Taking Your Poetic Pulse: Writing Grief, Gratitude and Joy

Processing grief can be deeply personal and different for everyone. Grief can make its home in our bodies, in our hearts, in our minds, in the spaces loved ones once occupied. It can call out to us from objects, articles of clothing, food and street corners. Where does your grief live? How do you live with your grief? How can poetry become a space of communal grieving where we can lean on each other’s words for comfort, clarity and empathy?

In these generative writing workshops facilitated by Nadia Misir, participants will gather virtually to read and discuss poems that explore themes of grief, gratitude and joy. We will think about and discuss different craft techniques and forms each poet uses to make their griefs, joys and gratitudes come to life on the page. Each writing session will include three writing exercises and time for participants to share what they’ve worked on.

Taking Your Poetic Pulse is presented in partnership with the Queens Memory Project and as part of the facilitator’s Jamaica Flux 2021 project. Participants will be invited to share materials generated in the workshops during a virtual reading hosted by Queens Memory on Facebook live on March 16th at 7pm EST. Participants will also be invited to submit their work to be archived in the Queens Memory Collections at queenslib.org/covid.