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Cynthia Atkins is depicted in the photo above. She is a white woman with long dark hair and brown eyes. She is wearing a black lace shirt with a long pendant and has her face resting on her left hand while she smiles. The background is black.
Class Info
SYNCHING POP CULTURE WITHIN OUR NARRATIVES: SEARCHING FOR ART IN A POP CULTURE WORLD: Alchemy Writing Workshop
“Sometimes the little times you don’t think are anything while they’re happening turn out to be what marks a whole period of your life.” — Andy Warhol
“We are not just Art for Michelangelo to carve, he can’t rewrite the agro of my furied heart— Lady Gaga
Our Pop Culture is determined by the everyday signs we give each other—the music we listen to, clothes and fashions we wear, the slang we use, greeting rituals, gifts we buy. Pop Culture are those ubiquitous icons that follow us in our lives. Pop Culture can be both a blessing and a curse to the finer Art forms, as it can be full of schlock and cheap thrills. But when used selectively as a tool in writing, pop culture can be a playful and aesthetic device to deploy that narrative arc in the work. Because these iconic things in our world are metaphors and symbols for the complexity and dimension of any story or human situation. These iconic talismans can mark history, personal and otherwise, tell us where we were and what time period, and what political climate? —all cues and important references the writer plants seeds for the reader. We all bring a context, and Pop Culture allows us to make associations, and useful ‘mind tags’ Blurring the lines of Art and artifice, we will aim for the finer craft and aesthetics.
Objectives: This generative class will focus on the subject matter, style, voice, as well as learning about imagery, tone, and rhythm. We will begin with journal writing and then move to craft, hone, and shape. Discussion will be amplified by other writers’ work for inspiration and example. The workshop format will engage students in a relaxed examination of each peer’s work—The aim is also to become better writers, as well as, better readers, as we practice the elements of craft. *We will mine these icons for their potent potential. Students will hone and craft, gearing towards polished pieces, and gear towards publication. Journal writing will be a catalyst. Experimentation with different forms, schools, genres as well as the inspiration of other artists to get to the zone of the unknown, and use this as just a jumping-off point.
“The grass may look greener on the other side, but it’s just as hard to cut.”—Little Richard
What To Bring
This workshop will take place on the online platform Zoom. Be sure to have something to write/type on/with. Please message for accommodations.
Schedule
Date/Time:
Zoom meeting date will be the following:
Tuesday, July 19th from 7 pm to 9 pm EST
Cost
The cost of this workshop is $88.00 with one scholarship slot open. To inquire about a scholarship, please email alchemyauthorservices@gmail.com.
About The Instructor
Cynthia Atkins (She/Hers) is the author of Psyche’s Weathers, In The Event of Full Disclosure (CW Books), and Still-Life With God (Saint Julian Press 2020), and a chapbook forthcoming from Harbor Editions, 2022. Her work has appeared in many journals, including Alaska Quarterly Review, Anti-Heroin Chic, BOMB, Cider Press Review, Diode, Green Mountains Review, Indianapolis Review, Rust + Moth, North American Review, Permafrost, SWWIM, Thrush, Tinderbox, and Verse Daily. Formerly, Atkins worked as the assistant director for the Poetry Society of America, and has taught English and Creative Writing, most recently at Blue Ridge Community College. She is an Interviews Editor for American Microreviews and Interviews. She earned her MFA from Columbia University and has earned fellowships and prizes from Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The Writer’s Voice, and Writers@Work. Atkins lives on the Maury River of Rockbridge County, Virginia, with artist Phillip Welch and their family.
Find her online at cynthiaatkins.com
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