(Oregon Poet Laureate Anis Mojgani | Photo by Natalie Seeboth)
Award-winning Oregon Poet Laureate Anis Mojgani is helping Central Oregon Community College (COCC) commemorate its National Poetry Month celebration, which this year bridges April and May and includes workshops, a poetry slam and a spoken-word performance by Mojgani.
Events are free and open to the public and span from April 17 to May 10. Visit barber.cocc.edu/poetry for complete details and registration.
A series of poetry-writing workshops led by COCC faculty and students will take place on several dates and at several college locations, including online. The first, “Share a Poem, Write a Poem,” is from 3:15-4:15pm on Monday, April 17, at the COCC Redmond campus’s Technology Education Center. “Healing through Poetry” is from 3:30-5pm on Tuesday, April 25, at the COCC Bend campus’s Coats Campus Center. The “Share a Poem, Write a Poem” workshop will be staged a second time, online, from 1-2pm on Thursday, April 27; register in advance to receive the Zoom link.
A COCC poetry month tradition, the poetry slam is from 5-7pm on Friday, May 5, in the Hitchcock Auditorium in Pioneer Hall on the Bend campus. Performers must register in advance at barber.cocc.edu/poetry. Poetry slam prize donors include the COCC Bookstore, Dudley’s Bookstore and Roundabout Books.
Oregon’s 10th poet laureate, Anis Mojgani — appointed to a second term last year — comes to the Bend campus’s Coats Campus Center on Wednesday, May 10, to lead a writing workshop from 4-5:05pm, meet with attendees during a social from 5:05-5:30pm, and then perform from 5:30-6:30pm, with the entire event livestreamed to the college’s Redmond, Prineville and Madras campuses.
Mojgani is a two-time National Poetry Slam champion and winner of the International World Cup Poetry Slam. In addition to his acclaim on the slam stage, the Portland poet has performed at universities, festivals and for the United Nations. A trained comic book artist, he has published five books of poetry, had his work featured on HBO and National Public Radio, and designed commissions for the Getty Museum and Peabody Essex Museum.
For more information on poetry month at COCC, contact Kirsten Hostetler, instruction and outreach librarian, at 541-383-7563 or khostetler@cocc.edu.
In advance of college events, persons needing accommodation or transportation because of a physical or mobility disability should contact Caitlyn Gardner at 541-383-7237. For accommodation because of other disability, such as hearing impairment, contact disability services at 541-383-7583.
