“Portrait of the Artist: Artists’ Statements, Ars Poetica, Manifestos, and Self-Portrait Poems” with Brit Washburn
February 28, 2:00-5:00pm
In-person in Asheville, NC (TBA)
In this generative workshop, we’ll explore artists’ statements, the ars poetica, manifestos, and self-portrait poems both philosophically and as literary forms. Readings will include Drafting an Artist Statement, The Poet’s Manifesto: Three Ars Poeticas, and “The Self-Portrait Poem” by Maggie Queeney, as well “Artistic Statement” by Denise Duhamel, “Ars Poetica” by Archibald MacLeish, James Baldwin’s “Manifesto,” “Things You Didn’t Put on Your Resumé” by Joyce Sutphen, “Self-Portrait with Sylvia Plath’s Braid” by Diane Seuss, “Self-Portrait” by Edward Hirsch, “Likeness: A Self-Portrait” by Kimiko Hahn, and “canvas and mirror” by Evie Shockley, among others. We’ll take these writers and their works as models, and begin to consider what our bodies of work are “similar to,” what they “often employ” (aspirationally or in fact), what our work is and/or what we hope it to become. We’ll consider the form or forms our work takes or might take, how our identities and backgrounds might or might not inform our work, what we are “drawn to” and “interested in,” and what we believe a poem, story, or essay should (or should not) do/be. We’ll consider who we are and/or what we’ve done or do in addition to or apart from writing, what we love, what we do not like and what we (would) “insist on.” We’ll explore what we “must do” and what our (greatest) responsibilities are—as artists and otherwise. We’ll debrief and share either what we’ve written or what the experience of attempting to write has brought up for us, and how we might go about revising this work and expanding upon it in the future. Whether a fledgling or seasoned writer, these reflective exercises will support you in orienting yourself according to where you are, where you’ve been, and where you’re going as an artist.
Focus: Drafting Artist Statements, Ars Poetica, Manifestos, and Self-Portrait Poems
Goals:
1. To think about ourselves as artists and our visions for our work
2. To familiarize ourselves with artists statements, the ars poetica, the manifesto, and the self-portrait poem as forms
3. To encourage reflection on aesthetics, poetics, identity, and the responsibilities of the artist
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Brit Washburn is the author of the essay collection Homing In: Attempts on a Life of Poetry and Purpose (Alexandria Quarterly Press, 2023) and the poetry collections Notwithstanding (Wet Cement Press, 2019) and What Is Given (Wet Cement Press, 2025). She is currently a student in the MFA Program at Virginia Tech. Brit has been awarded an artist’s grant by the Vermont Studio Center and for many years served on the boards of the Poetry Society of South Carolina and the Low Country Initiative on the Literary Arts (LILA). She co-directed the salon Poets House South and has worked as a freelance writer, editor and indexer, a Montessori teacher, and instructor in the Great Smokies Writing Program at University of North Carolina Asheville. Her work can be found in print and online via www.britwashburn.com.
Registration Information
- Cost: $75.00
- Questions? Email ldanzis@unca.edu