3rd Tuesday: Open Mic & July Feature: Jake Friedman!
July 21 @ 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Join us for the monthly culmination of the “Journey of the Poem.” The evening begins with an immersive workshop at 4 pm, hosted this month by featured poet Jake Friedman. Later, the energy shifts to our community open mic at 6 pm, a supportive space to share your own work. From first-time readers to seasoned performers, all are welcome to take the stage and celebrate the diverse voices of our collective. Jake will perform a featured set halfway through!
About Jake Friedman
Jake Friedman is a poet, editor, and culture worker. He has an MFA in Poetry from Colorado State University and is currently serving as a Poet Laureate of Fort Collins, CO, among other things. He has a very cute two year old who you may have seen walking around town sometimes. He lives with his partner down the street from Wolverine.
About Jake’s 4 pm Workshop
Hammers, Mirrors, Restive Hands: Documentary Poetics
Saussure says that language is at every moment a product of the past. Ergo, perhaps the poet is a kind of a historian. Our task, then, is to seize a memory at the moment of danger, to resist becoming a tool of the ruling class. Documentary poetics (the practice of composing from other texts) is an underworld practice—a channeling or summoning, necromancy or possession—a critical tool we can leverage against power and institutions, an examination of our own position or complicity.
And so, what we’re going to do in this workshop is:
- Introduce the movement or process known as documentary poetics
- Read and discuss one or two of the following authors—Layli Long Soldier, Muriel Rukeyser, Anne Carson, M Nourbese Philip, Solmaz Sharif, Nicole Sealey
- Glance briefly at theory
- Think about how documentary might fit into your own work
- Give you a little space to get started
- Share and receive on-the-spot feedback
- Provide references and resources for future reading
Please note: writers of all backgrounds and experiences are welcome. You don’t also need to have ‘a project’ or ‘work’ to participate.