The Poetry Project

Deep Study Session

Open Wounds: an open question, with guidance from plants. — Deep Study Session with Anna Moschovakis

This session of Deep Study is an invitation to think together about whether, when, and how it’s possible to work with (from/around/into) unresolved injury in our (“creative”) writing. What might we be seeking from doing so, and what kind of relationships between means and end are we willing to embrace? What risks are bearable, what discomforts are tolerable? When might we make use of available tropes and modes — complaint, revenge, apology, exposure, confession, appeal, etc — and what new approaches can we invite when these ones won’t work (e.g., when we refuse them or they are refused to us)? What happens when our desires, our aesthetics, and/or our ethics come in conflict? How can our writing help us negotiate with, challenge, or expand our historical and political relationship — whether positive, suspicious, or mixed—to prospects of closure, of independence, of repair? We will read together, listen together, write together, and share only what it feels possible and meaningful to share. As a companion and compass for the session, we will begin by meeting several wound-healing plants, and noting the disparate ways they can be worked with to address wounds both new and old. Some theoretical touchstones include Mari Ruti, Avgi Saketopoulou, and Dionne Brand, but the discussion will be designed toward including material and thinking introduced by the participants.

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