I Send You This Cadmium Red: Writing from Color and Collage March 28, 2008

Dana Elkun
In a letter to his friend John Christie, essayist John Berger wrote, “Perhaps my favorite red is Caravaggio’s. Perhaps no red can have that passion unless a body has been painted near it or inside it. Could it be that red is the one color that is continually asking for a body?” In this creative writing workshop, we’ll learn how John Christie responded, and do our own writing about cadmium red and other colors. Then we will let our visual field expand to include many colors and layers at once, by looking to collage as a source for new writing. Gathering unlikely images together in the same room, we’ll let them lead us toward new truths. In addition to in-class writing and sharing, we’ll also read a variety of published pieces that feature color and collage. Useful to writers in any genre with any level of experience.

A $10 materials fee is payable to the instructor.

Dana Elkun received a BA from Stanford University, did fieldwork and study of West African literature and performance at University of Ghana and received an MFA from the University of Washington. She has taught poetry for the University of Washington, the University of Arizona Poetry Center, Seattle Arts and Lectures and Richard Hugo House. She also teaches writing to children in foster care and in juvenile detention. Her poems have recently appeared in Bellingham Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, MARGIE and Puerto del Sol, among other publications.

Fri 7–9 p.m. • Sat 10 a.m.–5 p.m. • Sun 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Official Website: http://www.naropa.edu/cfwebstorefb/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=246&CFID=3265701&CFTOKEN=50301602