Oct. 5: Workshop at Twiggs Gallery in Boscawen – Poet as an Unacknowledged Legislator of the World

Poetry Workshop with Ala Khaki

Saturday, October 5 from 10 am – 4 pm

Cost: $125 workshop fee

Learn more and register: www.twiggsgallery.org/classes

(Bring your lunch, drinks are provided.)

Poetry has been an instrument of defiance, resistance, and revolution for millennia as poets began to use this art form to chisel indelible poetic images that resonated with the deepest cords of human emotions during times of suffering. Their poetry transcends time as unfortunately tyranny of one form or another remains part of human existence. From slave revolts of ancient times to the revolutions of the last few centuries (e.g., American, French, Russian and Iranian) and the progressive movements of modern times (e.g. Suffrage, Civil Rights) poetry has been a voice for and an instigator of change.

It has inspired societies to act against social injustice and fostered profound social and legal reforms around the world. It is in this context that Percy Shelly proclaims, “Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world.”

The first half of this workshop is a conversation on the elements of effective social poetry. During the second half we will workshop participants’ own work.

BIO: Ala Khaki is an Iranian American poet, residing in Amherst, New Hampshire, with his beloved soulmate and poet Melanie Chicoine. He is the author of four poetry collections, two in Farsi, “Sahar Khani” (Calling the Dawn) and “Az Inja Ta Tolou” (From Here to Sunrise), and two in English, “Remembrances – A Poetic Memoir of Life as a Political Prisoner in Iran” (Bee Monk Press), and Return (BookSurge Publishing).

Ala Khaki’s poems have appeared in Iranian literary journals including The Book Review, Par (Feather), and Thought and Imagination, and in American poetry periodicals and anthologies, including Worcester Review, The Poets’ Touchstone, the 2010 Poets’ Guide to New Hampshire, Covid Spring, and Visual Verse.

In 1981, Ala Khaki was the subject of a documentary film titled “Resident Exile” by the celebrated documentary filmmaker and director Ross McElwee. He has been a feature in numerous poetry events including the New England Poetry Conference, the New Hampshire Poet Showcase, and The Hoot. He served as an officer on the Board of Directors of the Poetry Society of New Hampshire (2015-2020), and as its president (2020-2022). He continues to read throughout New England.