Upcoming Events!
WRITING: A LIFE @ LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE
WRITING: A LIFE @ LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE
WRITING: A LIFE @ LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE
Join Monica at Lebanon Valley College for a reading, Q&A, and signing of her latest choreopoem, Roadmap!
DATE: Thursday, April 10, 2025
TIME: 7PM
LOCATION: Bishop Library Atrium & Zoom
101 N. College Avenue
Annville, PA 17003
About "Writing: A Life" Events:
Each semester the College welcomes a visiting author to host a reading on campus as well as other events that may include writing workshops or classroom visits.
“Writing: A Life” broadens our students’—all students, not only those in Creative Writing and English & Communications—exposure to exciting, vibrant artists and allows them to make connections that will serve them as professionals and as practitioners of their craft, as well as understand the way the arts intersect across all disciplines.
All events are free and open to the public in person and on Zoom.
WE ARE URBAN HAIKU Choreopoem Workshop
WRITING: A LIFE @ LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE
WRITING: A LIFE @ LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE
Join Monica and We Are Urban Haiku for a six-week online course writing and performing your very own choreopoem!
WORKSHOP DATES:
WHEN & HOW: This collaboration will run for six weeks meeting weekly on Zoom.
DATES: Six Saturdays beginning 4/19 at 1pm EST/10am PST.
4/19, 4/26, 5/3, (no class 5/10), 5/17, 5/24, 5/31
ACCESS: We are dedicated to amplifying underrepresented voices and empowering stories that truly reflect the diversity of our world. To uplift those most impacted by dominant culture, this course is held for folx identifying as BIPOC only with the goal of holding a safe space.
COST: $300-500 (sliding scale—please visit registration site for more information)
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
Coined by Ntozake Shange in 1975 with her award-winning production, For colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, the choreopoem continues to operate as a space for creativity, collaboration, and community. This form, that combines, poetry, music, art, dance, yoga, burlesque, and other performance media, acts as a social justice mechanism to bring secrets to the surface about racism, sexism, assault, homophobia/transphobia, ableism, and other oppressive acts and institutions. Originally a Black femme form, the choreopoem lives on in the grandchildren of the Shange legacy, using their bodies and poems to exorcise inherited demons in hopes of breaking the cycles of generational trauma and historical abuse. Under the current circumstances of the world--ravaged by war, poverty, genocide, greed, rape, climate collapse, slavery, and other atrocities--the choreopoem is an option to highlight existential angst and lived experiences to call people to action.
In this workshop, Monica Prince, choreopoem scholar and creator, will lead participants through a series of exercises to write their own choreopoems. In addition to learning the choreopoem's historical context and contemporary uses, participants will discover principles of Black theatre, performance theory, and poetic forms to inform their work. At the end of the workshop, participants will hold virtual staged readings of their choreopoem drafts for feedback and celebration.
This workshop is open to all writers at any level, especially those committed to social justice and equity for all, and performance experience is encouraged but not required. Writers are encouraged to bring their own source material (i.e., a chapbook of poems or prose, short stories, personal essays, play scripts, interviews, a manuscript of poems, etc.) or use the prompts provided to generate new content.
Monica's Performance Skills
Coaching
Write About Now Stage
Performance Artist
Monica's favorite part of performance when she isn't doing it herself is coaching other writers to get on stage and share their art. Whether in classrooms or at Creative Writing Camp, Monica can coach the stage fright out of anyone (well, almost anyone).
Photo credit: Monica Prince
Performance Artist
Write About Now Stage
Performance Artist
Monica always performs in high heels. She adopted this rule of performance when she was eighteen, and hasn't looked back. She is available for readings, choreopoem tastings, and open mic hosting.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Garza Photography
To book Monica, hit that purple button there.
Write About Now Stage
Write About Now Stage
Write About Now Stage
Since discovering Write About Now, one of Houston's many slam poetry communities, you can find Monica on this stage at least once a year, primarily during the summer while she teaches in the Creative Writing Camp. This stage is full of welcoming and loving people, and anyone looks good under the lights at Avant Garden.
Photo Credit: Christopher Diaz Photography
WRITE WITH MONICA!
Want to write your own choreopoem???
Monica's choreopoem workshop starts soon!