The 24PearlStreet High School
Scholars Program
24PearlStreet, the Fine Arts Work Center’s online writing program, will host 48 High School Scholars in 4 exciting poetry workshops this Summer. In these dynamic, fun workshops, students will engage with prize-winning, published poets and generate great conversations about poetry–as well as several new poems.
Workshops are capped at 12 scholars. Additional registrants will be added to a waiting list.
This program is FREE for attendees–who will receive a $200 stipend for their participation.
We are proud to be partnering with two incredible organizations to present this new program, 826 Boston and Boston Public Library. Both have long histories of providing dynamic programming for high school students and we are so honored to collaborate with them. Keep reading to learn more and to register for one of these amazing workshops.
Crystal Valentine
Breaking the Mold: A Week of Poetry
July 31 – August 4, 2023
11 AM – 1 PM (EST)
A poem can be anything you want it to be: a spell, a declaration, a witness, a call for action. By focusing on your five senses, you will learn how to identify purpose in your poems and mold them into something tangible. We will examine poetry of all styles, ranging from those that sing rhythmic serenades to those that are so powerful, they leap off the page. In this examination, we will discover the magic of poetic language, how it calls forth power, emotion and the possibility of change. From traditional form to spoken word and experimental poetry, you will begin to hone in your skills as a writer and learn innovative ways to bring your poetry to life.
Workshop takeaways:
By the end of the week, students will have drafted at least two different poems. Students will also leave this workshop with a toolbox full of various poetic techniques. This is a workshop that thrives on creativity, and is open to writers of all levels and genre experience. Be ready to try out news approaches and think outside the box!
Click HERE to register for the workshop
Crystal Valentine is a Black, queer woman from the Bronx now residing in Boston, Massachusetts. A former New York City Youth Poet Laureate and two-time winner of the College Union Poetry Slam Invitational, Crystal has been offered fellowships from Callaloo, Tin House, and Bread Loaf Writers’ Conferences. She is the winner of Palette Poetry’s 2021 Emerging Poet Prize, selected by Kelli Russell Agodon. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day, BreakBeat Poets Vol. 2: Black Girl Magic Anthology (Haymarket Books), Muzzle Magazine, TriQuarterly Magazine, Winter Tangerine, and elsewhere. She received an MFA from New York University and is the Festival Manager for the Massachusetts Poetry Festival as well as an English Professor at Curry College. When she isn’t writing or agonizing over line breaks, you can find her watching anime and dreaming.
Anthony Febo
I Can Move Mountains: a Journey of Growth Through Poetry
August 7 – 11, 2023
1 – 3 PM (EST)
Poetry has the ability to move us. To tears. To action. Towards healing. Through repetition, there is room for a deeper exploration of a topic. In this workshop, we will write a series of poems with the common thread of a topic or invitation. In order to “Move Mountains”, we first have to identify what mountains need to be moved.
Workshop takeaways:
By the end of the week, students will have drafted at least two different poems. Students will also leave this workshop with a toolbox full of various poetic techniques. This is a workshop that thrives on creativity, and is open to writers of all levels and genre experience. Be ready to try out news approaches and think outside the box!
Click HERE to register for the workshop
Anthony Febo is a Puerto Rican poet, teaching artist, and new dad living in Arlington, MA. Febo has been performing and teaching poetry and theatre for 15 years in the greater Boston area. In the classroom, Febo treats each workshop as its own celebration. He draws on his experiences in theatre spaces, museums, non-profits, and art centers to provide the participants with the tools they need for their success. On the stage, he’s toured the country individually and as half of Adobo-Fish-Sauce: a cooking and poetry collaboration. His work examines what it means to actively choose joy in the face of what is trying to break you. Weaving performance into his writing, he examines issues such as toxic masculinity, family, culture, identity, and the role representation plays in a person’s development. His first full length book of poetry, Becoming an Island, can be purchased from Game Over Books.
Boston Public Library
Elena Karina Byrne
Poetry’s Wild Ride!
July 31 – August 4, 2003
Noon – 2 PM (EST)
Let’s explore the exciting ways that you, as a poet, can translate your experiences of the world and the world of the imagination. The poet can be like an actor adopting a new persona; a director who finds “the shot” while transforming the scene into a colorful dream; like a songwriter sharing their emotional story; like a detective who knows how to find the smallest of clues; and like an athlete who works with the other players to create the winning goal. Visual images, poem samples, and fun prompts will empower your voice, surprise, and inspire you.
Click HERE to register for the workshop
Elena Karina Byrne is the author of five poetry books and several screenplays. She’s a freelance editor, lecturer, Programming Consultant & Poetry Stage Manager for The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and the Literary Programs Director for the historic Ruskin Art Club. Former 12-year Regional Director of the Poetry Society of America, Elena served as a final judge for PEN’s Best of the West award, the 2022 co-judge for the Laurel Prize, one of the final judges for the Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards in Poetry from 2016–2018 and was one of three visiting writers for the 2018–2019 ten university consortia in the Georgia Poetry Circuit. Her lecture and teaching artist positions include the University of Southern California, Brentwood High School, Idyllwild Arts Academy, San Pedro Peninsula High, Wilmington High, Palos Verdes Peninsula High, The Poetry Barn, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, Claremont Graduate University, Todos Santos Writing Workshops, The Los Angeles Film School, and elsewhere.
Brendan Constantine
The “Unworkshop”
August 7 – 11, 2023
1 – 3 PM (EST)
Poet Brendan Constantine presents the “Unworkshop,” a week of generative classes for young writers at all levels. Do you write poetry, monologues, stories that feel like songs? Is your work impossible to classify? Let’s run with it! Participants will explore and discuss new approaches to writing, engage in games and experiments, learn how to submit for publication, even how to lead your own workshops. Sufferers of ‘Writer’s Block’ strongly encouraged.
Click HERE to register for the workshop
Brendan Constantine is a poet based in Los Angeles. He is the author of five full-length collections, including Dementia, My Darling (2016 Red Hen) and Letters to Guns (2009 Red Hen). His work has appeared in Poetry, The Nation, Best American Poetry, Poem-A-Day, and in numerous other journals and anthologies. A popular performer, Brendan Constantine has presented his work to audiences throughout the U.S. and Europe, also appearing on NPR’s All Things Considered, TED-ED, numerous podcasts, and YouTube. He currently teaches creative writing at the Windward School and, since 2017, has been developing poetry workshops for people with Aphasia and Traumatic Brain Injuries.
