The writer in current times: Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?
Gauguin is certainly not the only artist who has pondered these questions. Writers, philosophers, theologians and scientists have asked them throughout history. The answers – in each field, in each moment of time – are, by function, ephemeral.
Each of us must also ask those questions. Each of us must also create new questions; individually and collectively. What do the questions mean to you, the writer in current times? Do you have an obligation to question the present? Do you have an obligation to voice concerns?
Before we ponder external forces, we may need to explore and reflect on Gauguin’s existential questions from our internal viewpoints.
This workshop will use several exercises to help us create at least two poems or short prose pieces. We will start in our comfort zone and creatively stretch from there.
We will also discuss the role of the writer, and practice at least one of those roles through craft.
Miryam Bujanda hails from El Paso, Texas. She writes about life, love, conflict and redemption, and explores the relationship between physical spaces and memory along the US- Texas border, in Colonias and within families. Trauma and death appear frequently, but so do struggle and celebration. She is currently working on a poetry memoir.
She is a Macondo member and has presented her work in the NYC Latino Artists Round Table (LART), La Hora de Café in Boston, Miyoshi Jingu Poetry, and 100K Poets for Social Change.