Central Oregon Community College is celebrating National Poetry Month this April with a series of workshops and performances, free and open to the public, with events happening at all four COCC campuses.
Featuring singer-songwriter-poet Beth Wood, the Lumina Flute Trio, poetry slams, writing sessions and community gatherings, the lineup is sprung from a “From the Ground Up” theme and highlights topics of personal growth, nature and the outdoors, with some events staged outside. Visit barber.cocc.edu/poetry for complete details and registration.
Workshops:
Beth Wood, an award-winning Sisters-based artist, will lead “Inside a Song: An Interactive Songwriting Poetry Workshop” from 4-5:30 p.m. on April 7 at COCC Bend’s Barber Library. She is the author of several works, including “Ladder To The Light,” a book of poems that was selected as a 2019 Oregon Book Award Readers’ Choice Award. As a musician, she has opened for a number of acclaimed artists, such as Steve Winwood, Michael McDonald and Shawn Colvin.
On April 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at COCC’s Barber Library, “Polishing Poems” will explore revision strategies to help poems feel focused; attendees are encouraged to bring several poems in progress.
A “Prompt Poetry Writing” workshop on April 14 from 1-2:30 p.m. at the Barber Library will provide various prompts to select from for inspired writing. Also on April 14, COCC’s Madras campus will host a “Nature Poetry Workshop” from 2-3 p.m.
Performances and Gatherings:
COCC’s Prineville campus will stage a “Prineville Poetry Reading” event from noon to 1 p.m. on April 20.
Musical offerings from the Lumina Flute Trio, inspired by poetry, classical nursery rhymes and other themes of growth, will take place at the Barber Library from 4-5 p.m. on April 21.
A “Community Poetry Gathering” at the Madras campus is scheduled from 3-4 p.m. on April 23. “Bee Words: Garden Poetry” will gather at two places: at the Bend campus’s pollinator garden, first meeting at the Barber Library entrance, from 3-4 p.m. on April 23, and also at the Redmond campus’s meditation garden, first meeting at the Technology Education Center entrance, from 3-4 p.m. on April 28.
Two audience-judged “Poetry Slams,” moderated by Aaron Rasheed (aka Aaron The Broadside Kid), are being staged: from 6-7 p.m. at the Redmond campus library on April 29, and from 6-7 p.m. in the Bend campus’s Hitchcock Auditorium on April 30. Participants must register online in advance. Prize donations are generously provided by Dudley’s Bookstore and Big Story Bookstore.
