Craft & Release: a six week poetry, publication, and performance workshop

Expectations of Participants:

• Anyone 18 years of age or older is eligible to apply
• Access to a Google account and Zoom
• Submit three (3) unpublished poems at least two weeks prior to the start of the workshop to perspectivemattersny@gmail.com

$30/ per week for three weeks. REGSITRATION IS CLOSED

In this workshop with poet, editor and educator Sydney Valerio, participants will craft a portfolio of six poems they want to release into the world. Writers will enter the workshop with three unpublished poems and create three additional poems in the workshop.  All will receive individualized feedback and critique. Writers can expect sessions that include exercises, prompts, and activities that focus on generating the three new poems. Sessions will include a discussion of craft and the editing process of poetry. Writers will also prepare for the performance/reading of their work.  They will learn to revise with an editor’s eye, gain insight into how to craft poems suited for publication and write a bio to accompany their submissions. Writers will leave this workshop with a portfolio of six polished poems intended for submissions to literary magazines/journals, and will receive personalized recommendations for publication and professional development.

Who should sign up for this workshop:

• Writers who are looking to polish their poetry with help from a published poet
• Poets who have already written three poems (maximum length 25-30 lines) and are looking towards publication
• Poets who want to develop their stage presence while performing/reading their poetry
• Poets who want to be in community with other poets who strive to craft and release.

Email Sydney at this email should you have any questions:  perspectivemattersny@gmail.com

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Facilitator's Bio

Sydney Valerio is a creative non-fiction mixed-genre writer and performer. Sydney daylights as an educator & moonlights as a creative.  In 2016 she wrote and performed “Matters” a one-woman show at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Her poetry is in several anthologies and literary magazines including The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: Latinext, Harvard’s Palabritas, Acentos Review, and Mujeres: the Magic, the Movement, and the Muse. She edited two books:  Roxana Calderon’s La Casa de las Maletas and Lorraine Avila’s Malcriada & Other Stories. She is a teaching artist for Lit to Life. She is the project manager for the CCNY MFA Archives as Muse: a Harlem Storytelling project. She is the creator of the digital archive project:  Perspective Matters-NYC Kid Who's Now a NYC Adult. A 2019 BRIO Award-winning poet & a 2020 VOLCANISTA, she is currently working on her first book as a recent graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at The City College of New York.