Where World and Skin Meet: The Embodied Poem

Date & TIME

  • Saturday, April 9
  • 2-4 pm Central Time (12-2 PT, 1-2 MT, 3-5 ET)

Details

  • Tuition: $25
  • Location: Zoom virtual workshop
  • Deadline: 10:00 am, CT, April 6, 2022

Tution Assistance Available!

Where World and Skin Meet: The Embodied Poem

“Where World and Skin Meet: The Embodied Poem” invites participants to explore what it means to put body to words — to attempt to capture the tangible in the intangible. This generative writing workshop will be a chance to delve into recently released The Ending Hasn’t Happened Yet, an anthology of poetry by disabled, chronically ill, and neurodivergent writers.  Famed disability poet Jim Ferris coined the phrase “atypical embodiment” to describe the possibilities of disability poetics, in which “atypical” bodies and bodyminds present new ways to hold words on a page. “Where World and Skin Meet: The Embodied Poem” will examine all forms of embodiment through writing, whether that be writing that centers our bodyminds or writing that weaves in our bodyminds as touchstones of description. 

Readings for this workshop will be drawn solely from The Ending Hasn’t Happened Yet, and will be provided for workshop participants (although you can order your own copy of the anthology through Sable Books––all proceeds benefit Zoeglossia, a community for disabled poets). We will also be joined by Hilary Sun and S.J. Stephens, two poets featured in the anthology who will read their work for us. We will use various focal texts to inspire creation of our own pieces, through prompts that ask us to engage our bodyminds. Although this workshop will be centered in disability poetics, participants of all identities are encouraged to join. 

Closed Captioning will be available, and ASL interpretation upon request. Please let us know particular access needs you may have when registering so we can do our best to accommodate! 

Instructor

Hannah Soyer (she/her) is a queer disabled writer born and living in the Midwest. Her work explores the representation of “Othered” bodies, and how the arts–in particular storytelling–can be beautiful acts of survival, resistance, and community building. She is the founder of This Body is Worthy, a project aimed at celebrating bodies outside of mainstream societal ideals, and Words of Reclamation, a space for disabled writers. She also happens to be a cat and chocolate enthusiast.

She has written for nationally-acclaimed publications such as Cosmopolitan Magazine, and her creative work has been nominated for Pushcart Prizes and featured in places such as The Rumpus, Entropy, and Disability Visibility Project. She has worked at various newspapers as an opinions columnist, editor, or freelance reporter. Her 2016 investigative piece, “Most Iowa School Districts Don’t Comply With Americans With Disabilities Act” was published in all major Iowa newspapers and spurred a Department of Justice investigation into the accessibility of Iowa schools. She also has worked as managing editor for literary magazines and as an editorial assistant for Sundress Publications. In addition, she is the editor of The Ending Hasn’t Happened Yet: An Anthology of Disability Poetics from Sable Books. Her chapbook, For When the Shapes Keep Changing, won the 2021 OutWrite Chapbook Competition in the creative nonfiction category.

Hannah has presented at various conferences on topics related to disability, language, and embodiment. She is also heavily involved in local disability rights movements and various Disability Justice projects (learn more on her “Resources” page).

An accomplished English and Creative Writing instructor, workshop facilitator, communicator, and freelance writer/editor, Hannah believes in the power of story. She is an experienced writing coach–both creative and academic–and loves helping individuals realize their ideas and translate them to the page.

Registration

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