Flow: Ecstatic, Sermonic, and Respiratory

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | In this craft talk with Megan Fernandes, we discuss the philosophies and techniques of "flow" in poetry through a variety of historical and critical contexts including Islamic mysticism, the Black Arts movement, contemporary hip hop, the New York School, and Pacific Islander poetry. Participants will discuss and experiment with prompts that focus on pace, breathwork, vocal delivery, voltas, syllabic accentuation, pause, enjambment, etc. In addition, we will discuss what are the political aspects of "flow" in our contemporary culture. Who has access to breath and who doesn't? How is our flow of consciousness shaped by our digital lives? What kind do certain obsessive patterns of thought tell us about how our own flow is constructed? What does it mean to "go with the flow" and maybe more importantly, what does it mean to move against it?

Megan Fernandes is a South Asian American writer born in Canada and living in New York City. Her three collections of poetry are I Do Everything I’m Told (Tin House, 2023); Good Boys (Tin House, 2020), a finalist for the Kundiman Poetry Prize and the Paterson Poetry Prize; and The Kingdom and After (Tightrope Books, 2015). Her family are East African Goans. Her work has appeared in American Poetry Review, The Common, Kenyon Review, The New Yorker, Ploughshares, and Poetry. She is Associate Professor of English and Writer-in-Residence at Lafayette College.