Program

The Poetics of Witness

Writers and artists have been at the forefront of every political and social movement of our age. Their willingness to ‘never avert their gaze' from vital cultural, environmental and political issues make them the unofficial spokesmen for hope, imagination and a brighter vision of the world. Through the act of bearing witness, this forum seeks to use the medium of writing to foster an engaged multi-disciplinary exchange that reaches across border and boundaries, creating individual awareness and action. In these sessions we welcome creative and documentary writers of all levels, genres, abilities and interests to create an engaged, active community of working writers for the duration of the conference.

The five sessions in this forum are intentionally woven into the main conference schedule, in order to offer participants the opportunity to engage with the conference material on a deeper, more personal and creative level. Each session is designed to investigate, acknowledge and expand the unique interest of each participant.

The series begins with a pre-conference intensive where we will outline writing tools, experiments and techniques that allow us to speak directly to the conference material with our own voices. We will collaborate on specific writing experiments that correspond to the individual conference tracks, as well as specific examples from writers and artists who place sustainability at the center of their practice.

In the mid-conference check-in sessions , we will meet to briefly share our work and our experience of the conference as writers. We will check in with on-going writing experiments and stay motivated to engage the conference material as working writers.

In the post-conference intensive , we will gather the work, ideas, notes, facts, data, and possibilities that were collected during the conference and use them as the base material for high-energy, experiential writing experiments, incorporating a wide range of self-expression. We will share strategies for forming and sustaining writing communities and discuss ways to further each individual's writing practice.

Please Note: None of the writing sessions conflict with any other conference sessions or keynotes.

Tuition:

Pre-conference Intensive: Sunday, Sept. 26, 1-5 pm at the UMC, University of Colorado

$60

Mid-Conference Check-in Sessions:

Friday Oct 1, 6-7:30pm, $25

Saturday Oct 2, 12:30-1:30pm, $20

Sunday Oct 3, 12:30-1:30pm, $20

Post-Conference Intensive: Tuesday Oct 5, 11-3pm, $60

Total tuition for all writing sessions: $185

Max Regan

An internationally published poet and writer, Max’s first volume of poetry Faithless, was published in 1996. Max’s second volume, All’s Faire, was published in 1997, followed by Harbour, published in 1999. Max has taught poetry and writing to MFA students, physicians, and non-traditional community groups for the past 12 years. A faculty member at Naropa University, Max serves as instructor of Writer’s Craft, a core creative writing course for undergraduates. Max has also lectured at the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, and Rose Medical Center in Denver, Colorado. Director of the Naropa Summer Writing Program (now in its 30th year) since 1994, Max has also developed, produced and performed in numerous interdisciplinary collaborative projects with international artists from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. Founder of Hollowdeck Press LLC, Max has taught writing classes in the city of Prague, since 1999, and in Houston, Texas, through annual trips organized by Hollowdeck Press. Max is also the founder, co-designer, and principle instructor for Naropa’s Study Abroad Program in Prague. An anthology of Max’s poetry, including work from the yet to be released collection Take, will be published in 2004. Currently, Max is completing a book on an engaged approach to creative writing.