Furious Flower Poetry Center: 26 Years in Harrisonburg

The Furious Flower Poetry Center has been active in Harrisonburg for over 26 years. It is the first center devoted to the study of African American Poetry in the nation. It has recently expanded its coverage to Black Poetry across the globe. As such, it is an international resource on our doorstep. It has hosted conferences, workshops, and youth camps that have featured Pulitzer Prize winning poets and recipients of many other accolades. They have always put these in personal contact with students and aspiring writer in pursuit of their goal to not only to move forward the study of poetry but also to enrich and encourage its practice. This is an amazing resource that resides in our community. We will spend the weeks in our course exploring the mission and activities of Furious Flower in conversation with its founder, Joanne Gabbin and its current director, Lauryn Alleyn. We will also attend readings offered by the Center during our course, and we will revisit past events online.

SUSAN FACKNITZ has participated in Furious Flower programs for the past 26 years. She taught American Poetry and Creative Writing at JMU for 32 years. She also teaches poetry workshops at homeless shelters, in the public schools and in other public contexts.

There are no scheduled sessions at this time. Sign up to be notified when this course is available.