Remembering History Through Poetry: Spoken Word/Poetry Performance Workshop
100-Year Commemoration for the victims of the lynching in Duluth, 1920. Photo courtesy of UMD.
Poet and professor from Southern New Hampshire University, C. Patrice Ares-Christian, will be hosting the Spoken Word/Poetry Performance Workshop on Feb. 9th at the Kathryn A. Martin Library from 1-3pm and on Feb. 10th at the Kirby Student Center Rafters from 4-6pm. She aims to expand the public’s mind through reclaiming history and emphasizing different perspectives through poetic form.
C. Patrice Ares-Christian. Photo courtesy of C. Patrice Ares-Christian.
“We live in a really interesting time right now and there are so many issues that can be brought to light or explained in a different way,” said Ares-Christian. “There are so many experiences that can be discussed via poetry. I want to just be able to understand history; understand how to discuss their perspective of current events and speak about their culture through the poetic genre.”
Elizabethada Wright, a professor in the English, Linguistics, and Writing Studies department is the event facilitator. Wright feels that Ares-Christian’s work intertwines impactful historical events with current events today in a sympathetic way.
“One of the things that I particularly like about Ares-Christian’s work is that she combines history, current events and an emotional truth in a really original way,” said Wright. “Her work really has resonance because of that.”
Elizabethada Wright. Photo courtesy of UMD.
For Ares-Christian, there is this sense of listening and speaking out for those whose voices are marginalized. She wants her work to be a remembrance for those forgotten like the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial. Her awareness of an untold side of history fuels her passion for poetry.
“I remember just questioning a lot of the things we were learning and thinking this is very one-sided,” said Ares-Christian. “There has to be another perspective, and not hearing those other perspectives I went to search for them.”
Ares-Christian hopes to build people’s confidence in their own writing and expand their minds through discussion.
“I want to make sure that people realize that everybody has a unique voice, everybody has a perspective worth being valued,” said Ares-Christian. “Everybody can write poetry. There is a way to talk about cultural events, historical events, political events in poetry and that can be very powerful. I want to empower the people who come to the workshop to actually do these things and share their voice, their perspective, and remember these forgotten people, in this case, honor these three men who have been remembered.”
The workshop is open to the public and attendees will be expected to write.
“They should bring an open mind and whatever tools they like to write with,” said Ares-Christian. “Be ready to be challenged and participate in a couple of activities that are going to get them thinking about history, in particular, this year long event that we are remembering.”
There will be an open-mic for students to share their poems during the workshop. Reading poetry aloud is a whole different experience that both Wright and Ares-Christian want to highlight.
“Performance is important because it gives you a platform to share,” said Ares-Christian. “I really don’t want people to do this work and goes home and nobody sees it. Maybe if you're not super confident with your work but you still want to share it, this room is going to be welcoming, warm, and receptive to what you’ve done.”
Wright feels that this workshop is a great opportunity for any type of writer to take the time and finally write again.
“I’ve been doing academic writing, not creative writing, for the past 20 year because that’s what I do, but I miss the other and that’s why I'm really looking forward to participating in this,” said Wright. “And so other people who like poetry but don’t think of themselves as poets and are not majoring in it because ‘you can't get a job’, those are the people who should come.”