Word by Word Presents:
Workshop IV: Re-rooting through Poetry
with Belinda Zhawi
Sunday 12th September, Delina Kitchen
13:00 - 15:00
In the fourth workshop of the Word by Word Presents series, join Belinda Zhawi for a workshop reflecting on poetry as a way for us to tune in, reconnect with our surroundings and listen a little deeper.
This past year has forced many of us into spaces of listening to ourselves and those around us more than before. There are numerous ways to listen when we engage with our surroundings and poems. We create a space for listening when we read and hear poems; they have the ability to hold us still in a moment and really consider what just happened. This is also true for how our relationship with this cosmos can be.
In this workshop there will be an opportunity to deliberately engage with meditative listening - to soundscape, music and other audio to stimulate ideas for first drafts. We will look at poems that use rhythm, speech, and sound to explore the nature around and within us. Poets will include Sonia Sanchez, Yusef Komunyakaa, Thylias Moss and more.
Participants will be given prompts created to allow creativity through guided flow as opposed to strict constraint. Although participants will be free to explore themes of their choice, the workshop will provide structure for this exploration.
This workshop is for aspiring writers and those who would like to write something they feel passionate about, but have never had the chance to start. No prior experience necessary– Black, people of colour and LGBTQ+ are particularly welcome to join.
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Covid Health & Safety Measures
When attending the workshop, all participants must wear face coverings unless exempt for health reasons. Hand sanitizer will be available. Further details will be sent out following registration.
Belinda Zhawi was born in Zimbabwe and moved to London aged 12. She studied at Westminster and Goldsmiths and went on to be a 2015/16 London Laureate and the 2016/17 Institute of Contemporary Arts Associate Poet. She’s the co-founder of community and performance platform BORN::FREE, which has been going strong for over five years, and this year she’s the Serpentine Gallery Schools Artist-in-Residence. In addition, Zhawi recently published the poetry pamphlet Small Inheritances (Ignitionpress, 2018) and is currently exploring new avenues in London’s jazz and beatmaking scene.
Her work examines, among other things, the impact of colonialism across Africa, her memories and ideas of Zimbabwe, the immigrant experience in Britain and the power of the Shona woman to be present and to make space for others to be represented, too.