The Hybridity Debate: Exploring the Cento, Erasure, and the Burning Haibun with Kay E. Bancroft (via Zoom)

Recently, a tweet surfaced surrounding the validity of erasure poetry which sparked a debate about the form (and hybrid poetry) across the literary internet. It went a little something like this:

IMO, “erasure poetry” is not poetry in any way. And to destroy someone else’s writing—or, God forbid, poem—and then call the leftover words a new “poem” is pure philistinism.

Fight me.

And fighting there was. In retaliation, writers erased the tweet and created beautiful commentary on the validity and skill that erasure and hybridity required on part of the poet, that these works are not destroying but are having conversations.

In this workshop you will move through the landscape of contemporary hybrid writing and delve into established forms—including the cento, erasure, and burning haibun— digging into masters and originators of hybrid poetry across history. Readings will include words from torrin a. greathouse, Krista Franklin, Danez Smith, Anthony Cody, Cameron Awkward-Rich, Chase Berggrun, Mary Ruee, and more. Following readings and discussion, participants will create their own hybrid works (cento, erasure, or otherwise) with documents and poems provided by the instructor and with their own writing.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom and will be capped at 15 students. Registrants will receive the Zoom link to the email address they use to register. It will arrive immediately after registration so please check your spam folder if you do not receive it. It will also be sent the day before class as a reminder. Please review the course policies page before registering for any classes. Please email misty@writerscenter.org with any questions.

All HVWC scholarship applications will be available on Dec 1 and will be due on Dec 15 for all winter/spring 2024 classes.

Kay E. Bancroft (they/them) is a queer non-binary writer, poet, educator, and artist based in Cincinnati, OH. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing — Poetry from Randolph College, and a BA in Rhetoric and Professional Writing from the University of Cincinnati.

They have facilitated workshops and conversations across the country—both virtually and in-person—recently at Open Mouth Literary, Sundress Academy for the Arts, the Elliston Poetry Room at the University of Cincinnati, The Mercantile Library, The Poetry Club, and elsewhere.

Their poems, interviews, and reviews can be found in Passengers Journal, Honey Literary, GASHER, Moist Literary Journal, Voicemail Poems, Hooligan Magazine, Longleaf Review, Cotton Xenomorph, The Rumpus, and elsewhere.

Recently they were a nalist for Best of the Net (2022), in 2021 they were nominated for Best of the Net by Cotton Xenomorph, and were longlisted for the Penrose Poetry Prize for LGBTQ+ writers hosted by Death Rattle Writers Fest.

Previously they have served as a poetry and hybrid reader for Longleaf Review, Poetry reader for Frontier Poetry; and Lead Copy Editor, Poetry Reader, and Marketer for Revolute Lit. Additionally, they have worked as a Teaching Artist for WordPlay Cincy. They were the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Coalesce Zine, which dissolved in 2020.