Young Adult Writers Program (YAWP): Zero to Slam Poet!

This class will be hosted remotely! You will be able to participate in class via Zoom videoconference from wherever you’re most comfortable. All you’ll need is a laptop or a phone! About 15 minutes before your class is scheduled to begin, you'll receive an email from your instructor with a link to join the class meeting via Zoom–no need to download anything or sign up for Zoom in advance! If you have questions about remote learning, please feel free to reach out to [email protected] for more information.

Class Description: Slam poetry has grown into a venue for people of all ages to share their stories, their struggles, their love, and their hope. Through the course of this session we will be diving into the tools that make slam poetry such a unique and accessible art form. In this workshop, you'll start with a blank sheet of paper and by the end, you'll be ready to perform a brand new, crafted, and edited poem. You don’t need any previous experience with poetry of any kind. Writers will start with prompts that will allow them to bring their unique experiences and emotions to their writing. We will then look at forms and poetic tools that can help give shape to the ideas they’ve gathered, step deeper into craft tools with a peer editing process that will focus on strengthening what they’ve already written, and finally play with some core performance techniques. We’ll be learning from the work of poets such as Danez Smith, Anis Mojgani, Marjan Naderi, Ebony Stewart, Richard Siken, Sarah Kaye, and Melissa Lozada-Oliva. We all have stories inside of us, sometimes we just need to figure out the best way to share them. 

Takeaways: By the end of the session, students will walk away with a brand new poem that they have edited and performed for the first time ever, along with resources to recreate the brainstorming, writing, and editing process for themselves in the future. 

Who Should Register?
For writers ages 13 - 18 ONLY. Writing notebooks are available, but feel free to bring your own.

Remember, parents/guardians must also complete this permission form online before the start of the class. Otherwise, registrations could be voided and the cancellation policy will apply. If the student is 18, simply let us know at [email protected]