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POETIC CONVERGENCE
Get Lit's 2022 Poetic Convergence was one for the books! Thank you to all of the educators, students, and special guests who attended and made it all possible. From inspiring keynotes to mind-blowing workshops to learning all about Uni(verse), we can safely say that this was our favorite convergence!
The Poetic Convergence is an annual convening of educators, student leaders, arts champions, and poetic giants for a full day of workshops, panels, and breakout sessions to forge and strengthen bonds between students, teachers, schools, and communities.
We can't wait to see you again next year!
where & when
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1
8:30 - 4 PMSKIRBALL CULTURAL
CENTER
Los Angeles, CA 90049
2022 KEYNOTE WORKSHOPS
FRANNY CHOI
Franny Choi is a queer, Korean-American writer. Her most recent book is Soft Science (Alice James Books, 2019), which was a Nylon Best Book of 2019, was awarded the Science Fiction Poetry Association’s Elgin Award in 2020, and was a finalist for awards from Lambda Literary, Publishing Triangle, and the Massachusetts Center for the Book. Choi is also the author of the chapbook Death By Sex Machine (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2017) and the debut collection Floating, Brilliant, Gone (Write Bloody Publishing, 2019). Her next book is The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On, forthcoming from HarperCollins (November 2022).
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
PAUL TRAN
Paul Tran is the author of the debut poetry collection, All the Flowers Kneeling, published by Penguin in the US and the UK. Their work appears in The New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. A recipient of the Discovery/Boston Review Poetry Prize, as well as fellowships from the Poetry Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts, Paul is the first Asian American since 1993—and first transgender poet ever—to win the Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam, placing top 10 at the Individual World Poetry Slam and top 2 at the National Poetry Slam. Paul has taught at Washington University in St. Louis and Stanford University. They're currently an Assistant Professor of English and Asian American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONJOSÉ OLIVAREZ
José Olivarez is the son of Mexican immigrants. His debut book of poems, Citizen Illegal, was a finalist for the PEN/ Jean Stein Award and a winner of the 2018 Chicago Review of Books Poetry Prize. It was named a top book of 2018 by The Adroit Journal, NPR, and the New York Public Library. Along with Felicia Chavez and Willie Perdomo, he co-edited the poetry anthology, The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNEXT.
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
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The Poetic Convergence is a one-day convening of teachers, student leaders, arts champions, and poetic giants for the purpose of creating and sustaining poetic communities inside Los Angeles county schools and their neighborhoods. The Poetic Convergence offers attendees interactive workshops, engaging keynotes, and open mics to build community and creativity among our schools. Join us to transform the educational experiences and outcomes of our youth.
Schools who participate in the Get Lit Curriculum are welcome to bring up to 6 participants. We would like to welcome a mix of student leaders and educators with no more than 4 student leaders per school. Students must be accompanied by educators.
If you’re interested in joining us but don’t teach Get Lit yet, please reach out to Andrea@GetLit.org.
Schools who participate in the Get Lit Curriculum or are invited as guests can attend for free.
Unfortunately, this event is only open to schools. Please check out Get Lit’s other events that are open to the public.
Yes! We will be serving complimentary breakfast and lunch.
There is complimentary parking in the underground garage at the Skirball Cultural Center.
Lunchtime Keynote: TOWARD A POETICS OF INVESTIGATION AND DISCOVERY
Poetry—the poet Carl Phillips writes in his essay, Muscularity and Eros: On Syntax—is patterned language. Patterned language reveals patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior in an individual life. Can writing a poem help a poet more honestly understand their life? Can revising a poem help a poet change their life?
Using “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden and “How It Felt” by Sharon Olds, this talk will think through the poetics, and politics, of writing toward investigation and discovery. It will consider how a poem can produce new knowledge about human experience, and how a poem committed to radical freedom should, perhaps, begin with a question about human experience—a quest into unknown territory and the Territory of the Unknown.
Afternoon Workshop: TELL IT LIKE IT IS
While what we have heard is true—that we should "show" and "not tell"—sometimes we have to tell it like it is. In this generative writing workshop, we will read "Autobiography of Eve" by Ansel Elkins and define the "it" as the discovery the poet makes about the emotional or psychological landscape of their lived experience. We will look at how the act of discovery rather than the act of announcement must always be a priority in poetry, and we will see how fundamental elements of poetry—such as syntax, received form, and the image—can be used to show AND tell the discovery "like it is." Finally, we will write new poems that demonstrate what we will have learned together and hold a Q&A that invites any questions poets might have about their poems, poetry, and poetry writing.
