Master Class in Poetry with MartÃn Espada
Cosponsored by Acentos
Friday, April 8th, 2005, 5:30 – 9PM
This master class is designed to stimulate the creation of new poems. The class will focus on model poems, writing exercises and the sharing of new work. We may write praise poems for the damned or curse poems for dictators, speak in the voices of despised creatures, unearth the lost history buried in our very names, or apologize for things we’re secretly glad that we did. Participants should bring their notebooks, laptops, or whatever tools they need to write on the spot. The objective is not only to produce new work but to create a sense of community in the class.
Called “the Latino poet of his generation,” MartÃn Espada was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1957. His seventh collection, Alabanza: New and Selected Poems (1982-2002) (Norton), received the Paterson Award for Sustained Literary Acheivement and was named an American Library Association Notable Book of the year. Imagine the Angels of Bread (Norton), won an American Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book
Critics Circle Award. Rebellion is the Circle of a Lover’s Hands (Curbstone), received the Paterson Poetry Prize and a PEN/Revson Fellowship. Other awards
include the Robert Creeley Award and two NEA Fellowships. Espada is a professor in the Department of English at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
Acentos provides a renewed spotlight for Latino poetry in a venue that fosters an encouraging atmosphere for writers of diverse backgrounds and experience, in a
setting that stimulates both open dialogue and an increased sense of community in the culturally resurgent South Bronx.
Acentos Bronx Poetry Showcase is held every 2nd & 4th Tuesday, 7:30pm at Blue Ox Bar (Corner of Third Ave & East 139 Street)
@ the Workshop- $175 general, $150 Members
To sign up for a class, call the Asian American Writers’ Workshop during office hours at 212-494-0061 or send an email to desk@aaww.org for more information.