Event by Pat Conroy Literary Center
Register for both parts: patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
When: Saturdays, August 13, 2022 and August 20, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. to noon
Cost: Free
Limited to 15 participants
Where: Pat Conroy Literary Center | 601 Bladen St, Beaufort
Poetry 101 is a free two-part in-person introductory poetry writing workshop led by Charlene Spearen at the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center (601 Bladen St, Beaufort) on Saturdays, August 13 and 20, from 10:00 a.m. to noon. Registration includes both sessions and is limited to 15 people. Donations are welcome.
Part I: Demystifying the Poetic Form
August 13, 10:00 a.m. – noon
Dating as far back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, the exercising of the art of writing, reading and performing poetry has been a part of different forms of human artistic intentions. When we think of Pat Conroy’s artistic intentions, the mastering of poetic expression comes to the forefront. This workshop will explore not only examples of artistic expression in Conroy’s work but also the art of writing haikus, sonnets, as well as pastoral and ballad poetry as a vehicle of imaginative awareness. Participants in this fun and low-pressure gathering of artistic minds will dive into samples of each these forms and write and perform new poems.
Part II: Imaginative Awareness and Risky Business
August 20, 10:00 a.m. – noon
Poetry can transcend and transport us as means in ways that build our knowledge and empathy for one another. Through the reading of selected passages from Pat Conroy’s work and poems by poets such as Natasha Tretheway, Kevin Young, Eileen Myles, Jessica Piazza, and Ed Madden, participants will learn how to cross barriers and take risks as they create poems that move their audience deeply into their own individual worlds and experiences.
Learn more and register at https://patconroyliterarycenter.eventbrite.com
Website: Facebook Event Page
About our instructor:
Charlene Monahan Spearen received her MFA degree in Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in Composition and Rhetoric from the University of South Carolina. She is currently serving as the Public Relations and Special Projects Coordinator for Penn Center after a successful career in academia at Allen University. She served as the Program Coordinator for the University of South Carolina’s Arts Institute and was the Assistant Director for the South Carolina Poetry Initiative.
In addition to her work throughout the Carolinas, Spearen has been a featured reader and Creative Writing instructor and scholar in County Monaghan and County Mayo, Ireland. She has published a full-length collection of poems titled A Book of Exquisite Disasters (University of South Carolina Press, 2008). Her poems have appeared in journals and publications throughout the United States. Her work at the Penn Center will include coordinating and serving as a team member for developing artistic and scholarly events that give voice to the Gullah community and civic-minded initiatives.
