Workshop: "Self, Address Yourself" + Optional Participant Open Mic

Followed by a reading with I.S. Jones and Madison Mae Parker

Over the course of our time together in this workshop, we’ll look at poems (by Ocean Vuong, Bernadette Mayer, Agha Shahid Ali, and Wanda Coleman, among others) that address the author, sometimes directly—by name. Because it’s true that often the loudest voices in our heads are not even ours, we’ll attempt to rid ourselves of lies we might have believed about ourselves and perhaps arrive, individually, at an answer to this question: What true thing might you say to yourself now that you’re the only one in the room? We’ll draw additional inspiration from questions posed by Bhanu Kapil and Audre Lorde.

BIOS:

Ayokunle Falomo is Nigerian, American, and the author of Autobiomythography of (Alice James Books, 2024), AFRICANAMERICAN’T (FlowerSong Press, 2022), a recipient of fellowships from Vermont Studio Center, MacDowell, and the University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program.

I.S. Jones is an American / Nigerian poet, editor, essayist, and former music journalist. Jones co-edited The Young African Poets Anthology: The Fire That Is Dreamed Of (Agbowó, 2020) and has freelanced for Complex, Revolt TV, NBC News THINK, and elsewhere.

Madison Mae Parker (she/her) is an artist, a performer, and a space-maker. Holding a BA from Texas A&M University in English Creative Writing, she owes her loud vocals and rambunctious laughter to her Texas roots. As a relational performer, she does not separate the audience from the performance, rather seeking to bridge the divide by integrating movement, text, and visual art.