Social justice poetry, poetry of dissent, protest poetry, poetry of witness, political poetry—many names exist for the kind of poems PARH USA members write. But in every name is the word “poetry.” In the PARH USA Social Justice Poetry Workshop, we urge participants to keep in mind that they are poets, not propagandists. That a social justice poem is at its essence a work of art. Therefore, we emphasize in the workshop the importance of considering form and other poetic devices when creating social justice poems. Beginning with this post, we intermittently will use our blog to explore this idea further and provide associated writing prompts.
One form used effectively for social justice poetry is the epistolary poem, or a poem written in the form of a letter. Writing epistolary poems dealing with ethical dilemmas dates to the first century BCE, when Horace established the form and used it to deliver social commentary. In the more recent past and through to today, poets have continued to rely on the epistolary form to convey social justice messaging. In a recent PARH USA virtual workshop on the subject, facilitators Pauletta Hansel and Tabassam Shah offered these compelling examples: “Abeyance” by Rebecca Foust, “American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin” by Terrance Hayes, and “dear white america” by Danez Smith.
Taking cues from letters, epistolary poems address an individual, a group, or an entity and come to be in a specific place and time. As well, they often are written for a particular reason. They may mimic the colloquial feel of a letter, clearly identify the addressee, and include parts such as a date, a salutation, or a close. Or they may not quite do any of these things.
In our workshop, Pauletta and Tabassam noted several aspects of the form that can be helpful to consider when writing an epistolary poem. For example, it is important to think about how your poem can address both the addressee and a larger audience, what conventions of a letter you want to replicate in your poem, where you will invite the reader into the conversation and where you may give the impression of excluding the reader, and how you might employ poetic devices to bolster the poem’s impact while maintaining the impression of a letter. Another significant consideration is this: Why use the form at all for your social justice poem? Will it help you convey your message in a way that another form or free verse might not? If so, how?
Additionally, remember that you are writing a social justice poem. For a social justice poem to have its hoped-for effect, it must be read or heard by others. How might you reach the public? Because of the letter-like nature of an epistolary poem, you may devise creative ways for doing this, such as by reading it to lawmakers at a public event or submitting it to a newspaper as a letter to the editor.
Ready to try writing an epistolary social justice poem? We have two prompts for you. The first is one Pauletta and Tabassam provided that we want to share here to benefit a wider audience than just those who attended our workshop. (Examples of poems generated from the workshop prompt can be found in a collection of works published on our Featured Poem page.) The other is a prompt we developed for this post.
Prompt 1: Write an epistolary postcard poem. Your poem should refer to an image on a postcard (imagined or remembered), have the feel of a postcard communiqué, be no longer than six sentences/90 words, include figurative language, and contain an opening and ending address (e.g., Dear… Yours…).
Prompt 2: Recall a moment when you encountered a difficult decision, realization, or hard truth about racism, bigotry, or hate. Write about it in an epistolary poem with your closest confidant as the addressee.
Combining the deeply personal act of writing a letter with the cerebral and impassioned art of writing a social justice poem can lead to extraordinary results. Find out where the epistolary form might take your work! And consider submitting any resulting poems for potential inclusion on our Featured Poem page (see submission guidelines here).