In the midst of American fascism, volatile uprisings, ICE raids, global imperialism, and genocide, what is the importance of creative work in the midst of crisis, whether domestic or abroad? The great songwriter Nina Simone believed that “an artist’s duty…is to reflect the times.” In this course, we will put this idea to the test: we will not only examine our own lives as creative beings, but also study a number of writers whose art has aimed to reflect injustices in the world—not merely as a mirror, but as a diagnostic. Our approach will be explicitly anti-racist in its focus, and will pay particular attention to how xenophobia and antiblackness in political and social discourse shapes all our lives, whether or not we realize we are directly impacted by it.

This course will consist of weekly poetry prompts and readings/media across genres. In addition to poetry, we will read prose essays, watch a documentary, and even take a look at some visual art—all the while asking ourselves, “Is all art inherently political? And why?”

Class participants may expect 1) robust, intensive antiracist reading discussion with an art-based orientation 2) to receive new writing prompts each week, and 3) to have a poem workshopped by the group once toward the end of the course. This class is for writers of all skill levels! All are welcome—the curious, the zealous, and the unsure.

About the Instructor

Natasha Oladokun is a Black, queer poet and essayist from Virginia. She earned a BA in English from the University of Virginia, and an MFA in creative writing from Hollins University. She holds fellowships from Cave Canem, The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, the Jackson Center for Creative Writing, Twelve Literary Arts, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she was the inaugural First Wave Poetry fellow. Her work has appeared in the American Poetry Review, Academy of American Poets, Image, Harvard Review Online, Kenyon Review Online, Harper’s Bazaar, Catapult, and elsewhere. She currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and is working on her first collection of poems.

Poetry, Protest, & Artistry: Writing for Your Life & Someone Else’s, 5 sessions with Natasha Oladokun