Level: All

Instructor: Ámbar Past

This class will explore the subtleties of poetry written in English, Spanish, Tzotzil Maya and other Amerindian languages. Students will have ample opportunity to both write and read their own poetry, whether it be in English or Spanish, and handouts will be provided including selections from Federico Garcia Lorca, Rosario Castellanos, Jaime Sabines, and Juan Felipe Herrera. Discussion will include poetics and methods for eliminating writer’s block.

Date: Sunday, Oct. 10, 9am – noon

Limit: 20 Participants

Registration Deadline: Wednesday, Oct.6

Teachers CPE Credits: 3 Language Arts

About the instructor: For 30 years Ámbar Past has worked in the collecting, recording, and translation of Tzotzil ritual poetry, which appears in the bilingual anthologies, published by Taller Leñateros, Conjuros y ebriedades, (1998), Incantations by Mayan Women and a music CD-book, Disco de los Conjuros (in press). She is the founder and director of the prize-winning journal for art and literature La Jicara, known as “the most beautiful magazine in Mexico.” Past’s work has been shown in book arts exhibitions in the US, Mexico, Austria, Japan, France, UK, and Italy.

SAVE THE DATE: Past will also be participating  in a special Saturday Reading with Bobby Byrd and Lee Merrill Byrd on Oct. 9 at 7pm at Gemini Ink, located at 513 S. Presa. The event is free and open to the public.