TITLE: Coding Your Cosmos - A writing workshop

DATE: May, 08, 2024

TIME: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM EDT

LOCATION: Digital (Zoom)

LED BY SHERESE FRANCIS (@afutureancient)
Linktr.ee/sheresefrancis

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:
Taking inspiration from Canisia Lubrin's latest work, Code Noir, "what does it mean to speak as if the world you know is the world?" How do our languages code the spaces and environments in which we live and shape the conceptions of ourselves?

This is an experimental and speculative poetics writing workshop in which we will explore decoding and recoding our realities. In this workshop, participants will discuss and respond to the original and various current meanings of code and cosmos. Then, we will read, discuss and respond to prompts inspired by works from Canisia Lubrin, Harryette Mullen, Destiny Hemphill, Chaun Webster, Jessica Lanay, Sasha Banks, Chloë Bass, M. NourbeSe Philip, and Robin Wall Kimmerer, in order to think further about the relationship between communications, language, embodiment, social/cultural meaning and coding.

The purpose of this workshop is to become "pro-grammars," creating alternative functions and logics within our communication systems, immersed in verb-centered, movement-oriented, community-oriented, and intertextual, polyphonic meaning.

☆ REQUIREMENTS: Any writing instrument (pen, paper, laptop, etc.) ☆

ABOUT THE TEACHING ARTIST:
Sherese Francis (she/they) describes themselves as an AlkyMist of the I-Magination, finding expression through poetry, interdisciplinary arts (collage, book and paper arts, sound and performance art, text art), workshop facilitation, editing, and literary curation. Her(e) work takes inspiration from her(e) Afro-Caribbean heritage (Barbados and Dominica), and studies in Afrofuturism and Black Speculative Arts, mythology and etymology. Some of their work has been published in Furious Flower, Obsidian, Rootwork Journal, The Caribbean Writer, The Operating System, Cosmonauts Avenue, No Dear, Apex Magazine, Bone Bouquet, African Voices, Newtown Literary, and Free Verse. Additionally, Sherese has published four chapbooks, Lucy’s Bone Scrolls (Three Legged Elephant, 2017), Variations on Sett/ling Seed/ling (Harlequin Creature, 2018), Recycling a Why That Rules Over My Sacred Sight (DoubleCross Press, 2021) and Lady Liberty Smashing Stones (THRASH Press, 2022). Sherese has received grant awards from Queens Council on the Arts, NYFA and NYSCA ,and residencies from WorksonWater, LMCC, Akademie Schloss Solitude and SeaSalted Honey in Senegal. Besides publications, Sherese has had her(e) work featured in various exhibitions and showcases from NY Live Arts, Queens Public Library, York College Arts Gallery, King Manor Museum, WorksOnWater, Flushing Town Hall, Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, Jamaica Flux, Bliss On Bliss, Maleza Proyectos, The Rubenstein Art Center, Ely Center for Contemporary Art and The Loomis Chafee Mercy Gallery.


Our programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.


ABOUT POWRPLNT:
Founded in 2014, POWRPLNT works with emerging creators and activists to make space, create, and share knowledge with creative minds of all ages. We believe that access to technology is a right, not a privilege, and the digital divide is a social justice issue. Visit our website to learn more. https://www.powrplnt.org/mission-and-press

Do you share our vision? Click the link to support: https://www.powrplnt.org/support

SUPPORT OUR MISSION
Consider becoming a monthly member with a gift of $5 or more each month. You’ll stand with POWRPLNT throughout the challenging days ahead and make an even bigger impact for all our community.

If you work for an organization, please consider asking them to match your gift. If you have any questions about how to be involved with POWRPLNT, please contact hello@powrplnt.org