The Poem as Protest

Poetry lives in a world of multitudes – it moves through us hungry and delectable, fleeting and resonant, sonic and physical, as both an act of remembrance and erasure. When reading poetry, we invite an unnamable force to make a home of us, to rewire our body and mind. In this way, the act of reading or writing a poem is transformative, rebellious even. In this course, you will be encouraged to lean into this rebellious nature, to imagine the poem as an agent of change, an act of protest – against social injustice and gender norms, against false narratives and personal misbeliefs, against opposers of love, land, and humanity. You will read and discuss short poems that navigate an expansive idea of “protest,” responding to related prompts with your own spontaneous writing. Leave feeling affirmed, energized, and empowered. Led by Ashley Wynter. Collaborator: More Than a Single Story. This program is funded with money from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Ashley E. Wynter is a writer, editor, curator, and community organizer living in Saint Paul, MN. Invested in the transformative power of storytelling, Wynter is also the poetry mentor and program coordinator for More Than a Single Story’s emerging black writers program. Her award-winning poetry has been supported by the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Loft Mentor Series, the Carolyn Moore Writers Residency, the Tofte Lake Center National Emerging Artist Residency, and most recently, a 2025-28 Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship. Wynter’s poems have appeared, or are forthcoming, in the Black Warrior Review, Torch Literary Arts, The Florida Review, New Millenium, and elsewhere.