Kathryn Petruccelli
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Publications/Repertoire/Productions & Background Experience
I am a Pushcart & Best of the Net nominee with poetry and short fiction publications in over four dozen journals, including Galway-based Ragaire Magazine, the Massachusetts Review, & the Southern Review. I co-founded and co-hosted both a poetry reading series and a long-running poetry slam & open mic series and love to talk about the intersection of the page and the stage, what it means for a writer to consider audience, and other relevant topics. I've taught creative writing and performance poetry at the secondary and university levels, including with at risk populations, such as teen moms. I hold a Master's degree in teaching English language learners. I'm currently producing and hosting a literary podcast called "Melody or Witchcraft" that invites accomplished poets as guests to read an Emily Dickinson poem and one of their own. We discuss literary ancestors and the relevance of the writing from the past to today's issues. I also teach a regular generative writing course online for adults. In other words, I'm regularly and actively engaged in conversations about what poetry is and what it can do. I'm also a former tour guide at the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Massachusetts and have a strong knowledge base about the poet.
Session Details
I love working with young people to stir their imaginations and help them discover the potential and power of language. Poetry can appeal well to teens through its rebel status - how it breaks rules (of everything from grammar to taboo subjects) and points out cultural norms others take for granted and challenges them. I'm interested in centering the students' voices and opinions in the room. I like to uncover existing attitudes toward writing and tease out where/when those began. I tend to begin with a warm up that can also have a kinesthetic element to it when possible (such as a game where they physically move to answer questions or follow a trail of "stations" for a series of short activities). I focus lessons around poems I love (as opposed to seeking out poems simply for the presence of metaphor or some other specific element, though that can be a factor), which allows me to present them to the students with genuine passion. I offer generative workshops modeled after living, working poets that create student verse on the page and/or practice bringing it to life aloud. I can speak on Dickinson as well as centre her within a generative writing lesson. Some of my favourite things to look at in poetry are sound play and pacing - how we tell stories, how and why we interrupt them - and the biology of voice and joy of rhythm that help us embody and remember them. I'll tailor the workshop to your group.
Age Group Details
13-18 years
Availability Details
I have flexibility. Many of my committments take place in the later afternoon or early evening, leaving me free during the school day. Simply get in touch and we should be able to arrange stand-alone workshops or longer residencies.
