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The Writing Circle at the Edge of the World – Youth entering grades 9-12
Lately, it feels as if we humans are balanced on the edge. Often, powerful writing emerges when one is confronted with the edges of experience and understanding. In this workshop for teens, we will endeavor to build a writing circle that will, over the course of a week, turn a group of strangers into a tight community who might bear witness to the edge of the world together through writing. We will take inspiration from each other, anything and everything that might be useful: the natural beauty of the world around us, sharing work with one another, listening to song lyrics, watching movie scenes, performing group poems. Participants will be asked to push their own growing edges by listening deeply, share courageously, writing and reflecting with abandon.
NYC-born poet, Roberto Ascalon teaches across the Northwest. He is a Kundiman, Jack Straw, and Artist Trust fellow, a two-time Seattle Slam Team member, and the winner of the 2013 Rattle Poetry Prize for the poem “The Fire This Time ,or, How Come Some Brown Boys Get Blazed Right Before Class And Other Questions Without Marks” which earned him a Pushcart nomination. His residencies have led to multimedia exhibitions at the Frye Art Museum, the Seattle Art Museum, and The Museum of History and Industry and earned him a trip to the White House where had the honor of shaking hands with President Obama. He graduated in 2016 from Western Washington with a degree in Creative Writing.