Workshop: Poetry of Motion

In this creative writing workshop, we will focus on motion. When we consider a single motion that we do in our everyday life, a simple act like nodding or skipping, how do we describe it? When we use language to capture it, that language opens up a world of comparisons. What else would we use this word to describe? Where else do we see this motion? What do we learn about ourselves when we consider that leaves nod in the wind or that a record can skip? The workshop will begin by reading and analyzing a poem as a group. We will closely examine how the poet creates different images around a single motion, what these images reveal about one another, and how they affect the reader. After this, we’ll write our own poems, paying similar attention to the various ways a motion can be expressed. No prior experience reading or writing poetry is required!

About the facilitators:
Luchik Belau-Lorberg is an editorial assistant at The Common and a student at Amherst College. An English-Russian bilingual, Luchik appreciates the textures of language and has, since his arrival at Amherst, written many things. A Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought major, Luchik is somewhat interested in poetry and other dense texts. Outside the stacks, Luchik can be found singing bass in the Amherst College Zumbyes, cycling, or sleeping. He also has hair now.
Ben Tamburri is an editorial assistant at The Common and a junior English major at Amherst College. While he primarily studies literature, enjoying any novel with a duel or party scene, Ben also writes his own fiction and poetry, usually about birds or children or plants. When he isn’t trying to map the events of a classic novel onto his own life, you can find him stomping around outside, DJing a WAMH radio show, or working on a puzzle.

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Host or Publisher Massachusetts Center for the Book