Fall BIPOC Writing Workshop: Playing with Form + Formal Play

This is an 8-week *BIPOC only* poetry workshop, hosted by me every Tuesday from Oct. 21st to Dec. This workshop is design to help writers learn form and play with it, both to appreciate different poetic forms and their uses. We will be exploring forms like sestinas, ghazals, prose poetry, pantoum, free form, villanelles, glosas, etc. As a workshop leader, I intend to help students eventually break away from form, writing free verse poetry that feels like a more intentional choice, rather than an unstudied go to.

This workshop is also for those who are interested in formal play and experimentation, for writers who want to figure out how to come up with their own rules and forms that best serve the themes, topics, and goals they're trying to write about or address in their poetry.

What we will do?

The workshop will not just be me lecturing at you! I'm quite interested in engaging in dialogue with people taking the workshop because you all come with your own knowledge and interesting things to say. I will also be teaching form and editing, so don't worry, I'll be sharing my knowledge. But I won't be setting up the space of me as expert and you as non-experts. We'll be challenging that dynamic as much as possible.

We'll explore a form or two each week. I'll send a mix of poems and "theory" a week in advance, and we'll discuss them together during the workshop.

I will also be bringing writing prompts to each class for us to do. 

As of week 2, we'll be workshopping up to two people a week. 

Who can join this workshop?

The workshop is only for BIPOC. People with any level of poetry knowledge can join the workshop. Beginners are welcome! 

There will be one free slot reserved for an Indigenous participant. 

I've created a ticket system with three tiers. Please pick the tier that genuinely reflects your $ situation. For example, anyone who makes under $30 000 a year is low-income. If you'd like to pay for a free spot for a low-income individual (i.e. pay it forward), feel free to get in touch at elitareq.lynch@gmail.com

**Please only join this workshop if you know you can commit to coming to at least half the sessions, as they build upon each other. 

Payment

In order to reserve your spot, please select the tiered ticket of your choice and then either pay through ticket tailor OR send your payment to elitareq.elbl@gmail.com (my autodeposit is set up) within 48 hours. If you need more time, feel free to email me at elitareq.lynch@gmail.com before reserving your spot and I'll see what I can do. 

Who am I?

I'm Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch, a poet, writer, translator, and editor working on my first novel! I've written two books of poetry, knot body and The Good Arabs, that use a multiplicity of forms. I love working with form, breaking the rules, and creating my own forms and rules. I love teaching and have taught many workshops, including two 8-week workshop series. My approach to teaching is one that shares the knowledge I've gained throughout my career while being open to the knowledge my students bring to the workshop. We work together to build a workshop that works for us, so I'm always flexible with what I teach, giving some space for spontaneity. I've as an editor professionally for the past ten years, editing poetry, prose, and non-fiction. Last year, I co-edited an anthology called El Ghourabaa, a collection of writing by queer and trans Arab and Arabophone writers.