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Welcome to Sanctuary Poets

 

WELCOME TO SANCTUARY POETS

    Sanctuary Poets is a civic project that creates a safe place, a sanctuary, for individuals of various skill, comfort and knowledge levels to form a writing community. It is inspired by June Jordan’s “Poetry for the People." For six-weeks, individuals will participate in a weekly poetry seminar. Sanctuary Poets seeks to model the inclusive nature of a sanctuary - meaning people of various backgrounds will gather in a central place. The same group of poets will be in each seminar, so they can form a sense of community. All will be welcomed; only curiosity is needed.

    The program will be facilitated by Chasity Gunn, Elgin's Poet Laureate. It is a part of the Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate fellowships held across the nation. 

How the seminars will work

    Each seminar of Sanctuary Poets will run for six weeks and be three hours each week. In the first hour, the poets will discuss the assigned reading. In the second hour, the poets will workshop their poems. And in the third hour, the poets will write. Books and supplies will be provided. 

Here are the dates for the seminars:

Session 1 
Tuesdays 6-9p                     Sept. 14-28 and Oct. 5-19
Saturdays 9:30a-12:30p      Sept. 11-25 and Oct. 2-16


Session 2
Tuesdays 6-9p                     Nov. 2-30 and Dec. 7
Saturdays 9:30a-12:30p      Oct. 30 and Nov. 6-20 and Dec. 4-11

Participants should be able to attend 80% of the sessions. 

Available Resources

All sessions will provide free childcare. Transportation assistance (e.g., public transportation passes) will be available for those who need it.  If a participant has a special need or a disability (e.g., hearing impaired, blind), efforts will be made to provide accommodations.


After the writing seminars are held, the following activities will be held


1. A reading featuring the Sanctuary Poets. 

The seminar will culminate with the participants doing a public reading of their poems. The reading will be free and open to the public. 

2. A public display of the poems and artwork. 

Ten local visual artists will be commissioned to create art inspired by the poems. The poems will be publicly displayed alongside the visual art. Attendees will view the art before or after the reading. The display will remain after the reading. It will be free and open to the public. 

3.  An audiobook of the poets reading their work.

Sanctuary Poets will record their poems from the reading. The recordings will create a free audiobook that will be distributed on ACX and YouTube. 

4. Create a chapbook of the poets’ work. 

Sanctuary Poets will publish the poems in the audiobook as a chapbook. Any of the visual art from the reading that can be shared in print will be included in the chapbook. 


How to join

Complete an application by June 30. 


Questions

Send us an email at sanctuarypoets@gmail.com or call us at 331-308-0307

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