The 2019 Flint Festival of Writers will include two, hands-on workshops where the written word and visual arts will collide: Bookmaking with Vickie Larson and Poetry by Design with Elizabeth O’Connell-Thompson.
O’Connell-Thompson’s Poetry by Design will lead attendees through the resources available to create one-of-a-kind broadside posters. To learn more about the workshop and this unique art, check out the Q&A with O’Connell-Thompson below:
What is a broadside?
A broadside is a poetry poster. Presenting one poem, often with some complementary design elements, a broadside takes a poem off the page (or screen) and presents it as visual work of art. Broadsides might be made to commemorate a special event or highlight a facet of a poet’s work. They present a new way for a poet to share their work with readers.
Can you also share a bit of your own background? How did you get interested in broadsides and broadside making?
I’m a poet and was the Literary Coordinator of the Chicago Publisher’s Resource Center until it closed in 2018. There, I ran the Wasted Pages Writers’ Workshop series, which made a space for writers to share their work, find resources and build community outside of academic or institutional settings. Because the CHIPRC had its foundations in DIY culture and zines, there were a lot of visual artists and resources for them in the space, including a risograph. I wanted to make sure that the writers were making use of the tools available to us, so I started using the machine and running broadsides-making workshops to teach other writers as well.
On a personal level, I came to broadsides from a sense of urgency. There is a lot of ugliness in the world, and it’s felt more present in recent years; it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless. My writing is central to my life—it’s how I’ve made sense of the world and myself in it since I was a child—but I’m also a practical person. I wanted to allow my writing—something I put so much work into—to get out and work for itself. I decided to make broadsides that could be sold to raise money for causes dear to me.
What do you hope those who attend this workshop will take away from it?
I hope attendees will have a new appreciation for their poems as works of art. I think because writing is such a materially inexpensive art form—no paints or clay to buy—the labor and skill that goes into it isn’t as highly valued. That poem you wrote is beautiful and deserves a place on the wall.
You can learn more about O’Connell-Thompson’s work at eotwries.com