Wednesday, July 19, 2023

7:00-8:30 p.m. EST

On Zoom, Sponsored by the Franciscan Center of Tampa

With: Kelly DuMar

...a letter is a joy of earth — it is denied the gods.

~ Emily Dickinson, 1885

We rarely communicate with actual mailed letters today. And yet many of us have access to family archives containing rich personal histories of intimate and compelling relationships. This workshop springs from Kelly’s process of developing a poetry collection from letter archives through the form of erasure. She will illuminate the creative process of developing new writing and meaning from personal archives and guide you to explore the exciting multi-generational impact of this dynamic form. New and experienced writers are welcome, as well as writers working in memoir and other genres.

Erasure poetry, also known as blackout poetry, is a form of found poetry wherein a poet takes an existing text and erases, blacks out, or otherwise obscures a large portion of the text, creating a wholly new work from what remains. ~ The Academy of American Poets

 

PLEASE BRING: A copy of an original letter of any length in your possession that was sent via the mail. You might be, but you don’t have to be the addressee. This letter might be a postcard or other mailed document, typewritten or handwritten. If you have the original envelope, please bring that too. A jpg image of the letter/envelope is fine for this workshop so that you do not alter any originals.

 

Fee: $20.00 (no refunds)

 

About Kelly DuMar 

A poet, playwright, and workshop leader, Kelly guides new and experienced writers to generate new writing across genre. Kelly’s fourth poetry collection, “jinx and heavenly calling––I poached a portion of my mother’s love letters to my father, 1953-1954,” was published in March 2023, by Lily Poetry Books. Kelly is also author of Before You Forget— The Wisdom of Writing Diaries for Your Children, and many published plays. She blogs her nature photos and creative writing from the Charles River (where she lives) daily, for the past six years, at http://www.kellydumar.com/blog.