OCCULT POETRY & (SOMA)TIC RITUALS WITH CA CONRAD:

In this 2-day workshop, we will investigate some historical occult practices and experiences of poets while forging our own set of tools to bank our odds of our writing with the spirit world. The first day will be a survey of Occult Poetry practices and CA will also generously share their own process. In the space between Saturday and Sunday, participating writers will be provided the ideas, inspiration, tools, and techniques to build poetry ritual "stations" at home where they will also be prescribed activities to write from. Once we reconvene on Sunday as a group, we will then discuss the process of the writing stations and rituals conducted in the time between with emphasis on how to add onto this practice and push and build it into our future lives; there will be time for questions about technique.

 

Sarah Elizabeth Schantz, a writer, witch, and founder of (W)rites of Passage will host the event with the assistance of Harris Armstrong.

 

CA Conrad has been working with the ancient technologies of poetry and ritual since 1975. They are the author of Amanda Paradise, forthcoming from Wave Books in 2021. Their book While Standing in Line for Death won a Lambda Literary Award. They also received a Creative Capital grant, a Pew Fellowship, and a Believer Magazine Book Award. They teach at Columbia University in New York City and Sandberg Art Institute in Amsterdam. Please view their books, essays, recordings, and upcoming events at bit.ly88CAConrad

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(W)rites of Passage aims to provide affordable workshops & safe space for writers while simultaneously making sure guest writers are paid well for their hard work, expertise, energy, and time. In addition to honoring other writers we admire, the Guest Author Workshop Series offers (W)rites of Passage regulars a more diverse range of writers to learn from while also building our community because we believe every writer requires the greater collective to survive a society that doesn't value our contributions. Because this particular workshop is focused on process, there will be no limit to how many participants can enroll. If you require financial assistance, please inquire and we will see what we can do; that being said, if you are in a position to pay a little extra and/or donate toward the scholarship fund, we would greatly appreciate that generous contribution as we are a very small creative writing workshop series that mostly runs on the labor of love. The poem below is an example of CA Conrad's work. We do encourage you to buy their books if you can.