*Creative Colloquy presents Epistle Me This: Puzzling Out Catharsis Through the Letter Poem presented by Sarah A. Chavez. * *“Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company”* – Lord Byron Though in the 21st century our cultural written communication has moved to the efficiency of social media and electronic mail, the art of letter writing has been (& remains!) a vital part of literary and poetic life. The strength of the epistle—poems structured as letters—lies within the inherent intimacy of the direct address, but crafted with the writer’s recognition that this intimacy is being experienced by a broader audience. Like the letter, the epistle is very specific, directed at one person (or thing, company, idea, or concept), and often focuses on what might be seen as mundane, but speaks to larger truths, both for the speaker and for humanity. In this workshop, we will read examples of powerful epistles such as Jill McDonough’s “Dear Gaybashers,” <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57189/dear-gaybashers> an excerpt from Evie Shockley’s collected poems The Lost Letters of Frederick Douglass, <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/55667/from-the-lost-letters-of-frederick-douglass>Jimmy Santiago Baca’s [Yesterday, the sunshine made the air glow <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49566/yesterday-the-sunshine-made-the-air-glow>], and Danez Smith’s “notes.” <https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/148379/notes-5be30d611940d> Through addresses to attackers, historical figures, friends, and personified death, these writers speak truth about homophobia, racism, depression, classism, as well as love and grief. We will use these epistles as a welcome into this form and models for how we might speak truth to untangle that which keeps us up, lays heavy on our shoulders, troubles and disquiets. *This event is FREE to attend but space is limited and registration is required. REGISTER HERE: * https://www.eventbrite.com/e/epistle-me-this-puzzling-out-catharsis-through-the-letter-poem-tickets-128257211773 *Zoom Meeting Info will be sent just prior to event festivities. * ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Sarah A. Chavez, a mestiza born and raised in the California Central Valley, is the author of the poetry collections, Hands That Break & Scar (Sundress Publications, 2017) and All Day, Talking (dancing girl press, 2014). Her new project, Halfbreed Helene Navigates the Whole received a 2019-2020 Tacoma Artists Initiative Award. Chavez teaches creative writing and Latinx/Chicanx-focused courses at the University of Washington Tacoma, serves as the poetry coordinator for Best of the Net Anthology, and is a proud member of the Macondo Writers Workshop. Recent work can be found or is forthcoming in Xicanx: Mexican American Writers of the 21st Century, Diode, & Hotel Amerika. She recently finished a fifteen-day poetry marathon which left her heart-wrung and breathless. Creative Colloquy is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike. All events are FREE to attend, though donations of any amount are always welcome and tax deductible. CC is a volunteer run organization and all proceeds allow us to continue providing programming and publishing platforms. https://connect.clickandpledge.com/Organization/CreativeColloquy/