Poet Republik Poetry of Witness Online Workshop, April 12th, 2021

Let your voice be heard! It is most important to the republik of poets here…

In this online (Zoom) workshop we will look at protest poetry in translation, and discuss poetry of witness in its context as an historical artifact. Writers will then be given a prompt and asked to generate their own poem of protest/witness for work-shopping.

Since it is the job of writers to bear witness to the truth, and the habit of writers to read widely, think deeply and seek their own counsel rather than adopt the propaganda of their leaders and the self-serving rationalizations of their fellow citizens, it should not be surprising that writers often find themselves in mortal opposition to the state apparatus: Naguib Mahfouz, a Nobel prize winning author, was stabbed for his liberal, secular political religious views. Wole Soyinka, Nigerian, had to flee for his life because of his support for democracy. Taslima Nasrin, a Bagladesh essayist who wrote in favor of women’s rights, was forced to flee to Europe under threat of assassination by religious extremists, and El Salvadoran Roque Dalton who was executed for his writing.  In the United States we have a continuous faction trying to ban books in libraries and state apparati silencing voices.

It is again a perilous time to be a poet. Let your voice be heard!

When? April 12th, 2021

Pacific: 9:00 AM (PST)

Email to request Zoom meeting information at poetrepublik (at) gmail (dot) com