A creative writing course from Blue Stoop, a fiscally sponsored project of CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia.
6 Mondays, 10/5 – 11/9 | 6:30–8:30 pm ET | In-Person @ CultureWorks
Documentary poetics draws from archival media to reframe our histories. In this 6-week, in-person course, we’ll explore poetry projects that draw from interviews, archival materials, legal documents, photographs, and found language to craft stories rooted in lived experience. Through weekly readings, in-class writing, and guided field research, participants will learn to work with both personal and public archives as creative material. Together, we will consider the responsibilities and aesthetic possibilities that give documentary work its power.
Alongside classroom work, students will have opportunities to visit Philadelphia archives, including Temple’s Blockson and Urban Archives, to engage directly with historical materials. Weekly exercises will introduce documentary techniques such as erasure, collage, lyric essay, somatic practice, and ekphrastic response. Students will leave the course with the foundation of a documentary poetry project, a deeper understanding of the ethics of archival engagement, and a versatile toolkit for future work. Note: While our examples are poetry-forward, this class welcomes writers of all genres. Field trip dates and details TBA.
Registration closes Monday, 9/28 (or when the class is full)
William M. King scholarship apps close 9/1. General full scholarship apps close 9/14. Financial aid discounts are first come, first served. Learn more here.
CultureWorks is wheelchair accessible, but has no automatic door openers. Masks are optional but encouraged. Contact us to discuss accessibility re: field trip locations.
See our FAQ for refund policies, etc.
Instructor: Warren C. Longmire is a poet, performer, and educator from North Philadelphia. A co-founder of the Excelano Project Spoken Word Collective, his work has appeared in publications including Action, Spectacle, The Offing, Taper and The American Poetry Review. Warren was featured in The Best American Poetry 2021. He is the author of two full length books, Open Source (Radiator Press 2021) and Bird/Diz [an erased history of bebop], (Bunny Presse 2022). He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop with an MFA in Poetry. You can follow him on instagram at @alongmirewriter or alongmirewriter.com.