ACCUTE/CWC Webinar Series: Poetic Witnessing: Exploring the Black Mediterranean

March 26, 3:00 PM EDT/ 1:00 PM MDT/ 12:00 PM PDT 

Poetic Witnessing: Exploring the Black Mediterranean contemplates the concept of the Black Mediterranean, particularly within the context of the contemporary refugee crisis, through the medium of poetry. The goal is to assess the capacity of poetry to address and bear witness to the region’s history, complexities, and significance within our present context. Our webinar includes original poetry readings, each emerging from analogous diasporas and offering responses to the archives of the Black Mediterranean. Following the readings, a discussion among the presenters will elucidate the creative processes, sources of inspiration, and the challenges faced while engaging with the Black Mediterranean through poetry. 

FREE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

Panelists:

Cornel Bogle writes, researches, and teaches in the fields of Black, Caribbean, and diasporic literatures, creative writing, and auto/biography studies. His critical and creative writing has been published in journals including Studies in Canadian Literature, sx salon, and Topia: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies. Cornel is the Book Reviews editor of the Journal of West Indian Literature and an Assistant Professor of English at Simon Fraser University.  

Shazia Hafiz Ramji is the author of Port of Being. She received a 2023 Critic’s Desk Award from ARC Poetry magazine and was a finalist for the 2023 Alberta Magazine Awards. Shazia is a Killam Laureate and SSHRC (CGS-D) Doctoral Fellow in English at the University of Calgary. She lives in western Canada and London, UK, where she is at work on a novel.  

Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike is Assistant Professor in the Department of English, University of Calgary. His teaching and research interests include African and African Diaspora literatures, postcolonial literatures, gender and sexuality, cultural studies, and creative writing. Umezurike is the author of literary works such as there’s more (U of A Press), Double Wahala, Double Trouble (Griots Lounge), Wish Maker (Masobe Books), and a co-editor of Wreaths for a Wayfarer (Daraja Press).