Creative writing is a tool for knowing yourself, understanding the world, and connecting with other people. Led by author Seema Reza and accomplished guest writers—including poets, memoirists, novelists, and storytellers—these generative community workshops follow the model developed by Community Building Art Works (CBAW) over the course of a decade of bringing people together in military and hospital settings. Each workshop is designed to help participants put their personal stories on paper in a supportive environment.

Whether you’re just starting out or have been writing for years, you are welcome; no experience is required. Bring a pen, a notebook, and an open mind!

Where Does Your Grief Sit? with poet & author, Maya Williams

About This Workshop
It is difficult to talk about grief, and it can even be more difficult to write through grief. In this workshop, we’ll read Simonides’ poetry for epitaphs in Ancient Greece, Anis Mojgani’s poems that are in response to a person who is no longer living and in response to a person who is still living, and Kaveh Akbar’s poem about the repetition and images of grief. We’ll explore how grief is related to our mental health, and how poems might be written and revised during hard times.

Maya Williams (ey/they/she) is a religious Black multiracial nonbinary suicide survivor who was selected as Portland, ME’s seventh poet laureate for a July 2021 to July 2024 term. Maya received a MFA in Creative Writing with a Focus in Poetry from Randolph College in June 2022. Eir debut poetry collection Judas & Suicide (Game Over Books, 2023) was selected as a finalist for a New England Book Award. Their second poetry collection, Refused a Second Date (Harbor Editions, 2023), was selected as a finalist for a Maine Literary Award. Their third poetry collection, What’s So Wrong with a Pity Party Anyway?, was selected as one of four winners of Garden Party Collective’s chapbook prize in 2024. Maya was one of three artists of color selected to represent Maine in The Kennedy Center’s Arts Across America series in 2020, one of The Advocate’s Champions of Pride in 2022, and one of Maine Humanities Council’s recipients of the Constance Carlson Public Humanities Prize in 2024. You can follow more of eir work at mayawilliamspoet.com

This workshop will be recorded and a link to the recorded version is available for registered participants only, upon request. The recorded version is edited for participant privacy and focuses on the instructor’s lessons. Our partners at Strathmore want these workshops to be as accessible as possible, so they are priced as “pay what you can.” You will be prompted to enter an amount of your choice when you register. (If you are registering for free, please enter $0.) If you are able to pay for these workshops, every dollar goes to support Strathmore’s education programs.

REGISTER HERE

NOTE: This is a fully online event. When you register, your ticket email from tickets@strathmore.org will include a seat number, but remember that this is a virtual-only experience. The workshop takes place on Zoom, and you’ll receive the access link via email from strathmore@strathmore.org at approximately 4 PM Eastern Time on the day of the event. Click to view samples of the ticket email (HERE) and the zoom link email (HERE) for the Strathmore events.