Writing the Cartography of the Self: A 4-Week Poetry Intensive Online

Writing the Cartography of the Self:
A 4-Week Poetry Intensive Online

What does it mean for a poet to be cartographer of the self? To write about its multitudes when the body is constantly in motion? We show different sides of ourselves to different people—partners, lovers, siblings, workers, etc.

The class will explore different ways to document these roles, combine craft and heart, and challenge poets to move through memory, sense, and voice. Participants will look at the work of Lucille Clifton, Ross Gay, Tina Chang, Brenda Shaughnessy, Vievee Francis, Ocean Vuong, and others who interrogate identity in various ways.

We will use confessional, profile, praise, and direct address to explore the way “self” emerges on the page. We will workshop, build community, and create a suite of portraits.

Cynthia Manick is the author of Blue Hallelujahs (Black Lawrence Press, 2016) and editor of Soul Sister Revue: A Poetry Compilation (Jamii Publishing, 2019). She has received fellowships from Cave Canem, Hedgebrook, MacDowell Colony, and Château de la Napoule among others. Winner of the Lascaux Prize in Collected Poetry, Manick was also awarded Honorable Mention for the 2019 Furious Flower Poetry Prize. She is founder of the reading series Soul Sister Revue; and her poem "Things I Carry Into the World" was made into a film by Motionpoems, a organization dedicated to video poetry, and has debuted on Tidal for National Poetry Month. A performer at literary festivals, libraries, universities, and most recently the Brooklyn Museum, Manick’s work has appeared in the Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day Series, Callaloo, Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB), The Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere. She currently serves on the editorial board of Alice James Books and resides in Brooklyn, New York. Read her latest interview here.