WRITE
ATTEND
READ
SUPPORT
Meet THe Team
In 1993, the poet Carolyn Forché coined the phrase “poetry of witness” to describe a kind of writing that marries the urgency of “political” writing with the depth of “personal” writing. These days, the amount of hardship we can see—down the street, in another state, across the ocean—can be overwhelming. It feels like everything is happening everywhere all at once. What does it mean to bear witness to the world around us? How do we resist the urge to crawl into a hole and hide? How can poetry help us make something beautiful out of the darkness? We’ll explore these questions as we look at poems by Forché and other contemporary writers. Then, we’ll try crafting the beginnings of our own “poetry of witness” through a series of generative prompts.
This single-session course welcomes poets and writers of all levels and anyone interested in more deeply observing the world around them.
Ryan Varadi is a midwestern poet currently living in Chicago, where he writes on the train on the way to work his retail job. He holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of North Carolina, where he received the Bernice Kert Teaching Fellowship. He has served as editorial staff for Ecotone and Chautauqua and as an intern for RHINO Poetry. His work appears or is forthcoming in Poetry Northwest, The Shore, and Collision Literary Magazine, among others. You can find updates at his sporadically updated website: ryanvaradi.com
"Ryan was prepared, patient, and encouraging. He was an excellent facilitator. He is knowledgeable and his love of poetry was evident!"
"I liked the way Ryan made the subject approachable for poets of all skill levels. He did not assume particular knowledge, but adjusted to the level of the participants. He really listened as people shared their work (which can be a scary thing to do with strangers) and responded in specific and appreciative ways."
