On Becoming 2 / Earth / Aitken

Becoming Earth, Feat. Neil Aitken: Mapping Loss, Desire, and Place

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Sunday, September 27th / 4-6pm / Free
Zoom info: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85455519411
Meeting ID: 854 5551 9411

Please note this is a BIPOC only space. Thank you 🙏🏽
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Dust, ash, stone, and soil. Elemental and foundational. The earth is not only where we are, but also part of who we are. We are defined by our ties to the land, as well as how the land shapes us. We carry as well the memories of lands we’ve left behind. Land that only exists in memory. Language grows out of this fraught relationship with external and internal spaces. In this generative workshop, we will take inspiration from the language of plate tectonics, geological formations, natural paths, and physical space, and write in response to prompts and exercises that lead us to a deeper appreciation and understanding of who we are, where we’re coming from, and where we’re headed next.

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Neil Aitken is the author of two books of poetry, The Lost Country of Sight, which won the 2007 Philip Levine Prize, and most recently, Babbage’s Dream. The founding editor of Boxcar Poetry Review, Neil’s own poems have appeared in The Adroit Journal, American Literary Review, The Collagist, Crab Orchard Review, Ninth Letter, Southern Poetry Review, and elsewhere. Of Chinese, Scottish, and English descent, Neil was born in Vancouver, BC and grew up in Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and various parts of western United States and Canada. He holds a Ph.D. in Literature & Creative Writing from the University of Southern California and an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Riverside. Neil moved back to Saskatchewan in 2019 and presently works as a creative writing coach and freelance editor.

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The Whitenoise Project is a reading and discussion series aiming to center voices from underrepresented communities (Black, Indigenous, PoC, Queer, Femme, WoC and people with disabilities), and is sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) and the Collins Foundation.