LOST IN TRANSLATION

Using Poetry to Find Cultural Representation

Workshop Overview

This workshop invites participants to construct a hybrid poem using foreign-language words and phrases, most of which do not translate to English because their meaning is contextually specific to a cultural temperament. This workshop is a hybrid poetic exercise with code-meshing: the act of combining local, vernacular, colloquial, world dialects of English as well as other languages on formal assignments and in everyday conversation, in an attempt to embrace the globalized and diverse world we live in.

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

Participate in an introductory group discussion in which they’ll be introduced to the concept of code-meshing and explore examples in music, literature, and poetry.
Discover new foreign-language words/phrases and their definitions.
Learn the hybrid poem using the provided foreign-language words/phrases as inspiration.basic components of hybrid poetics, experiment with creative writing and create their own

Read aloud poems to the group and share insight on the creative and cultural process.

"This topic is amazing - there is so much creative freedom. I hope to work with what I wrote at some point in the future. Brilliant! "

alex

"I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop and the meaning behind it. I loved being challenged with new language to to dive into that challenge creatively rather than be stirred away with apprehension."

Carrie

"This workshop is very well-researched and curated...It gives a lot of information to work with but still keeps it light and unstructured."

Drew

"The words were thought-provoking and made me want to write poetry. This is really beautiful and a meaningful workshop!"

Nia

"I have always loved language and vocabulary and feel like a workshop like yours is a brilliant way to be reminded of why expressive language is so incredibly important."

Zoë