“Memory: The Present Past” Virtual Poetry Workshop with Simóne Banks

Spend your lunch hour honing a new skill! The Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow (WCDH) is proud to present a virtual lunch and learn poetry workshop, “Memory: The Present Past,” instructed by Simóne J. Banks. All proceeds from this workshop will benefit the WCDH scholarship fund. Established in December 2019, the fund directly assists emerging writers by providing financial support so that they may benefit from a writing residency. Scholarships are awarded on an as-needed basis depending on availability.

Memory is where we store, archive, and recollect. Learn how poetry can be a vehicle for the retelling of the memories we may have forgotten and those we still live with. How we understand the past is constantly shifting. As Sandra Cisneros once asked a room full of potential writers, “What do you know that you wish you could forget?” In this workshop, we will explore those stories. There is no experience necessary, just an open and willing heart to unfold the past. Students can expect writing prompts, sharing, and group exercises.

The “Memory: The Present Past” virtual workshop will be held on Zoom on Friday, March 26 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm CST. The Zoom link will be provided upon registration. The cost of the workshop is $25. This is sure to be a fun, creative, informative, and inspiring class.  No previous writing experience is required, only a desire to learn a new way to express oneself. Class size is limited to ten participants, so register early.

Simóne J. Banks graduated from Temple University with a BA in Journalism. She is currently a third-year MFA Creative Writing student at Louisiana State University where she teaches short story writing and English composition. Hailing from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Banks will be in residence at WCDH working on her first book of poetry. Her writing focuses on ancestral threads of trauma, womanhood, family, and love. This is her first time as a writer-in-residence at a writers’ colony.