An Online Poetry Workshop
As part of the Write ME project, poets Maya Williams and Yashu Derisala will lead a free epistolary poetry workshop for youth ages 14 to 18. The workshop will consider the question: “What does it mean to write a letter to the concepts, isms, or institutions that hurt us?
Join Yashu Derisala and Maya Williams in discussing their own epistolary poems as well as an epistolary poem by a third poet of color addressing colonialism, grief, and racism.
Maya Williams (ey/they/she) is a religious Black multiracial nonbinary suicide survivor who was selected as Portland, ME's seventh poet laureate for a July 2021 to July 2024 term. Maya received a MFA in Creative Writing with a Focus in Poetry from Randolph College in June 2022. Eir debut poetry collection Judas & Suicide (Game Over Books, 2023) was selected as a finalist for a New England Book Award. Their second poetry collection, Refused a Second Date (Harbor Editions, 2023), was selected as a finalist for a Maine Literary Award. Their third poetry collection, What's So Wrong with a Pity Party Anyway?, was selected as one of four winners of Garden Party Collective's chapbook prize in 2024. Maya was selected as one of Maine Humanities Council's recipients of the Constance Carlson Public Humanities Prize in 2024.
Yashu Derisala (she/her) is a first-generation young, brown, South-Indian immigrant woman who was selected as Portland’s first Youth Portland Poet Laureate. She is a leader in Scarborough High School’s Civil Rights Club and is extremely passionate about social justice and advocacy work. Throughout her high school career, she participated in Maya Williams’ workshop for two years where she wrote and published poetry in the chapbooks, [Redacted for Monetary Reasons] and Born But Not Alive. Her poetry reflects themes of reflection and healing, as she writes poetry not only for herself, but for all the marginalized people so that their voices can feel seen and heard. She hope that her poetry can inspire others to make themselves seen and heard through their artistry.