Back to All Events

Show Don't Tell: Making Meaning through the Shared "Languages" of the Visual and Written Arts

A 3 Consecutive Saturdays IN-PERSON Poetry and Art Workshop

Saturday September 30th, Saturday October 7th, & Saturday October 14th

ALL LEVELS

What would happen if your writing were presented in such a way that its “housing” would extend and reinforce its message and metaphor? How could your readers come to a deeper understanding of the written word if it were seen, read and experienced in a book form that illuminates your meaning?

 This class combines the shared languages of verbal and visual expression and how they can work in concert to further the meaning of each other. In pairing these modes of “speaking”, we will explore prose poetry to see how it differs from traditional, poetic genres. Is it a paragraph? Is it a vignette? How are the poetic techniques of alliteration, assonance, pace, placement of text used to define its intention? Simultaneously, we will make a one-of-a-kind “artist’s book” that will complement and “hold” your writing. As opposed to a traditional book, an artist’s book is not necessarily rectangular, uses more than one medium in its creation, expresses meaning through its size, dimension, form, materials, text and imagery (although not necessarily pictorial). It engages the “reader” through multiple senses: seeing, hearing, touching.

By working in both the Visual and Language Arts, we will focus on the tools of figurative expression in each discipline and how they can reinforce each other.

No previous Book-Arts experience needed!

 The readings may include selections for Charles Simic, Russell Edson, Sandra Cisneros, Claudia Rankine and others. Participants should bring writing journals and laptop computers.

 

 + PLEASE NOTE This workshop will occur in-person at USM in Portland Maine. The week of the workshop, students will be emailed the exact location of the class.


Judy Novey has had a forty year career teaching Art at the middle and secondary levels in both Pennsylvania and Maine. She spent the lion’s share of the time at Waynflete School in Portland, Maine where she was the Chair of the Visual Arts Department and Director of the Waynflete School Gallery for twenty years. She taught classes in drawing, painting, printmaking, and bookarts as well as other workshop subjects. Her formal education includes a BFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and an MFA from Rutgers University. Her informal, but equally valuable, education has come from the unpredictable and generative interchange with her students.


Lorry Stillman has taught middle and secondary-level Language Arts and mentored teachers at Waynflete School for more than thirty years. She was the Chair of the English Department for twenty-years and taught at the Southern Maine Writer’s Institute, as well as other workshop venues. She has a BA in English from the University of Southern Maine. With humor and scholarship, Lorry enthusiastically led her students to discover the power of the written word, focusing on memoir, creative nonfiction and poetry. She is the author of The Spirit that Moves Us in association with the Holocaust Human Rights Center of Maine.

Together, over a span of twenty years, Judy and Lorry created and taught an interdisciplinary course called Word & Image that combined the literacies of both of their disciplines. In retirement, they have developed a series of presentations and workshop formats that focus on the benefits of interdisciplinary teaching and learning that have been well-received at national and regional conferences.


ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advanced registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online via our website. We cannot guarantee registration in the final 24-hours before a workshop, and can rarely accommodate day-of registration.

PAYMENT & CANCELLATION POLICIES
If you need to withdraw from a class after registering for any reason, please email or call the MWPA immediately. You may be eligible for a partial refund or credit, depending on how far in advance you cancel. → MORE INFORMATION

QUESTIONS
For any questions regarding this workshop, please contact Meghan Sterling at programs@mainewriters.org.

REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-228-8263 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.

REGISTER BY MAIL
If you prefer to pay by mail, please print this registration form (downloadable PDF) and mail it to the MWPA with a check or credit card information.


$180 Members / $225 Nonmembers


SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer one partial scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Contact Meghan at programs@mainewriters.org to see if the scholarship is still available. Application Due on September 1st at 9:00 a.m.
→ MORE INFORMATION

MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
Registration in any MWPA workshop, program, or event constitutes your agreement to our terms and conditions. → MORE INFORMATION