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Writing through the Body Workshop at PSU

Carmen Papalia, Art & Social Practice MFA candidate, offers a unique
undergraduate writing course through Chiron Studies at PSU!

The Writing through the Body Workshop offers an open workshop
environment where beginner / intermediate writers will develop a body
of creative work that is initiated by, and informed by, their bodies.
Each week students will be introduced to strategies for addressing
their bodies in their autobiographical poetry and prose, and will be
exposed to the work of contemporary authors who use the body as an
entry point for investegating topics such as gender, disability, and
cultural and sexual identity. Through their participation in class
discussion and group activities (including Skype conversations with
published authors) students will become well-positioned to begin
developing an informed body poetics. The class will culminate in an
off-campus public reading where students will share excerpts from
their final portfolios with an audience of family and friends.

Course Objectives:

Upon their completion of the Writing through the Body Workshop,
students will have learned that their bodies hold reference to stories
and verse that, if explored, may serve as the basis for necessary work
on topics ranging from identity politics to urban design. Weekly
workshops will teach students a number of editing skills, allowing
them to be productivly critical of their own work and the work of
others. A balance of theoretical readings and a diverse sample of body
writing by contemporary authors, the reading list wil introduce
students to a number of strategies for addressing their bodies in
their autobiographical poetry and prose—while laying the foundation
for a unique and informed body poetics. Students of the Writing
through the Body Workshop will grow professionally as writers through
their construction of a writing portfolio (that will be sent to a
publisher for consideration) and through their experience organizing
and participating in an off-campus public reading.

For more info about PSU’s Chiron Studies program visit:
http://www.pdx.edu/chiron/writing-through-body-0