Sundress Academy for the Arts Presents “Fragmented Histories: Exploring Identity and Cultural Memory through Erasure Poetry”

The Sundress Academy for the Arts is excited to present “Fragmented Histories: Exploring Identity and Cultural Memory through Erasure Poetry,” a workshop led by Melanie Hyo-In Han on Wednesday, February 12th, 2025, from 6:00 – 7:30 PM EST. This event will be held over Zoom. Participants can access the event at tiny.utk.edu/sundress (password: safta).

Fragmented Histories: Exploring Identity and Cultural Memory through Erasure Poetry — In this workshop, we’ll use erasure and blackout poetry to engage with fragmented histories and cultural memory. Focusing on poets Emily Jungmin Yoon and Don Mee Choi — who address war, migration, and identity through experimental forms — we’ll explore how erasure poetry reveals and reframes historical trauma. Participants will create poems from archival texts, transforming silenced narratives into spaces where marginalized voices can resurface.

After the writing exercises, we’ll reflect together on how fragmented forms can mirror cultural dislocation, personal loss, and resilience. Each participant will leave with a poem that deeply explores themes of identity, history, and memory, along with new tools for navigating complex personal and collective stories. Whether new to poetry or experienced, this session offers fresh approaches to examining identity and cultural memory.

Born in Korea and raised in East Africa, Melanie Hyo-In Han recently moved from the U.S. to the U.K. She is the author of Abecedarian: Banff, Canada (kith books, 2024), My Dear Yeast (Milk & Cake Press, 2023) and Sandpaper Tongue, Parchment Lips (Finishing Line Press, 2021), as well as the translator of several collections of Spanish poetry (Hebel Ediciones). Han has received fellowships from Sundress Academy and Banff Centre and is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Flora Fiction and Two Languages Prize Editor at Gasher Press. Learn more about her at melaniehan.com.

While there is no fee to participate in this workshop, those who are able and appreciative may make donations directly to Melanie Hyo-In Han via PayPal Info: emman.roussel@gmail.com

This event is brought to you in part by grants provided by the Tennessee Arts Commission.

The Sundress Academy for the Arts (SAFTA) is a writers residency and arts collective that hosts workshops, retreats, and residencies for writers in all genres including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, journalism, academic writing, playwriting, and more.