“Poetry of Resiliency”

Participants will be guided in creating an interactive song with hand held percussion instruments. Linda Joy will share a poem or two while we make music and then more after we stop to talk about the relationship of intense and sometimes violent change to the cathartic nature of poetry bearing witness to that change.

Participants will read and discuss a few poems from handouts – using the work of Elizabeth Bishop, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, Naomi Shihab Nye, Martin Espada, and other poets who speak to the topics of resiliency. Writing session: Using a line from poems handed out, individuals will create a new poem to share with the group.

Linda Joy Burke’s poetry, fiction, op-ed columns, reviews, profiles and feature stories have appeared in numerous publications including: The Little Patuxent Review, Obsidian II Black Literature in Review, Beltway: An On-Line Quarterly, Passager, Healing Design; Practical Feng Shui For Gracious Living, Thy Mothers’ Glass Poems for Mothers and Daughters, Gargoyle 54, When Divas Laugh: The Diva Squad Poetry Collective, Maryland Voices–the 9/11 Project, Poetry for Peace; An Anthology of Maryland Poets on War, Peace & Social Justice, The Road Less Taken–The Saint Valentine Sunday Poetry Marathon 2001 CD, Maryland Institute College of Art, Word Up Baltimore CD.

Her work can be experienced on her blogs Moods Minds and Multitudes – www.lindajoyburke.com, The Bird Talks Blog Too – www.lindajoyburke2.blogspot.com, and I Grew Up to Be the Neighborhood Nosey Lady – http://birdpoet2.tumblr.com and her photo blog: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljoyburke/ or you can follow her on twitter @ljoybird.