A series of eco-writing workshops throughout Westchester County
The Floodwaters Workshop
“Poems are acts of attention—they can wake us up to the here and now. Eco-poetry and eco-writing can ground us in the conditions of the place where we are, uncovering layers of local history, human ecologies, and natural ecologies.”
— BK Fischer, Academy of American Poets
As a 2022 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow, I created and launched a series of eco-writing workshops at sites of flooding and flood risk in Westchester County. I taught indoor/outdoor eco-poetry workshops for high school students in public and independent schools, and also taught the workshops for adults at the Pocantico estuary and Croton Gorge.
Check out the documentary film about The Floodwaters Workshop.
I also collaborated with other teaching artists to bring the workshops to incarcerated students at Bedford Hills and Taconic Correctional Facilities, to queer youth at the Loft LGBTQ+ Center in White Plains, to students at Westchester Community College, and to seniors. Along the way, I produced a documentary film about workshops.
In the course of the year, 21 workshops took place in varied landscapes between the Hudson and the Long Island Sound, reaching over 400 students.
Read more about The Floodwaters Workshops in an interview on poets.org.
“Poetry is medicine for apathy. When you read a poem that really moves you, it makes you want to do something.”
— Alexa Murphy, Youth Poet Laureate, grade 12
