Share Your Voice: Writing Poetry for Children, Virtual Writing Workshop for Teens Ages 13-19
Saturday, Nov 13, from 1-3:30pm ET, Sunday, Nov 14, from 1-3:30pm ET, Saturday, Nov 20, 1-2 ET — Optional session for students working on chapbook formation. Please note, it is $225 for three sessions.
We all know and love esteemed children’s book authors, but have you ever wondered what it takes to write poetry for children? In this workshop, we’ll work together to explore the art of writing poetry for young people while creating “chapbooks for children,” compilations of poetry that we will share with a captive audience of elementary school readers and writers at the culmination of our time together.
This workshop is the perfect opportunity to both expand and deepen your skills as a poet while sharing those skills with others. We will take a closer look at esteemed authors like Shell Silverstein, Joy Harjo, and Lucille Clifton, as well as poetry written by children through the River of Words program. Reflect on your own childhood, write poems about the places around you, and consider how to incorporate social issues you care about into poetry for young people. Young writers walk away from the workshop with their own digital chapbook for kids.
No prior poetry experience required.
Workshop Facilitator:
Cai Rodrigues-Sherley (he/they) is a poet-archivist and teaching artist with roots in Boston, Massachusetts, where he first discovered the power of the written word. He is the recipient of the 2019 Emily Babcock Poetry Prize, a 2020 Pushcart Prize nominee, and a 2020 Watering Hole Winter Fellow. Their work is published or forthcoming in the Brooklyn Review, Crazyhorse, The Belmont Review, and Volume Poetry, as well as My Loves: A Digital Anthology of Queer Love Poems from Ghost City Press. As a teaching artist, they have had the honor of connecting with young people at The Campus School at Smith College, Children of Promise, Pockets Change, and buildOn Bridgeport. Their greatest achievement was watching 3 rd graders from The Campus School perform a public reading of their poetry at The Poetry Center at Smith College. Their poems were written over the course of three workshops and published in the collection River Poems. Cai is overjoyed to be working with Write the World and exploring the rich world of poetry written for children with young writers. They currently live in Harlem and are an MFA candidate in poetry at New York University, where they also teach Intro to Creative Writing!
*Please note that we require all participants to appear on either video or audio during online group meetings (video is preferred, but not required).
About Write the World’s Poetry Program:
Write the World’s 2021 Virtual Poetry Workshops invite writers ages 13-19 to connect across continents, level up their craft, and learn from celebrated and caring authors through a variety of poetic genres.
Throughout 2021, join peers from over 100 countries as you pour your voice and vision into poetry with the help of esteemed poets and educators through Write the World’s Global Writing Workshops. The four distinct Workshop offerings will each take place over the course of three to four 90-minute live Saturday sessions, inviting you to find, raise, use, and share your voice as you explore a variety of genres. All Workshops focus on the art and utility of poetry, and how we can use our writing to advocate, mobilize, unify, resist, connect, and work together to create the world we imagine. Writers of all levels and experiences are welcome.
Schedule:
During workshop sessions, you’ll engage in interactive writing activities, connect with peers around the world, and work together to grow your poetry skills.
Between workshop sessions, you may be asked to work independently (and asynchronously) on writing prompts and activities, guided by peer and expert reviews, at your own pace, for approximately 1-2 hours, depending on your facilitator’s workshop plan. You will also receive individualized feedback that will strengthen your poetry.
We are pleased to announce that participants in our poetry offerings will be eligible for a chance to perform their work at a celebratory virtual reading hosted by the acclaimed Smith College Boutelle-Day Poetry Center in January, 2022.
Register for 2+ workshops and get 20% off automatically!
Have additional questions? Check out our parent and guardian FAQ’s here or reach out to us at [email protected] to connect!