15 spots left
Poetry as Self Care
$275.00
15 spots left
For this adult writing course, a 25% discount on tuition fees is available for BIPOC & LGBTQIA+ writers. Email Emily (emily@austinbatcave.org) for more info. In addition, scholarships are available to those demonstrating financial need.
“It’s a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world.” – Mary Oliver
Poetry has the power to hold multiple feelings and meanings, to balance hope, beauty, and pain. It is as complex and full of possibility as we are. It can be a place to confront ourselves and illuminate our resilient nature. Ada Limón, on the topic of ‘radical hope,’ said, “Poetry is a place where both grief and grace can live, where rage can be explored and examined, not simply exploited.”
The pandemic has created turmoil, isolation, and inevitable change, but we can come together to find purpose—maybe even healing—through engaging in writing exercises and transforming the abstract and weighty into concrete images. Through metaphor, we can use language to bring our experiences into the light of day. We ground ourselves by focusing on grounded writing. We also write for the joy of the process. With poetry, we can create something new: a multifaceted expression of self.
In this 6-week class for all levels, we will nurture a positive and playful writing practice to apply regularly in our lives as self care. We will read poetry that serves various purposes in our self-care intention: poetry that is meditative, that connects with nature, that transforms, and that holds space for pain, joy, sorrow, as well as action. In this class, we will learn strategies for developing raw writing into crafted poetic form, but it will also leave plenty of space for messiness, imperfection, and drafts that may have served their purpose just by getting on paper. While poetry doesn’t hold easy answers (if answers at all), it can hold solace.
This Austin Bat Cave writing class is limited to 15 students and open to writers of all levels.
About the Instructor
Susan Niz
Susan Niz’s first poetry chapbook is Beyond this Amniotic Dream (Beard Poetry, Minneapolis, 2016). Her second chapbook is Left-Handed Like a Lightning Whelk (Finishing Line Press, November 2019). Her chapbook Limestone in the Belly was a semi-finalist in the 2020 CutBank Chapbook Contest. Her short work has appeared in Wanderlust Journal, The Write Launch, Ponder Review, Chaleur Magazine, Typishly, Tipton Poetry Journal, Carnival Literary Magazine, Crack the Spine, Blue Bonnet Review, Two Words For, Belleville Park Pages, Ginosko, Cezanne’s Carrot, Flashquake, Opium Magazine, and Summerset Review. She has been featured in live poetry shows in Minneapolis and Austin. Susan writes across genres. Her novel Kara, Lost (North Star Press, 2011) was a finalist for a Midwest Book Award (MIPA) for Literary Fiction. Susan has a Master’s Degree in Education. She lives in the Austin, Texas area with her family.
