Pleasure and Resistance in Erotic Poetry
The erotic carries creative and resilient power. This workshop explores contemporary erotic poetry as a powerful antidote to white supremacy culture and capitalism’s rigid, toxic narratives of shame and fear, either/or binaries, urgency, and profit/product over process. We will read work from poets such as Audre Lorde, Analicia Sotelo, Danez Smith, and Natalie Diaz and write original poems based on weekly prompts. The last few classes will include time for each student to submit and workshop 1–2 poems.
This class description differs slightly from the printed catalog.
Ansley Clark
Ansley Clark is a writer and educator based in Bremerton. She received her MFA in Poetry from the University of Colorado and is the author of the chapbook Geography (dancing girl press 2015). Her poems and essays have appeared in Poetry Northwest, Black Warrior Review, Crazyhorse, Colorado Review, and elsewhere. She currently manages the writing center and teaches English at South Puget Sound Community College. She also co-designs and teaches creativity and sexuality workshops for women and nonbinary individuals, LGBTQ-focused poetry workshops for teens at Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, and community arts-based antiracism workshops with the artist Hannah Brancato.
