The Alter-Ego Persona Poem: A Workshop with Sally Wen Mao
Batman and Bruce Wayne. Drake and Aubrey Graham. Walt Whitman and Walt Whitman. The alter-ego might be that person that exists in us, with superhuman strength, star power, and bravery. Or it could be our shadow selves, a different, darker entity within us. In this workshop we will examine the use of alter-egos and persona in poetry, and explore what it means to access that alter-ego through poetry. We will cross-examine the use of the "I" speaker in poems, attempt to craft our own poems based on our alter-egos, and expand our understanding of Persona poems.
This workshop is led by Pushcart Prize winning poet Sally Wen Mao.
All readings and materials will be provided to registered participants by the Library.
Sally Wen Mao is the author of Oculus, out now from Graywolf Press. Her first book, Mad Honey Symposium, was the winner of the 2012 Kinereth Gensler Award, a Poets & Writers Top Ten Debut of 2014, and a Publishers Weekly Top Ten Anticipated Pick of Fall 2014. Her work has won a 2017 Pushcart Prize and a 2016 Amy Award from Poets & Writers. Her poems are anthologized in The Best of the Net 2014 and The Best American Poetry 2013. Recent poems are published or forthcoming in A Public Space, Poetry, Black Warrior Review, Guernica, The Missouri Review, and Tin House, among other journals.
Batman and Bruce Wayne. Drake and Aubrey Graham. Walt Whitman and Walt Whitman. The alter-ego might be that person that exists in us, with superhuman strength, star power, and bravery. Or it could be our shadow selves, a different, darker entity within us. In this workshop we will examine the use of alter-egos and persona in poetry, and explore what it means to access that alter-ego through poetry. We will cross-examine the use of the "I" speaker in poems, attempt to craft our own poems based on our alter-egos, and expand our understanding of Persona poems.
This workshop is led by Pushcart Prize winning poet Sally Wen Mao.
All readings and materials will be provided to registered participants by the Library.
Brooklyn Public Library - Central Library, Trustees Room MM/DD/YYYY 60