How do we document suffering, whether ours or the suffering of others? How do we do justice to a wide range of injustices we might want to confront on the page? In this class, we’ll consider many approaches to writing out of crisis as we take a look at examples from poets confronting violence, climate change as well as historic and contemporary oppressions. Through a series of readings and exercises, participants will consider the ethics of writing out of and through crisis whether they approach these issues as firsthand witnesses or archival researchers. Then we’ll interrogate our own goals, positions and perspectives on the issues we want to address in our writing.

This Master Class will take place at University Settlement at Houston Street Center (273 Bowery, New York, NY 10002).