This workshop was designed and written by Koleka Putuma.

Remembering can be an abstract and tangible exercise.
In this workshop, we will explore how our own memories, past experiences, ways of remembering can be used as starting points for poems.

We will be detectives, looking for missing pieces to fill in the blanks.
We will be historians, traveling with our pens to the past so we can write about what we found or lost.

We will awaken memory & reinvent memory
And by doing so, we might disrupt or disturb or reorder some things that may have been forgotten.

So, let us begin by remembering.

You are going to write your own poem: Remembering using the below prompts.

Prompt 1
List 1 memory from your childhood or upbringing that you know for certain that YOU DO NOT remember.

(this can be having your diaper changed, learning how to walk, the smell of breastmilk, etc)

Prompt 2
List 1 memory from your childhood or upbringing that you know for certain you DO remember.

(this could be walking to the church on Sunday with your grandfather, this could be a smell, your favourite food, a taste, an object, a toy, a person, a sound etc)

Prompt 3
List 1 memory from your childhood or upbringing that was passed down to you.

(this could be a story that was told you by an elder in your family or community, this could be a historical event that you learned about at school, this could be a piece of information you recently discovered from the internet etc)

***

Now arrange your memories into sentences – and elaborate on some if you need – solving any missing details or lost or unclear memories as you go.

Don’t be afraid to play and piece two memories together to reinvent a new one.

E.g The year Mandela was released from prison, I learned how to walk.

This line would be a combination of 2 prompts / memories

1. A memory that was passed down to me: The year Mandela was released from prison

2. A memory I don’t remember: Learning how to walk.

There are no right or wrong answers here, you can also choose to use prompts that have not been listed. Allow yourself to remember / dig and dig and dig until you find something.

Here is a poem for inspiration: Black Joy by Koleka Putuma