Poesía Migrante: Writing about the Migrant Experience with Juan Felipe Herrera

Sat, June 18, 11am-4pm CST with a lunch break at 12pm; via Zoom
Instructor: Juan Felipe Herrera
Class Limit: 15
Nonmember: $150; Member: $125; Student/Vet/Mil:  $75

For decades the migrante experience has been depicted in a negative manner or has been left unseen or “invisibilized.” Join Juan Felipe Herrera’s Mesa Familiar in this workshop focused on bringing the migrante into the light as participants reflect on their personal journeys and that of their ancestors. In this laid back session, workshop participants will write about the migrant experience by exploring personal journeys, family stories, the news, and photographs through various activities such as letter writing, making a piñata migrante, and creating a one-sheet poetry book. Students will be encouraged to incorporate bilingualism (Spanish words will be provided if needed) into their writing and to read their poetry out loud. 

This workshop is geared toward anyone with roots in the migrante experience or anyone who would like to write about it in new, thought-provoking ways. All levels are welcome, but novice writers who want to unlock the beauty of their own voice are highly encouraged to register. 

Students will: 

• learn how to draw inspiration from and incorporate family stories, photographs, media stories, and other sources of material into their writing.  
• experiment with adding rhythm, colors, and created words to their work. 
• practice shaping their poem using caesura, stanzas, and enjambment.

AuthorBio

Campesino farmworker family boy born on the road. Juan Felipe Herrera grew up in villages, trailer courts, barrios and downtowns; lived in mountain tops, villages and big cities. Graduated from UCLA, Stanford, and the University of Iowa. His interests are culture, art, creative writing and activism. Herrera has won many awards and was professor of Creative Writing and Chicano & Latin American Studies – Fresno State and UC-Riverside. He has written over thirty books for all ages. His poems have been published worldwide, part of the Un-crewed, Robotic, Interplanetary Lucy NASA Mission orbiting the Sun, compositions for Symphonies and for the University of Iowa Stanley Art Museum Jackson Pollock Exhibit. He has been the Poet Laureate of California and USA.