Public Poetry: The Poet in an Evolving Society

Instructor: Thomas Kneeland
Date: Monday, June 14, 2021
Time: 6:30 pm-8:30 pm
Location: Zoom
Cost: $50.00 nonmembers; $32.00 members; $28.00 student, teacher, senior, military, and librarian members
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When we think of public poetry, it’s fair to think about poetic murals, storefront pieces, or even poems in your local airport. However, there is another side of public poetry that addresses current events in our time or alludes to events from the past to make for a better future. When I wrote my third collection of poetry entitled, Stop F*cking Killing Us!, I wanted to directly address the injustices pinned on people of color in America, to pay homage to those who have gone on before us––Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Dreasjon Reed, to name a few. Public poetry, in this case, involved an address to the sociopolitical issues in the current state of our country. In this workshop, you can expect to write as freely as you please in pursuit of a better environment, economy, justice system, and world for all to exist and thrive.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Thomas Kneeland is a poet, author, copywriter, Editor-in-Chief of The Elevation Review and Founder of The Kneeland Center for Poetry, Inc. He strongly believes in promoting the voices of underrepresented writers across the globe and has inspired more than 20,000 lives with his own poetry collections and work within the nonprofit.