Presented by R.B. Simon and Lisa Marie Brodsky

This workshop will focus on the premise that drawing from your own life makes for potent storytelling. When writing their unflinching truths, poets are often assumed to be "confessional poets”, yet we believe that drawing on specific, personal observations and experiences lends itself to crafting more universally human and powerful poetry. In our session, we'll discuss how to turn one’s own subjective truths into a specific, yet relatable narrative by becoming conscientiously vulnerable. We'll discuss what details to share, how to craft the "world of the poem", and how to practice self-care when diving deep into sensitive topics.

R.B. Simon is a queer, black author of two poetry collections, a chapbook, The Good Truth, (Finishing Line Press ©2021) and Not Just the Fire (Cornerstone Press ©2023). She has been published in multiple national and international journals, was shortlisted for the 2022 Julia Darling Memorial Prize in Poetry, and won 3rd Place in the WI Fellowship of Poets 2022 Chapbook contest.

Lisa Marie Brodsky is the author of the poetry collections We Nod Our Dark Heads and Motherlung (winner of the 2014 Outstanding Poetry Award by the WI Library Association). Lisa Marie is the creator of multiple initiatives which support writers seeking to integrate challenging lived experiences with creative arts and is currently training to become a Poetry Therapy Practitioner. Lisa Marie has been publishing in journals and performing poetry around the South-central WI area for over 20 years.