Terry Watson, Carmin Wong to lead poetry events Sept. 9 and 16

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Local poets are invited to register for workshops and a public event that celebrates the use of words for good. The “What is Justice”: Disability, Justice and Community Poetry series features a workshop Sept. 9 and a public performance Sept. 16.

Award-winning author and poet Terry Watson and State College’s inaugural Poet Laureate Carmin Wong will lead the event aimed at exploring how poetry can be a tool for healing, resistance, community building and social change.

The workshop is free and open to the public but limited to 14 participants. New and experienced writers are welcome. The events are all free, but registration is required.

The workshop series is part of a Penn State Performing Arts and Disability Collaborative between the Center for the Performing Arts and the Humanities Institute. The Center for the Performing Arts is a part of the Penn State College of Arts & Architecture.

“What is Justice”: Disability, Justice and Community Poetry Workshop

Part 2: “Finding Our Voice”

• 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9
• Sun Room, Schlow Centre Region Library, 211 S. Allen St., State College

”Finding Our Voice” will reflect on selected poems and the stories they tell and how they help us to process and understand the world. Participants will discuss techniques to translate lived experience into creative work and will begin the process of developing personal narratives through poetry.

The workshop series is free and open to the public but limited to 14 participants. Registration is required. Visit Poetry Workshop Part 2 for more information and to register.

“What is Justice” Community Poetry Performance and Celebration

• 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16
• Livestreamed and at 3 Dots Downtown, 137 E. Beaver Ave., State College

Celebrate the power of poetry to build connection, understanding and belonging. The "What is Justice" Community Poetry Performance and Celebration highlights the work of activist-writers in State College and the Centre Region. Poets and speakers will share original work and engage in collective storytelling and reflection.

The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Attendees can watch in person at 3 Dots Downtown or via a livestream.

Visit Poetry Performance for more details and to register.

Centering ‘race, disability and identity politics’

By highlighting conversations about race and disability, “we hope to foster a more holistic understanding of justice and create space for the arts to help us explore these intersections with greater depth, creativity and care,” Wong said.

She added that she is looking forward to hosting the program with Watson.

“As Black co-hosts and co-curators developing this program within a predominantly white, largely able-bodied institution of higher education, I’m especially excited to create space for conversations that center race, disability and identity politics,” she said.

Wong is a Guyanese-born poet-organizer, playwright, and dual-title doctoral candidate in English literature and African-American and Diaspora studies at Penn State. Watson is director of Penn State Office of Accessibility and Inclusion within the Chaiken Center for Student Success, and he is the founder of Strategies for Justice. He also is the author of the multi-award-winning book “Welcome to the Sick Mind of a Sane Person: Deconstructing Racism and White Supremacy.”

For fans of

Poetry slams and open mics

Editorial activism and creative writing

Social justice and civil-rights advocacy

The transformational role of the arts

Cultural intersectionalism

Find us

The Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State, a unit of the College of Art & Architecture, aspires to create connected, sustainable, and equitable communities, where everyone experiences joy, belonging and creativity.

For more information about the season, visit the Center for the Performing Arts online, Facebook and Instagram.