Epistolary Poetry Workshop with Valerie Lawson

Eastport Arts Center will host a free Epistolary Poetry workshop with Valerie Lawson on Saturday, October 5, 1-3 pm. As part of the Write ME project, the workshop will explore the power of connection through the unique qualities of letter-writing—its intimacy, ritual, and physicality. Examples of epistolary poems and letter-writing in verse and prose will be shared. Attendees will enjoy writing exercises, reimagine a poem as a missive sent to a specific reader, and generate their own correspondence that bridges distance and brings presence to the absent.

The session is intended for participants age 15 and up. Writing materials, pens, markers and other tools, and stamps will be available, including such varied media as Edward Gorey notecards, Jane Austen postcards, and an assortment of papers. The session is free, but registration is required, via: https://www.mainewriters.org/calendar/write-me-lawson.

With support from the MWPA, the Maine Arts Commission, Eastport Arts Center, and many public libraries and organizations around Maine, and funding from the Academy of American Poets and the Mellon Foundation, Julia Bouwsma has created a Maine-wide epistolary poetry project that 1) introduces the form through a series of 20+ free public workshops across the state during the fall and early winter of 2024 and then 2) pairs up participating individuals as “poetry pen pals” to communicate with one another over a period of months. The project, set to run from through April 2025, will pair people in different parts of Maine to exchange letter poems. This project is open to anyone who lives in Maine (or is connected to the state) and is age 18 and up, with additional youth workshops happening through The Telling Room, the Monson Arts High School Program, and assorted Maine high school teachers. A celebration of the project will be offered in 2025.

Lawson is an English instructor for Washington County Adult & Community Education and has taught workshops in writing, performance, and the business of writing in Maine and Massachusetts. Her work has been published in Café Review, About Place Journal, The Catch, Maine Farms, and many others as well as performing spoken word poetry throughout New England and beyond.

Eastport Arts Center is at 36 Washington Street, Eastport, and is handicapped-accessible.