Words Are Things: Using Poetry as an Extension to Your Curriculum

In this eighty-minute workshop, participants will explore several diverse methodologies that revolve around the practice of spoken word and performance poetics through the optics of the Nuyorican poetry school which is responsible for writers like Miguel Algarín, Victor Hernández Cruz, Nancy Mercado, Willie Perdomo, and Elisabet Velasquez. The Nuyorican school is well documented in Latinx literature, it’s primary focus being on the theatricalization of poetics. In this workshop, we’ll be using poetry and theatre as our entry point into different literary-based exercises that focus on creative critical thinking while increasing student engagement. This workshop will also equip educators with different books and online resources that could be explored and used as cross-curricular resources.

Facilitator:
Dimitri Reyes is a Boricua multidisciplinary artist, content creator, and educator from Newark, New Jersey. Dimitri’s most recent book, Papi Pichón (Get Fresh Books, 2023) was a finalist for the Omnidawn chapbook contest and the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize. His other books include Every First and Fifteenth, the winner of the Digging Press 2020 Chapbook Award, and the poetry journal Shadow Work for Poets, now available on Amazon. Dimitri’s work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net and you can find more of his writing in Poem-a-Day, Vinyl, Kweli, & Acentos.  In 2023, he was a part of the inaugural poetry cohort for the Poets & Writers Get The Word Out publishing incubator. Dimitri is also the Marketing & Communications Director at CavanKerry Press. Learn more about Dimitri by visiting his website at https://www.dimitrireyespoet.com