2023 Poetry Coalition Themed Programming: Poetry & Grief

For 2023, Kundiman, in partnership with the Poetry Coalition, participated in month-long programming to promote poetry within our daily lives and communities. The theme for March was “and so much lost you’d think / beauty had left a lesson: Poetry & Grief,” inspired by Ed Roberson’s poem “once the magnolia has blossomed.” The Poetry Coalition invites us to consider how poetry can inspire conversations about grief.

For our seventh year, we continued our Postcard Project tradition of sending postcard poems every day throughout the month of March. Kundiman Fellows and the community participated in their annual Postcard Project, involving writing and mailing postcard poems and engaging with the theme of poetry and grief. Weekly photo recaps of the Postcard Project are shared here and on our social media!

Kundiman also hosted a 1-day poetry workshop "Writing Grief: Somatic Rituals for Revision” with Rona Luo, where we explored somatic exercises in preparing for the revision process and opening new possibilities for writing. This workshop welcomed both those working through grief and anyone interested in exploring embodied practices for revision.

2023 Postcard Gallery

By Kyle Lucia Wu

Two image-facing postcards of landmarks in front of a writing-facing postcard on a wooden table.

By Shan Rao

A display of seven colorful, collage postcards on a wooden table.

By Charity E. Yoro

A collage postcard with a bird and butterfly facing each other, with the caption "Greetings from / tomorrow's rain,”

By Na Mee

Two postcards with tiger stamps and an image-facing postcard with a cow and the caption "Moo La La" on a wooden table with beaded bracelets.

By Shirley Cai

Two postcards with a panda face and polar bear displayed on a wooden table.

By Emperatriz Ung

Three postcard poems with a rock on a wooden table surrounded by four image-facing postcards with illustrations of women.

By Michelle Naka Pierce

Postcards splayed on a wooden table in an inner circle and outer circle in the shape of an eye.

By Hannah Kang

Two postcards with butterflies on them, a pen, and a crocheted heart sit on top of another postcard.

By Shirley Cai

Two postcard poems with Sesame Street stamps, and two image-facing postcards with penguins and a fox.

By Emperatriz Ung

A rock and sea shell sit beside a postcard with an illustration of a golden spider lily and a hand written postcard.

Weekly Prompts and Suggested Readings

During the month of March, Kundiman Fellows participated in discussing the suggested prompts and readings focused on the theme of Poetry & Grief. We hope that these suggested prompts and reading are informative and serve as a way to start your poems discussing grief!

PROMPTS:

Who or what could I count on to comfort me through my grief? This can be a family member, a best friend, a special place just outside of the city, a nostalgic home-cooked meal, a folktale, a song, or anything/anyone you may lean on for emotional support during times of anguish and healing.
What lessons and wisdom have you pocketed in persevering through grief? Would you say there is beauty within those lessons?
What is a piece of wisdom someone deserves to hear in their cope with grief? How can a person learn to “build their own monument” or pack meals for their own “graveyard picnics”?
What does my body need when I am sitting with my feelings? Does it make my heart pang, or make my voice parched? Does it make me sink that I need to stretch my limbs as tall as they can? What is the physical asking of you?

Writing Grief: Somatic Rituals for Revision with Rona Luo

Rona Luo guiding students through the rundown of steps toward somatic rituals and revisions for poetry.

On March 25th, Kundiman hosted Writing Grief: Somatic Rituals for Revision — a free 90-minute virtual, revision-focused workshop led by poet and acupuncturist Rona Luo. Attendees were invited to participate in a series of somatic exercises, followed by a prompt to make physical interventions to the “body” of a poem in revision. This class posits that as stories of grief are stored in the body, a poem itself is also a body that has resonance and connection to our own bodies. As part of our Poetry Coalition March programming, this free workshop was made possible in part with funds from the Academy of American Poets provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Thank you to all who attended, and a big thank you to Rona for leading such a transformative workshop. Thank you also to SignNexus and Pro Bono ASL for providing live captioning and ASL translation throughout the class.

Writing Grief: Somatic Rituals for Revision with Rona Luo Testimonials

“Rona Luo was a fantastic guide to explore embodiment practices as writers. I felt so held and seen by the exercises and Rona's framing. Yet again, Kundiman also creates another beautiful space for inspiration to take root and blossom.” – Kathleah Pagdilao

“This session illuminated dark areas of my writings, places I've ignored previously or haven't given much attention to. Like tending a houseplant, Rona effectively guided the Zoom room through acknowledging pains, giving attention to them, and then activated them through creativity in a positive way. I was particularly struck by the creative process of "intervening" the traumatic material with what it needs, such as literally cutting it into pieces or rearranging them. It felt like a step in the healing process.” – Elizabeth Ung

“I loved this class because of its very practical, effective approach to somatic exercises that can be used when writing about grief or other difficult subject matters. As a person with chronic muscular pain, I appreciated the exercises introduced by the instructor to release tension and grief from the body, and translate it into writing.” – Javeria Hasnain

2023 Postcard Project Testimonials

“It was so lovely to have something so tangible this month. I loved getting to pick out my postcards & bring them to the mailbox every few days—it became a kind of ritual. Writing such small snippets for each postcard was a lovely break from my usual writing process, and I'm excited to revisit the beginnings of poems I have and see where they take me!” – Shan Rao

“I am so grateful for the Postcard Project. Being part of this project helped me develop and flex my writing muscle, but above all, it made me realize how powerful it can be to receive a hand-written meditation. Whenever I received a postcard in the mailbox, I stopped what I was doing and took the time to think deeply about what was being said about grief, loss, and the world around us. It was always my favorite part of the week. This project has taught me so much more about grief and about how to foster connection through words.” – Shirley Cai

This project was supported by the Academy of American Poets with funds from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.