Join us for an immersive evening of self-expression and creativity hosted by Pramila Venkateswaran to explore the connection between the body and poetry. We invite participants to tap into their physical sensations, emotions, and inner worlds, transforming them into evocative written works. Guided by an experienced facilitator, this workshop will combine mindfulness practices, somatic awareness, and poetic techniques to help attendees delve into the language of the body and bring their unique stories to life on the page.
No prior writing experience is necessary—just a willingness to explore and create in a welcoming and supportive space.
Celebrate the spirit of Walt Whitman, who believed in the unity of mind, body, and soul, and discover how your own somatic experiences can inspire meaningful poetry
Translating Our Somatic Experiences into Poems
Do you live in your body? Or, are you disassociated from it? In this workshop, we practice experiencing our body, the senses that help us feel more connected with our pain and pleasure, our emotions, and find language to express ourselves. In this workshop we will read sample contemporary poems and look at how poets convey their physicality in their poems. Short prompts, followed by longer ones, will help participants transform their somatic experience of the world in the present moment into language, using images and metaphor to convey them. Participants will share their work and receive some ideas for getting deeper into the experience of the body to texture their work.
Sharpening Imagery in Poetry
A poem is a painting in words, so pictures, sounds, tastes and textures come alive in the reader’s mind. How do we create imagery that is vivid so the reader is transported by the poem? In this workshop we will read sample contemporary poems and look at how poets use visual, auditory and other images to express different emotions and convey mood and tonal resonance. Language in a poem has the ability to transform us and, ultimately, the reader. Poets are conscious of every word they use. So, how do they make their images original? Participants will be given writing prompts to write poems using vivid images to paint a scene or an experience.
