Join us at this month's Free Verse a PSNY initiative designed specifically by & for BIPOC creatives, with Isabel Cruz!

[SPEAKING IN NON-ENGLISH]: Bilinguality in Poetry and the Exploration of the Inside/Outside Audience:

Borrowing its name from the CBS Grammys captioning debacle during Bad Bunny’s performance, [SPEAKING IN NON-ENGLISH] will explore the usage of bilinguality—particularly by writers in the diaspora with varying degrees of fluency—and will encourage bilinguality as a rhetorical device to expose the emotional core of a poem.

This workshop will focus around conversations of decentering the primarily white, anglophone, reader that is assumed to be universal. While rejecting the premise of the universal reader, the workshop will act as a practice in illegibility through which the writer can become increasingly comfortable with the prospect of varying degrees of opacity in their work.

About the instructor: Isabel Cruz has earned a B.A in American Studies and English Creative Writing from Smith College. Hailing from the Silk City, this diasporican writer's work focuses heavily on her upbringing in Paterson, New Jersey and her Puerto Rican identity. She was awarded the 2023 Eleanor Cederstrom Prize for the best poem written in traditional verse and has been published in Young Writer’s USA Anthology as well as The Poetry Society of New York’s Milk Press Books 2023 Summer Edition. She has been a featured poet in venues such as The New York Poetry Festival, The Newark Arts Festival, and is the 2023 Youth Poetry Ambassador for the Paterson Poetry Festival. Her freshman chapbook Sugarcane Summer is awaiting publication.

This workshop is taught by and for Black, Indigenous, and other Persons of Color with an interest in poetry. We invite folks to connect in this safe, generative, BIPOC-centered space: to share work, experiences, and discourse. At the end of every workshop, we welcome the sharing of resources, such as literature, community events, and grants available for application. Respectfully and consensually connecting with other members outside of the space is encouraged. If you are not BIPOC-identifying, we kindly invite you to attend other PSNY events. While topics do not necessarily center around being BIPOC, this community space is designed specifically for the BIPOC experience. Attendees of our Monthly Free Workshops for BIPOC Creatives receive a 50% off discount code for our Weekly Virtual Workshops!