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RVA Poetry Fest: Three Japanese Forms: Then, Now, And Yet to Come

In this 90-minute workshop students will first go back to ancient Japan and see the beginnings of three poetic forms: the haiku, the waka, and the haibun. Students will then see how these forms have developed over time and how they could be used in the future. Participants will go home with a packet of diverse poems, some prompts to jumpstart their own writing, and a better understanding of how these forms can work in your own writing practice. This workshop is open to students of all levels of poetry!
About the Instructor

Emily Okamoto-Green

Emily Okamoto-Green is a half-Japanese essayist, poet, and animal lover. Originally from Shizuoka-ken, Japan's green tea capital, her family relocated to Richmond, VA in 1998. A 2018 Graduate of George Mason University’s Honors and English Honors College, she graduated from GMU again in 2021 with her MFA in Poetry. Her accolades include the Virginia Downs Poetry Award, the Joseph Lohman III Poetry Prize, The Alan Cheuse International Writers Center 2020 fellowship, YesPoetry Magazine’s Poet of the Month, and inaugural winner of the Berkey Essay Contest. Her life highlights include Arthur Sze once saying her poem had a sense of wonder, bowing on stage at Carnegie Hall as a teenaged poet, and any time a cat or dog has come up to her without her first initiating the interaction. Emily tries to spend as much time as possible with her feet in the Atlantic or dreaming of them in the Pacific once more. She currently serves as the Writer in Residence for the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.

Instagram: @emi.dori

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RVA Poetry Fest: Three Japanese Forms: Then, Now, And Yet to Come

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Class Details
April 1310 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Day: Sat
Instructor: Emily Okamoto-Green
Level: All Levels
Adult