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Writer's pictureStephanie Lynn

Writing Workshop - Week of 9/27/2022

The moderator for this week is Abby!

 

Abigail Licad is an immigrant from the Philippines, a former editor-in-chief for Hyphen magazine, a full-on feminist, a diehard Tori Amos fan, a mediocre classical pianist, a dog mama, a chocolate fiend, a terrible cook, a succulent addict, a lover of sending care packages, and a poetry junkie through and through. She has no tattoos and lives in Portland, Oregon.



 

Tuesday, September 27th, 2022


1. Respond to or incorporate any of the following passages into your poem:

  • "you are the spit & liver it takes/to be human & I want it"

  • "I know/God's flaming eye, I stare into it always/dying to blink, irises cracking like commandment stones."

  • "but my body/made up a rumor about your body/& wants to prove it true."

2. Write about human physical touch, whether romantic, familial, platonic, etc. Write about an unforgettable experience about touch or bodily connection (perhaps the last time you hugged a loved one), or perhaps a memory of when you yearned for it, or perhaps an awkward or resistant exchange of it where you were not comfortable being expressive or affectionate with the other person. In your poem, describe the feelings and thoughts that went through you, and describe the setting of and dramatic development in the occurrence.


3. Write about an experience you've had of ambiguity or uncertainty, where you weren't sure of yourself or your read/interpretation of a certain gesture or certain words expressed. How were you right or wrong? What was at stake? What were some assumptions underlying your inferences or tentative conclusions? How did you act on these? What was the result?

 

Thursday, September 29th, 2022



1. Respond to or incorporate any of the following passages into your poem:

  • "Here’s what I’ve got, the reasons why our marriage/might work:"

  • "You have soft hands."

  • "Because when you read that essay about Rilke, you underlined the whole thing except the part where Rilke says love means to deny the self and to be consumed in flames."

2. Write a list poem citing reasons or motivations for something that you said, thought, or did. Don't be afraid to take risks and go beyond the bounds of logic like in the poem -- feel free to be silly, absurd, or random, but always be detailed.


3. Write about a sacrifice someone has made for you. Or a list poem describing sacrifices that someone has made for you. Again, feel free to be carried away by examples and descriptions, no matter how seemingly small, inconsequential, ridiculous, or unnecessary.

 

Friday, September 30th, 2022


"Achilles in Love" by Stephen Dunn

1. Respond to or incorporate any of the following passages into your poem:

  • "And because to be invulnerable/is to be alone, he was alone even when/he was with you."

  • "with a tenderness that made him tremble"

  • "He never felt so exposed or so open to the world"

2. Write about an Achilles heel that you have. Why does this weakness of yours exist? What are its origins? What are some implications or results from it? How have you tried to fight or overcome this weakness?

3. Write about falling in love. You can be specific and think about one person in particular, or you can be general and describe your tendencies and habits when falling in love. Again, be detailed and let yourself be carried beyond the bounds of logic or reason.

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