Norman — Jeanetta Calhoun Mish, visiting poet and scholar with “World Literature Today” at the University of Oklahoma, will present a writing workshop for adults 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Norman Public Library, 225 N. Webster Ave.
The free event, “Weaving Family Stories into Poetry,” is presented in conjunction with “Revisiting the New Deal: Government Patronage and the fine Arts, 1933-1943,” an exhibit which runs through May 9 at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at OU.
During the Great Depression, the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt offered a New Deal to the American people to help alleviate the economic turmoil of the 1930s. Artists produced thousands of easel paintings, prints, and posters, much of which was dispersed to museums and cultural institutions in the1940s.
In addition to the visual arts, many kinds of writing were supported by the WPA Federal Writing Project, including the collection of folklore, oral histories and poetry. In the library workshop, Mish will offer writing strategies designed to preserve family histories and honor the spirit of the Federal Writers Project.
Mish invites workshop participants to bring favorite family photographs and personal stories about their lives and communities to serve as a basis for the workshop. She also suggests participants bring personal laptop computers to facilitate their writing. The library provides free WiFi for enabled computers and traditional pen and paper for participants.
Registration for the event is required and can be done in person at the library, by phone at 701-2620 or online via the calendar of events at www.justsoyouknow.us/norman.
