‘Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change’ – Audre Lorde, Poetry is Not a Luxury
Dr Autumn Roesch-Marsh and Professor Sam Illingworth recently ran three Poetry for Change and Activism workshops with The Binks Hub.
The purpose of these workshops was to reflect on the power of poetry in helping people to reflect on the issues that matter to them, and to find ways to take action in support of social change. The sessions were delivered using structures which the participants were encouraged to take away and use in their own poetry for activism workshops with people in their communities.
In the first part of the sessions we shared some of our reflections about poetry for activism and the insights of people like Audre Lorde and James Baldwin. We then read poems together on a theme selected by the participants – the first workshop focused on the climate crisis, the second on mental health and the third on social justice.
After reading some poems together related to these themes, the participants were introduced to a poetry form. We explored Haiku, Nonet, The Golden Shovel and Ekphrastic methods across the workshops.
The participants then undertook a writing exercise using the poetic form introduced. Once our writing time was over, there was space for people to share the poems they had written. Many participants expressed how much they enjoyed having the space to read poetry that spoke to the issues they cared about, and to think about how poetry might nurture solidarity, connection and collective action.
I found the Poetry for Change and Activism session I attended very inspiring. It had a warm atmosphere of trust and sharing, and the activities involving art postcards as a way of introducing ourselves and also as a catalyst for beginning to write a poem were really effective. I intend to use this technique in future classes and mentoring sessions, so thanks for the tip! (I shall credit Autumn and Sam - like folk musicians do when they preface their performance by saying who taught them the tune).
Fiona Mackintosh, workshop participant
The Binks Hub will be offering further poetry related workshops in the future. Please get in touch if you have an idea or a project to share: binks@ed.ac.uk
You can access and download Autumn’s Poetry for Wellbeing toolkit here.