December Workshop & Reading
In the month of December, Soul Bone℠ offers two public events, both marked on our calendar Welcome! All events are free, online, open to the public.
Generative Workshop: The Ars Poetica with Nynke Passi
Friday, Dec. 6, 7 PM CT
The Ars Poetica is a poem about the art of writing a poem – since only the language of poetry itself is subtle enough to touch upon the unspeakable creative process of writing.
“Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words.”–Paul Engle
In this generative workshop, we'll examine a few Ars Poetica and write our own, whether it is in the genre of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction, since all of these genres intersect in short form. The session will be followed by a Q&A about MIU's MFA in Creative Writing, an innovative program that works from a basis of conciousness and creative process, putting the writer and creativity first. Program director Nynke Passi will be leading this session.
Reading: Our Gorgeous Bones with Eileen Espinoza & Nynke Passi
Thursday, Dec. 12, 7 PM CT
Poets and writers Eileen Espinoza and Nynke Passi will be reading from their work tonight, followed by a Q & A. Nynke founded and directs MIU's MFA program in Creative Writing where Eileen is a full-time faculty. After the session, both writers are available to answer any questions about our innovative MFA, which focuses on consciousness and creative process, always putting the writer at the center.
Eileen Elizabeth Espinoza is a full-time faculty in our MFA program and a frequent mentor in various genres. She’s a queer essayist and poet, the co-founder of Boshemia Magazine, and the recipient of the 2021 McQuern Award in Nonfiction. Her essays have been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Bellevue Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her poetry has been selected by both Dorothy Allison and bell hooks for collections such as The Anthology of Appalachian Writers and Appalachian Review. She earned her MFA in Nonfiction from the University of California, Riverside, and her first book, Carrying the Bones: Rituals for a Dying World, is forthcoming from University Press of Kentucky (2024).
Nynke Salverda Passi is the director of this MFA program and co-chair of MIU’s English dept. She was born and raised in the Netherlands. Her work has been published in CALYX, Gulf Coast, Poetry Breakfast, Life & Legends, and more. Her poetry has been anthologized in Pandemic Puzzle Pieces and River of Earth & Sky (Blue Light Press), Carrying the Branch (Glass Lyre Press), and Oxygen: Parables of the Pandemic (River Paw Press). Together with Rustin Larson and Christine Schrum, she edited the poetry collection Leaves by Night, Flowers by Day.
Image of shrine with bones and flowers and dead squirrels: Ginger Persolus