that when the participants in the class invent their own forms, adding to the diversity and beauty of the literary universe. This workshop is for the established form fetishist, the form curious, and form skeptics. 

 We’re putting the FUN in fundamentals! While exploring the poetry of our modern poetic icons (Rudy Francisco, Andrea Gibson, Juan Felipe Herrera, Sarah Kay, Phil Kaye, and others) as well as our poetic ancestors (Galway Kinnell, Elizabeth Bishop, Phyllis Wheatley, Langston Hughes, and others), this first installment of the Beginner’s Guide to Poetry will introduce participants to “The Great Paradox,” poetry sounds, poetic devices, and writing the senses. Participants will practice incorporating these fundamentals into their own writing and springboard into new writing with generative prompts and exercises. This 4-week course is appropriate for folks who have never written a poem in their life, emerging poets interested in elevating their technical skills, and experienced poets wanting to refresh their knowledge of the basics. 

  In this generative writing workshop, Anne Marie Wells will introduce participants to some of today's eco-writers and artists and guide participants through a series of writing prompts that will use the outdoors and personal experience as inspiration for creative expression. No writing experience is necessary to participate  

Participants will learn techniques for establishing extended metaphors including word mapping, then use creative writing exercises to spark their creativity and innovation. This workshop is appropriate for writers of all levels.

 Anne Marie Wells' poetry collection, Survived By, began as a series of personal blog posts that she transformed into a memoir-in-verse. Exploring the poetry of Hanif Abdurraqib, Kate Baer, Danielle Mitchell, torrin a. greathouse, and others, participants will observe how enjambment, caesura, erasure, concrete poetry, and poetic form can be employed to transform a piece of prose writing into a poem.

  In this workshop, participants will explore the concept of "zeitgebers" and poems about the changing of time, describing time, and time as an important factor in the theme. How do poets convey the passing of time in poetry? Participants will have the opportunity to explore their own "zeitgebers"  and using them in their own creative works.

 We can't help but find inspiration from the work of our poetic relatives and ancestors, but some pieces forge larger inspiration than others. Let's explore the "After" poems of modern poets including Rudy Francisco, Ocean Vuong, Sarah J. Sloat, Billy Collins, and others to learn strategies of our own of paying homage without plagiarizing. 

This presentation takes a look at popular children's poets of the past, Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein, then explores the styles of Joy Harjo and Jacqueline Woodson before diving into a writing prompt.

Anne Marie Wells will utilize the poetry of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Alexander Posey, and Langston Hughes, to engage participants in an historical exploration of poetry in Social Justice movements including Human, Indigenous, and Civil Rights. Next, participants will explore the work of modern poets such as Jericho Brown, Kelsey Bryan-Zwick, Carlos Ornelas, Meg Day, and bridgette bianca, to observe how poetry is used today in service to Racial Justice, Disability rights, Immigrant rights, LGBTQ rights, and Gender Inclusion. Participants will then have time to follow writing prompts to engage with their own passions surrounding the concepts of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility.

 Participants will learn the definition of "Caesura," discover poets who utilize caesura in their writing, and experiment with caesura in their own work through a series of writing prompts.