Ransom Note Poetry

(Clockwise from top left): A finished ransom note poem, lists of favourite-sounding words, and workshop participants working on a birds'-eye view poem from the roof of the Artspace Building.

* * *

So I just finished teaching my part of the MWG's Construction Zone summer school for teenagers, where the final goal is to have a zine full of text + images printed by the Manitoba Association of Printmakers.

I was responsible for the writing portion of the workshop. We talked about the elements of poetry and read poems by local writers —"This poet is from The Pas." "Really?"— but mostly, for a day and a half, we wrote like stink...

It was good, as always, to talk about poetry, to suggest ways into writing that participants might not have mapped yet for themselves.

And I got to go up on the roof of the Artspace Building for one of our exercizes, where I'd never been before. I spent most of my time up there pointing out all the ghost signs and acrobatic graffiti on adjoining buildings...

My thanks to Construction Zone participants and to the MWG for having me. Fun!