The Writhing Society: Beautiful Outlaws, Beautiful In-Laws, and Poems for Dogs

The Writhing Society practices writing under constraints, combining a class with a salon. This is nothing like a typical writing workshop. This is a process-oriented workshop for people who are interested in potentiality, possibility, and the unexpected. We experiment by imposing specific and arbitrary rules, known as constraints, upon already-existing texts or texts that we create from scratch. We practice the experiments in a relaxed, supportive, playful—yet not undisciplined—atmosphere, and we welcome new members.

In this session, we will play with texts that can haunt and be haunted: a belle absente, or Beautiful Outlaw, constructs a text by omitting the letters found in a name. A beau présent, Beautiful In-Law, works in the opposite way, limiting itself to just the letters in that name. We will also write Poems for Dogs, in which the sounds of a dog’s name (or someone else’s) are embedded into a piece. The name itself is not there, but the listening dog will sit up. All will be explained: no prior knowledge of constrained writing is required.

Guests can purchase tickets to attend in person at 144 Montague or virtually via Zoom. Advance online ticket sales for in-person attendance will end at 12 PM on the day of the event. After that, tickets for in-person attendance can be purchased at the door until we reach capacity; tickets for virtual attendance will be available until the start of the event at 1 PM. A Zoom link will be emailed to all ticket holders.

Closed captions will be available for the event through the Zoom livestream. For more information and to request additional accommodations, contact us at bkp@brooklynpoets.org.

Note that by attending, you agree to abide by our code of conduct and COVID-19 policy below. Brooklyn Poets reserves the right to dismiss from our programs any participant found to be in violation of these policies. Thank you for respecting our community.

COVID-19 Policy

Effective 2024, all event attendees are required to wear masks due to the current prevalence of cases in NYC. Masks will be available at the door.

The current metrics available, including NYC wastewater data and the CDC’s Respiratory Virus Activity Levels, both indicate high levels of COVID and other illnesses. While your personal risk tolerance may vary, the unmitigated spread of COVID and other respiratory illnesses disproportionately affects the most vulnerable in our community—including those who are immunocompromised or don’t have the privilege of paid sick days to heal and recover. We hope you’ll join us in taking the actions we can to make our space welcoming to all and to keep each other safe. Please stay home if you are experiencing symptoms, have a positive COVID test or someone close to you has recently tested positive.

We strongly encourage daytime visitors and workshop attendees to wear masks. Workshop instructors may choose to enforce a more stringent policy at their own discretion. Additionally, workshop participants may be required to wear masks as an accessibility accommodation for other participants.

While we do our best, Brooklyn Poets cannot guarantee zero risk. A risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in all public settings. By entering the building, students, teachers and other attendees accept the risk of exposure and knowingly waive and release Brooklyn Poets from any liability related to COVID-19.

Brooklyn Poets Code of Conduct

Brooklyn Poets will not tolerate any instances of discrimination, harassment or abuse in conjunction with any of our programs. Respect and consideration for others, both within and outside our programs, are core values to be upheld by all participants. Discrimination against and/or harassment of community members on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, national origin, religion, age, marital status, veteran status or any other factor is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Program participants are expected to adhere to all federal, state and local laws and regulations. Should a board or staff member, independent contractor, volunteer or program participant be found to violate any aspect of the organization’s code of conduct, Brooklyn Poets reserves the right to dismiss them from the program. Consequences may include, but not be limited to, dismissal from the current activity, suspension, ineligibility for all future activities, and/or loss of payment or fees. If you have any issues to report, please do not hesitate to contact anyone on our Conduct Committee and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Deputy Director r kay: kay@brooklynpoets.org
Executive Director & Board Treasurer Jason Koo: koo@brooklynpoets.org
Board Director Miller Oberman: miller.oberman@gmail.com