Salon Nights: Poetry Workshop with Gabriela Orozco   

Brush up on your writing skills with 2019 DC Youth Poet Laureate, Gabriela Orozco, during a workshop exploring themes of identity, community, and creativity through the art of poetry.

Orozco will share her poetry and highlight other Jewish poets that inspire her. Grab a notebook and choose from creative prompts to guide your own writing process. Then share your work (if you are so inclined) with fellow attendees.  From hobbyist to expert – all skill levels are welcome.

Gabriela Orozco is the 2019 DC Youth Poet Laureate and the 2020 DC Youth Grand Slam Champion and has read her poetry at venues across the DC region. Her debut chapbook, Child of Borrowed Churches, was released in October 2021 at Planet Word Museum and is now sold out. Orozco is currently an undergraduate at Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she studies Jewish History and Comparative Literature, respectively.

Books, Barbed wire and the Bible

I’m told I left the gate unlocked
so I raise the stakes and study
as if I am commanded to/like I am supposed to
Seclude myself and lace the steel
gates my uncle rescued from
his synagogue around my neck

The rest is all commentary.
….but then, oh ignorance,
….how will you strangle me?

Yolanda Savage-Narva, Event Chair

Part of the Museum’s new Jews of Color Creative Workshops Series. Presented in partnership with Mosaic Visions and the Spirit of Humanity Festival.