Embark on a poetic exploration with Maw Shein Win and MK Chavez in this unique workshop designed to expand your approach to writing poetry. We'll plunge into the enigmatic depths of language and engage other art forms and use those sources to open new horizons of imagination. Attendees will listen to auditory landscapes and view visual arts during generative writing exercises. 

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As the workshop concludes, you'll emerge with a toolkit brimming with fresh linguistic playthings, innovative writing strategies, and a trove of practices to propel you onward in your literary pursuits. This dynamic and generative experience is a perfect fit for writers of all levels. 

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About the Instructors:

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MK Chavez is an Afro-Latinx writer, educator, multi-disciplinary artist, and curator. Chavez co-directs Berkeley Poetry Festival, and is co-founder/curator of the Lyrics & Dirges reading series. Her writing explores identity, social justice, ecological resistance, horror cinema, magic, and ritual. Chavez's work has been recognized with a Pen Oakland Josephine Miles Award, an Alameda Arts Leadership Award, the San Francisco Foundation/Nomadic Press Literary Award, the 2023 Ruth Weiss Maverick Award, and she/they are a 2023 YBCA 100 fellow. Her literary offerings include Dear Animal, Mothermorphosis, the lyric essay chapbook A Brief History of the Selfie, and Virgin Eyes. Recent work can be found among the trees in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park through the Voices of the Trees Project.

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Click here to learn more about MK.

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Maw Shein Win's most recent poetry collection is Storage Unit for the Spirit House (Omnidawn), which was nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry, longlisted for the PEN America Open Book Award, and shortlisted for CALIBA's Golden Poppy Award for Poetry. Win's previous collections include Invisible Gifts and two chapbooks, Ruins of a glittering palace and Score and Bone. Her Process Note Series features poets on their process. She is the inaugural poet laureate of El Cerrito, CA and teaches poetry in the MFA Program at the University of San Francisco. Win often

collaborates with visual artists, musicians, and other writers and was recently selected as a 2023 YBCA 100 Honoree. Along with Dawn Angelicca Barcelona and Mary Volmer, she is a co-founder of Maker, Mentor, Muse, a new literary community. Win’s full-length collection Percussing the Thinking Jar (Omnidawn) is forthcoming in 2024.

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Click here to learn more about Maw.

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LEFT MARGIN LIT'S CANCELLATION/REFUND POLICY:

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If you find that you can't take a class for which you registered, you may request a refund, less a $25 administrative fee, at least 48 hours prior to the start of the first class session. If a class doesn't reach its minimum enrollment, it will be cancelled, and all students will receive full refunds.