Register for the virtual workshop at bit.ly/TheHillsWeClimb

Amanda Gorman’s powerful inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb” states that “it’s the past we step into / and how we repair it.” In this generative writing workshop, we will step into the past, our pasts, and write about impactful memories from childhood to the present that reflect our identities, neighborhoods, lives, and experiences in the context of the times. We will discuss how to break silences in writing and write about when we began to experience and/or witness social inequities up to the present. Through guided writing exercises, we will begin to make further meaning from these memories in an effort to better understand our personal and communities’ current needs to help us envision equitable and socially just futures for all community members.

Though not required, please feel free to have photographs or objects nearby that help spark your memories.

Emmy Pérez, Texas Poet Laureate 2020 and co-founder of Poets Against Walls, is the author of With the River on Our Face and Solstice. She is a professor of creative writing at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and also serves as associate director of the Center for Mexican American Studies. Currently, she is the 2021 Consulting Artist-in-Residence for the Just Futures project with UTSA in collaboration with La Esperanza.

For questions, call 210.228.0201 or email esperanza@esperanzacenter.org