WORKSHOP: Erasure Poetry with Sue Sinclair

October 15, 2022

Erasure poetry (sometimes known as “blackout poetry”) is made by either masking or literally subtracting words from a preexisting text; what’s left is the poem, a kind of palimpsest. Poets create erasures for all kinds of reasons: to challenge a text, to honour it, to uncover its hidden voices, or for the sheer joy of messing around with language. In this workshop, participants will explore some ingenious works of erasure and will try their own hands at unearthing poetry from within already written pages.

Materials will be provided, but if participants have a text they’re interested in erasing or particular tools they want to use, they’re encouraged to bring these with them!

To learn more about erasure poetry beforehand—though this isn’t necessary—feel free to explore works like Place of Scraps by Jordan Abel, Zong! by M NorbeSe Philip, Notebook M by Gillian Savigny, Voyager by Srikanth Reddy, or The Mansion or Marie, both by Mary Ruefle and uploaded to her website: http://www.maryruefle.com/menu.html.

Bio: Sue Sinclair grew up on the ancestral homelands of the Beothuk in Newfoundland and is currently living on Wəlastəkwiyik Territory, where she teaches creative writing at the University of New Brunswick. She is the author of five previous collections of poetry, all nominated for or winners of national or regional awards. Sinclair edits poetry for Brick Books and is also editor of the Fiddlehead.

Registration required.

Date and time: Sat, October 15, 2022, 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM NDT

Location: Marble Mountain Resort, 2 Marble Drive, Steady Brook, NL

REGISTER HERE!

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