Poets@Play is a monthly writing workshop in partnership with Poetry Center San José.
Edwin Markham House @ History Park, 635 Phelan Avenue, San José, CA, 95112
Poetry Center San José presents Poets@Play with facilitator Deborah Kennedy!
Come create a broadside poem, for what we call a poster today, featuring your poems! Broadsides are sheets of paper printed on one side with text and artwork and have been used to share information publicly, since the invention of the printing press to the posters of today. Early on, they featured art, ballads, and announcements, not unlike today’s social media sites. We will create short poems using Deborah's well-honed techniques to create compelling work. Then, if the writers wish to participate, your poetry will be combined with art by other people in San José to create broadsides. These will be printed and distributed by Deborah Kennedy, Creative Ambassador for the City of San José. The Broadside Art and Poetry Project will give voice to the creativity in our community in a fun and playful environment.
Facilitators biographical info below.
We will do our best to establish a safe space free of hate speech but also stay open to people's fears and real dialogue if it is needed.
Admission is FREE.
Free parking near entrance gate and in the lot at the end of Phelan Avenue.
Please enter History Park from the Phelan Avenue side. Questions? Call 408-368-0353
RSVP recommended but not required: programming@pcsj.org
Meet Deborah!
An author and artist, Deborah Kennedy’s work focuses on the challenging relationship between ourselves and the larger natural world. Her book, Nature Speaks: Art and Poetry for the Earth (White Cloud Press, 2016), features her ink illustrations and eco-poetry. Her book is a recipient of the national Silver Nautilus and the 2017 Eric Hoffer Poetry Book awards. Deborah's poetry has been featured in The Midwest Quarterly: A Journal of Contemporary Thought, Caesura, Canary: A Literary Journal of the Environmental Crisis, great weather for MEDIA, and Leaping Clear among others. Currently she is a Creative Ambassador for the City of San José and is bringing the excitement of creative expression to the lives and public spaces of Santa Clara County residents through her innovative Broadside Art and Poetry Project.
The Creative Ambassadorship is a program of the City of San José Office of Cultural Affairs. It is supported by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Poetry Center San José's mission is to nurture and promote diverse literary expression in our community as a means of exploring, defining, and enriching the human experience.
For those under 18 years of age who may be attending, we recommend that a parent/legal guardian be with you during the program.
Learn more about History Park through History San Jose.
Poetry Center San José is a member supported organization and is funded, in part, by grants from Applied Materials Foundation, the City of San José's Office of Cultural Affairs, Literary Arts Emergency Fund, supported by the Mellon Foundation (@MellonFdn), Knight Foundation, Poets & Writers, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, SVCREATES, in partnership with the County of Santa Clara and the California Arts Council and also supported in part by a SVCreates National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan grant. We also thank Brandenburg Family Foundation and Anne & Mark's Art Party for their generous giving.