In collaboration with The Watering Hole Poetry Organization, I will be hosting poetry workshops for teenagers entitled Poetry Battle Royale. These workshops will combine poetry, debate, and public speaking and will occur over the course of the 2023-2024 school year. Poets will have a culminating debate/performance at the Soda City Poetry Festival in June 2024.
The workshops are made possible through Richland Library, The Watering Hole Poetry Organization, One Columbia, the South Carolina Arts Commission, and the 2023 Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate Fellowship.
FAQS:
When will the workshops be?
Fall 2023 Semester dates are:
September 23 (I will need to attend a funeral this day and had to cancel.)
October 7, 2023
October 21, 2023
November 4, 2023
November 11, 2023
December 2, 2023
December 9, 2023
Spring 2024 dates will be released in October.
All workshops will be from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
*Poets do not have to attend all of the sessions to continue to participate.
Where will the workshops happen?
Richland Library Main, 1431 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29201
Who can participate in the workshops?
High school students in any Midlands area high school. Preference will be given to students in RSD1 & RSD2.
What will happen at the workshops?
Poets will be reading/viewing, writing, and performing slam poetry. Some videos and texts will be vetted by the teaching staff of the program. Debate lessons were developed by Ethos Debate and the poetry lessons are developed by me and the teaching staff. We will have guest speakers and experts in slam and performance to help guide the poets throughout the process.
Have additional questions not listed here? Please email me at poetlaureate@onecolumbiasc.com.