Be brave. Strike the pen on the page like a match. Show love to get love. It ain’t where you’re from; it’s where you’re at.  These are the four guidelines for the Spoken Word and Poetry Slam youth workshop.  Adopting some of the original ideas in Hip Hop culture we will share and evaluate poetry, hip hop poetics, the blues and a little rock and roll in order to trigger writing and performance responses.  The idea is to write what is necessary, not what “sounds” like poetry. The idea is to write, to perform, with one’s natural voice and identify oneself through the use of language that is concrete, vivid, and alive.  [more]

Thank You!

Fishtrap would like to thank the following organizations for their recent support:

Oregon Arts Commission

Wallowa County Cultural Trust Coalition

Juan Young Trust

Paul Allen Foundation

James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation

Herbert A. Templeton Foundation

Pacific Power Foundation

Oregon Arts Commission

City of Enterprise

Autzen Foundation

Oregon Cultural Trust

Collins Foundation

Lamb Foundation

Oregon Community Foundation (through the Oregon Writing Project at Eastern Oregon University)

Thanks to Pramila Jayapal for donating the use of her cabin for our Werner Writing Residency