Messy and Brite: Writing the Love Poem with Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo This Sunday

Plus, listen to Xochitl-Julisa on Poetry Unbound and on The Poetry Saloncast Here

(Re)Introducing you to Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo

Last year we were able to interview the poet, Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo about her latest book, Incantation: Love Poems for Battle Sites (MouthFeel Press). This Sunday we welcome Xochitl-Julisa back to teach a workshop on writing the love poem. Paid subscribers will see the link to register for this workshop at the bottom of this post. If you missed our interview with Xochitl-Julisa last year, I’m sharing it again below.

How Love Leads to Revolutions: My Interview with Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo

You can also hear Padraig O’ Tuama discuss her poem, Battlegrounds, here.

Nikki Giovani wrote, “i lay at the foot / of my bed and smell / the sweat of your feet.” Sandra Cisneros wrote, “I want you inside / the mouth of my heart.” Sonia Sanchez wrote, “you are tattooed on the round/soft/parts of me.” In this one-hour writing lab, we will explore love poems from the 20 th and 21 st century and use them as jumping off points for our own poems of romantic and sensual love. With a focus on the “you,” we will get down to what Eileen Myles calls the “messy & brite” parts of worship, obsession, and the body.

Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and the author of Incantation: Love Poems for Battle Sites (Mouthfeel Press) and Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge (Sundress Publications). A former Steinbeck Fellow and Poets & Writers California Writers Exchange winner, she’s received residencies from Hedgebrook, Ragdale, Yefe Nof, Jentel, and National Parks Arts Foundation in partnership with Gettysburg National Military Park and Poetry Foundation. Her poem “Battlegrounds” was featured at Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day, On Being’s Poetry Unbound, and the anthology, Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World (W.W. Norton). Her poetry and essays can be found at Acentos Review, Huizache, LA Review of Books, The Offing, [Pank], Santa Fe Writers Project, and other journals. She is the director of Women Who Submit. Inspired by her Chicana identity, she works to cultivate love and comfort in chaotic times.

Paid subscribers will see the link to all Sunday special events below.