Groundwerk: AUTO-POETICS

You are invited to join poet and director of the87press, Azad Ashim Sharma, for a writing workshop, tailored to encourage experiments in form and language, with an opportunity to be published by the87press through their online journal the Hythe, the87press’ interdisciplinary e-journal.

Participants will be required to do 4 short pieces of preparatory reading. The workshop will begin with a discussion exercise centred on these works and will be followed by a writing exercise. During the writing exercise participants will receive a prompt and engage in

automatic writing, using allocated time to write a draft, and then to read aloud to the group and receive feedback from Azad. Participants are then encouraged to go and edit their work and send to the87press after 2 weeks for publication.

Participants should have an interest in writing but don’t need to be experienced or published authors. This workshop caters to all levels of experience and interest, aiming to provide an entry point into thinking about the intersections between radical politics and experimental forms of writing.

We particularly encourage writers from underrepresented and marginalised backgrounds (BAME, LGBTQ+, Neurodiverse, Low-Income) to register.

This workshop is free to attend and open to all but booking is necessary, as spaces are limited. This workshop will take place in person at Turf Projects. All activities will take social distancing and Covid-safe practices into account. If you have any access needs that you would like to discuss with us in advance of the session, please get in touch: rosie@turf-projects.com

Groundwerk is a monthly series of free practical workshops for artists and creatives wishing to gain the skills to support their practice. This workshop is supported by Arts Council England.

ABOUT the87press

the87press is a South Asian, non-binary, and neurodiverse-led small press based in South London. Over the last three years, they’ve published 22 books, hosted over 30 poetry events, and published new writing online through their interdisciplinary e-journal theHythe.

the87press publishes poetry, non-fiction, and fiction at the intersections of class, gender, sexuality, race, and neurodiversity.

ABOUT AZAD SHARMA

Azad Ashim Sharma is based in South London. He is the director of the87press. His work includes Against the Frame (Barque Press, 2017), the recent collection of poetry and prose Ergastulum (Broken Sleep Books, 2022) and forthcoming Boiled Owls (Nightboat Books, 2023). A 5th anniversary edition of Against the Frame is planned for 2022 release by Broken Sleep Books and will feature new poems. Azad’s poetry has been published by Stand Magazine, the Asian American Writers Workshop, Gutter Magazine and Small Press Traffic. His prose has been published by SPAMzine, M.I.R. Online, Magma Magazine and is forthcoming in the Bloomsbury Companion to Contemporary Poetry in Ireland and the UK. Azad is currently a PhD Candidate in English and Humanities at Birkbeck College, University of London and is producing a novel and a book of critical theory.

Image credits: The 87 press & Azad Sharma