The Writer’s Workshop Series Presents: This Poem Is Not All That Feeds You: Writing Food in Community with Sarah A. Chavez. A potluck & workshop in one!
"Today is built on the past and tomorrow is evolving from both the past and the present. The future? Quien sabe? Hopefully, there will always be tacos”― Denise Chávez, A Taco Testimony: Meditations on Family, Food and Culture
Writers often speak of the ways in which words feed our souls, but that soul doesn't have corporeal shape without the body! And the body doesn't thrive without nourishment. This workshop is a joyful exploration of food writing (or writing about food) and the ways in which eating/prepping/baking/cooking/recipe learning/abstaining and writing go hand-in-hand.
Food traditions, whether passed down from ancestors, created a year ago with friends, or as personal ritual help us not only be on a path toward whatever our version of health and happiness is, but it also acts as a bridge to be in relationship. Together we will discuss a bit about the role food plays in our lives, then work through a few writing exercises that will guide us toward meditation on the myriad ways in which food connects us to community. While considering food in community with our words, we'll also be encouraged to break bread together in a potluck style sharing.
*We'll be at a collection of tables at Dune Peninsula Park - some seating is available but you are welcome to bring lawn chairs or blankets to gather nearby as well.
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED & SPACE IS LIMITED.
Bio: Sarah A. Chavez, a California mestiza living in the PNW, is the author of the poetry collections like everything else we loved, (Porkbelly Press), Halfbreed Helene Navigates the Whole (Ravenna Press Triple Series), Hands That Break & Scar (Sundress Publications), and All Day, Talking (dancing girl press). Recent writing projects have received a 2019-2020 Tacoma Artists Initiative Award, as well as residencies at Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, the Macondo Writers Workshop, and The Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow. Her new project, In the Face of Mourning was awarded a 2023 Scholarship & Research grant from the University of Washington Tacoma’s (UWT) School for Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. Chavez teaches creative writing and Latinx/Chicanx-focused courses and serves as the poetry coordinator for Best of the Net Anthology. Recent writing can be found in Diode, Thimble Magazine, Painted Bride Quarterly, Cider Press Review, & The Museum of Americana: A Literary Review.