Exploring Your Cultural Inheritance through Poetry with Ebony Stewart

Saturday, December 16, 10am-1pm CST, via Zoom
Instructor: Ebony Stewart
Nonmember: $100; Member: $85; Student/Vet/Mil $75

*EARN CPE’S

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE. 

When we think of cultural inheritance, we often think of language, music, food, holidays, and maybe even sports. But what about the way a culture approaches central concepts like race, religion, patriotism, literacy, and integrity? 

In this workshop, we will explore the idea of our own unique heritage as a museum of poetic artifacts, reflect on spoken word pieces, and generate writing. In the discussion portion, we will explore the concrete and intangible elements of culture, any logical or illogical fears these may evoke, and the impact of that. We will study how “Hairitage,” “Fear,” and Nina Simone’s “Four Women” depict culture and use literary devices to create memorable pieces. We will use all of our explorations of culture and fear to create new poems that use some of the literary techniques covered. 

Participants can expect a safe workshop space where they can take risks, be vulnerable, and give and receive feedback for future revisions.

This course is open to writers of all skill levels, 18+. 

Students will leave this workshop with:

• A deeper understanding of your own culture
• Knowledge of literary devices
• One complete poem that captures your cultural inheritance

Ebony Stewart is a poet, writer, and performance artist. Her work speaks to the Black experience, with emphasis on gender, sexuality, womanhood, queer-positivity, and race, with the hopes to remove shame, heal minds, encourage dialogue, and inspire folks in marginalized communities. Ebony is a respected coach & mentor, one of the top touring poets in the country, and the 2017 Woman of the World Poetry Slam Champion. She has performed in 48 states, at over 200 colleges and universities across the country, as well as featured internationally in Canada, Australia, and Ghana. She is the author of BloodFresh, Home.Girl.Hood., and Love Letters to Balled Fists. Her work has been featured in Button Poetry, AfroPunk, For Harriet,  Teen Vogue, The Texas Observer, plus countless others.

Learn more about Ebony at her Writer’s Desk Q&A.