Forms & Features with Derek JG Williams

All are welcome to a poetry discussion and creative writing workshop, “Poetic Cinematography: A Workshop on Image,” with Derek JG Williams.

When something is called poetic – a sunset, the moon, a pile of corn husks on a kitchen table with the breeze from a window cracked open, murmuring at their silk – what’s meant is that there’s an idiosyncratic beauty to an object in a moment: that of an undeniable image. In our time together during this workshop, we’ll work to identify those kinds of moments and write the images that emerge from them. To do this we’ll think about the kinship that exists between poetry and film. Both rely, above all, on the supremacy of the image. This notion is what helps differentiate poetry from fiction and nonfiction, in which narrative and character reign supreme. Not limited by culture or experience, and instead expanded upon by each, the defining language of film and poetry is imagery, with the poet as director, and the poem as scene. A portion of this workshop will also touch on personal iconography in both film and poetry to help hone in on yours.

Derek JG Williams (he/him) is an American writer and the author of Poetry Is a Disease (Greying Ghost Press 2022). He holds a doctorate in English and Creative Writing from Ohio University, and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. His writing has appeared on Boston's MBTA trains as a part of the city's Poetry on the T program. Derek’s poems and prose are published or forthcoming in Pleiades, The Writer’s Chronicle, Banshee, Salamander, Best New Poets, Prairie Schooner, DIAGRAM, and Bear Review, among others. He lives in Germany with his family. Learn more about him at https://www.derekjgwilliams.com/.

Registration is required for this event. This program is for adult participants, aged 18 and older.

Closed captioning is available via Google Meet. We are happy to provide ASL interpretation. Please let us know at least one week in advance, if possible, if you would benefit from an ASL interpreter in attendance. If you would benefit from any other accessibility measures, please contact us by emailing [email protected]. Learn more about Google Meet’s built-in accessibility features here.