Erasure Poetry Workshop with Arriel Vinson

In this workshop, we will learn how to use poetry as a means of activism. This workshop will teach writers how to create erasure poetry and how to confront historical/political texts using different erasure methods. We will read contemporary poets, who have used erasure to transform a text or create a new message from a work that is oppressive. We will ask: what is being said? How is it being said? How is it oppressive to different races, genders, backgrounds? How did the poet create something new?

We will discuss the different methods of erasure — such as whiting out, blacking out, highlighting — and then create our own erasures, with participants choosing from a variety of provided texts. Once we have created our erasures, we will workshop each piece amongst the group to figure out further ways to resist.

This workshop is perfect for seasoned poets, new poets, and readers of poetry.

About the instructor:

Arriel Vinson is a Reese's Book Club LitUp Fellow and Midwesterner who writes about being young, Black, and in search of freedom. She earned her MFA in Fiction from Sarah Lawrence College. Her poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in Kweli Journal, Catapult, The Rumpus, Waxwing, and others. Arriel is a Tin House YA Scholar, Highlights Foundation scholarship recipient, and 2020 Walter Grant recipient. Under the Neon Lights, a YA novel-in-verse, is her debut. You can connect with her on social media at @arriwrites and find her work at arriwrites.com.

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