Events & Workshops

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If this workshop is sold out, please email swgevents@skwriter.com to be placed on the waitlist.

 

Please note all times listed are Saskatchewan time. Find your time zone here: https://dateful.com/time-zone-converter

This event will not be live-streamed or recorded.

Workshop registration refund policy:

Please be certain you will be able to attend before you register. Registered participants must promptly email the SWG staff person responsible for the event (Cat Abenstein, Program Manager, swgevents@skwriter.com) to cancel their registration. Otherwise, no refunds will be issued.

• A full refund is available if you cancel your registration one week prior to the start of the workshop (by 11:59 p.m. on May 19, 2025)
• A 50% refund is available if you cancel your registration less than one week and more than 48 hours before the workshop. (For cancellations between May 20 and 25 at 11:59 p.m. SK time)
• There is no refund for registrations cancelled within 48 hours of the workshop or no-shows. (Beginning at 12:00 a.m. on May 26)
• If you would like to donate your registration fee to the SWG’s accessibility fund so others can attend events like this in the future, please let us know in your email.

Accessibility Measures in this workshop

• Live auto-captions through Zoom
• Presenter self-descriptions
• Limited Zoom technical support provided by SWG staff to assist participants while they’re in the Zoom meeting.

SEE YOUR POEM: A Playful Visual Approach to History and Personal Stories
 

Anticipated Length: 90 minutes to 2 hours

Description:

Looking for creative ways to engage with history and personal, generational, or ancestral voices? Or simply feeling inspired to expand your poetry writing approach? Diana Hope Tegenkamp invites you into the beautiful world of visual poetry, with accessible, playful methods for giving your words a dynamic visual life.

If you sometimes find that the prospect of generating a poem—especially one that deals with important historical or generational stories—can feel intimidating, like there's a lot on the line, this workshop is for you. Diana encourages a fun, low-stakes approach to visual poetry, where your curiosity and exploration matter more than polished outcomes. You’ll learn simple visual ways to disrupt that pressure and have a creative conversation with yourself and the voices of your poem.
 

WHAT TO EXPECT

• Mini Presentation. Diana will take you on a quick visual poetry tour, highlighting inspiring writers who practice visual poetics—from ancient pattern poems to contemporary mixed-media works. Then, Diana will share an example of how their visual approach helped them weave together personal and collective Métis history and voices in their search for their Métis father.
• Interactive Workshop. Participants will explore generating a visual poem with guided prompts. You’ll have the option to choose between a more hands-on method (collage, cutting, arranging) or a digital approach.
• Discussion. Participants will have the opportunity to share their work and engage in a group discussion about the creative process.
• Takeaways. Participants will leave the workshop with an in-process visual poem and a resource list of recommended readings, links, and examples to further explore visual poetry.

WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
REQUIREMENTS AND COMMITMENTS

Who is this workshop for?

This workshop is for poets and creative writers working in any form, and for writers at all levels—beginning, emerging, and established.

What we ask of you:

Bring one of the following:

• A short poem or text you've written (maximum 1 page in length)
• A transcript of an interview or conversation you've had with someone (with their permission, of course!)
• A public-domain historical text that’s personally meaningful or intriguing to you. (If you're interested in historical texts, but unsure where to find one, a few options will be provided in advance of the workshop.)

You can choose to work:

• Hands-on, with access to your hard-copy text, using scissors, glue, and paper.
• Digitally, in Word, Google Docs, etc.
• Consider sharing your work, if you’re comfortable doing so. (SWG staff can help you screen share if you haven't done this before.)

Workshop Facilitator

Diana Hope Tegenkamp (Diana/Diana's; they/them) is a queer, Métis writer and artist who lives and creates on Treaty 6 Territory. Diana is a proud member of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan.

Their first poetry book, Girl running (2021, Thistledown Press), was nominated for an Indigenous Voices Award and two Saskatchewan Book Awards and is featured in the Indigenous Voices Awards Anthology.

Diana was awarded second prize in Vallum's 2023 Poetry Contest and Prairie Fire Magazine's 2021 Banff Centre Bliss Carman Poetry Prize.

In Search of my Métis Father, Diana's in-process poetry manuscript, is supported by Canada Council for the Arts and SK Arts grants.
 

See more at www.dianahopetegenkamp.com

Funding by:

               

In partnership with: