ON THE PROCESS:

The nebula poem recordings were created by a group of Atwater Library members (Wanda Potrykus, Donna Davis, Cheryl Charron, Chantal Desjardins Falastien Lee Ah-Nen Jeannine, Carolyn Ring-Ade Karin, Amir Sám Nakhjavani, Ellie Chartier and Annick Vincent) across 2 poetry workshops focused on place, imagination, collaboration and interdisciplinary experimentation. The workshops were led by hybrid forms writer/dramaturg Erin Lindsay. This project was made possible through the Quebec Writers’ Federation’s One Planet, Countless Worlds grant in association with CAM (Conseils des Arts de Montreal) for an initiative aimed at democratizing access to creative writing and the arts in libraries and communities across Montreal and Montreal’s West Island.

WORKSHOP 1: JUXTAPOSING FACT AND FICTION
The first workshop involved a prompt around the memory of an existing place of significance to participants. They were invited to create a list poem using the structure …”I remember…I remember…” The second part of the prompt involved a guided meditation and creative writing exercise aimed at written descriptions of a fictional planet. The workshop culminated in the creation of a 10-line poem focused on the juxtaposition of real and fictional imagery. The aim was to collectively explore surprising, associative, and sensory imagery and metaphors while exploring the relationship between memory and imagination.

Erin crafted a poem using words from the workshop 1 poems which can be found here.


WORKSHOP 2: ERASURE POETRY AND INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLAGE
Workshop 2 involved the creation of collaged fictional planets that inspired imagery, texture and language for future writing prompts. Participants were encouraged to take inspiration from each other’s planets for their poems. Participants were then led through an erasure poetry exercise where they could respond to Erin’s poem or an amalgamation of the first workshop participants’ 10-line pieces. Participants then made voice recordings of selected poems which appear on the Constellation page of this project.

Erin crafted a poem using words from the workshop 2 poems collage planets which can be found here.
This text, crafted from participants’ imagery in the workshop sessions, was the source of inspiration for a digital poem planet created by two digital artists Emily Soussana and Andrew Scriver of potatoCakes_digital. The digital artists built their “poem planet” using participants’ imagery and Erin’s poem responses as a site of inspiration for their work. The digital poem planet can be viewed here.


WORKSHOP 3: A READING
Workshop 3 involved a reading in QWF’s auditorium that featured works created in the workshop or ones that were inspired by the session’s prompts and themes. This offered an opportunity for writers to celebrate their own and others’ work. Participants’ readings will be recorded and posted as digital planets to honour the workshop participants’ creativity, experimentation, collaboration and unique voices.

The aim of the three sessions was to explore the process of poem-making as something that can encourage collaboration, listening, experimentation, creativity and dialogue in a community group context.

Thank you to all of the incredible participants from the QWF chapter of The Constellation Project.
This is Chapter 2 of a 2-part project. The first part (in collaboration with the DDO Library) can be accessed here.