The Poetry Project

Workshop

The Muddled Ground: Mysticism and Revolution; 10-Session Workshop with Ivanna Baranova

Nicaraguan poet, priest, and revolutionary Ernesto Cardenal stated that "the cell of a revolutionary movement is like the cell of a monastery." In this ten-session workshop, we'll explore the nexus of revolution and mysticism, studying how mystical consciousness and revolutionary praxis have converged across diverse poetic traditions and political movements, including Nueva Canción, Palestinian Resistance, Liberation Theology, Black Arts Movement, Marxist Mysticism, Revolutionary Christian Mysticism, Indigenous Spiritual Resistance, Irish Literary Revival, Engaged Buddhism, Négritude, and more. Through close readings, generative prompts, and collaborative discussion, we’ll engage with the works of various key figures at the vanguard of these movements and traditions, developing writing that considers how social consciousness can animate political commitment and how revolutionary awareness can deepen mystical insight. Potential figures include Victor Jara, Refaat Alareer, Mahmoud Darwish, Ernesto Cardenal, Amiri Baraka, Nikki Giovanni, César Vallejo, Simone Weil, Thomas Merton, William Blake, José María Arguedas, dg nanouk okpik, W.B. Yeats, Joanne Kyger, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Kahlil Gibran, Denise Levertov, Aimé Césaire, and more.

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