Workshops
D'Actionary: Because There’s No Dictionary in the Wild
Ages 18 and up
April 6–27, 2023
6–8pm EST, Thursdays
Image by Sherese Francis
Instructor
Sherese Francis
Pricing
$160
Dates
6–27 April
As a continuation of the ReVer(b)sions Lab series with Lewis Latimer House Museum, this workshop series will develop the Theory of Resonance concept and invite participants to create "D'Actionaries" with "infinitions," inspired by Black feminism's ideas around Black women's need for a verb. How does the body work with language to make meaning? What is meaning-making at the intersections of various identities and selves, and within and without oppressive systems and structures? Looking at the works of Black women poets and writers like M. NourbeSe Philip, Duriel E. Harris, Harryette Mullen, Rosamond King, Canisia Lublin, Robin Coste Lewis, Akilah Oliver, and Audre Lorde, this four-week discussion and generative writing workshop series will explore meaning-making beyond the dominant methods of doing so.
This class will be held virtually.
About Sherese Francis
Sherese Francis (she/they) describes themselves as an Alkymist of the I-Magination, finding expression through poetry, interdisciplinary arts, workshop facilitation, editing, and literary curation. Her(e) work takes inspiration from her(e) Afro-Caribbean heritage (Barbados and Dominica), and studies in Afrofuturism and Black Speculative Arts, mythology and etymology. Some of their work has been published in Furious Flower, Obsidian, Rootwork Journal, The Caribbean Writer, The Operating System, Cosmonauts Avenue, No Dear, Apex Magazine, Bone Bouquet, African Voices, Newtown Literary, and Free Verse. Additionally, Sherese has published four chapbooks, Lucy’s Bone Scrolls (Three Legged Elephant, 2017), Variations on Sett/ling Seed/ling (Harlequin Creature, 2018), Recycling a Why That Rules Over My Sacred Sight (DoubleCross Press, 2021) and Lady Liberty Smashing Stones (THRASH Press, 2022). Sherese also has received grant awards from Queens Council on the Arts, NYFA and NYSCA. Besides publications, Sherese has had her(e) work featured in various exhibitions and showcases from The Lit Exhibit, NY Live Arts, Queens Public Library, York College Arts Gallery, King Manor Museum, WorksOnWater, Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, Jamaica Flux, Baxter St Camera Club, Bliss On Bliss, Maleza Proyectos, The Rubenstein Art Center and Ely Center for Contemporary Art.
General Information
This class is curated in partnership with The School of Making Thinking.