Projects
I am passionate about collaborative, experimental, and vulnerable creative work that might sit outside of traditional modes of writing. Recently, this has taken the form of workshops and discussions – learning spaces that are informed and inpsired by the pedagogical thinking of bell hooks and Julietta Singh. By incorporating this into my creative practice, I am thinking about writing beyond producing a single final outcome, but rather through the messy and uncertain paths that may lead us towards creativity.
FUTURE CREATURES: World-building workshop for kids
Open World, Pari
22 April, 2023
by Donnalyn Xu and Tanushri Saha
In FUTURE CREATURES, children (aged 6-12 years old) were invited to participate in a 90-minute workshop exploring possible futures through the creation of wearable art and poetry.
Participants were asked to imagine a creature/animal/thing that lives 50 years into the future. Its role is to protect the world that it lives in, inviting the children to describe a non-human being in a world they would like to live in themselves – they are the narrators of this future. The results were magical and loving universes in the form of paper masks, hats, and short poems.
Open World, Pari
22 April, 2023
by Donnalyn Xu and Tanushri Saha
In FUTURE CREATURES, children (aged 6-12 years old) were invited to participate in a 90-minute workshop exploring possible futures through the creation of wearable art and poetry.
Participants were asked to imagine a creature/animal/thing that lives 50 years into the future. Its role is to protect the world that it lives in, inviting the children to describe a non-human being in a world they would like to live in themselves – they are the narrators of this future. The results were magical and loving universes in the form of paper masks, hats, and short poems.
Exploring the Self Through Poetry: An introduction to poetic craft and the intimacy of scrutiny
Poetry workshop delivered at a local girl’s high school
2022
by Donnalyn Xu
This workshop was delivered in 2 sessions to a Year 7 and Year 9 cohort. It explored how to read poetry, form and structure, poetic techniques, and included a writing and sharing session.
The focus was on how poetry can allow us to find and explore identity, particularly through Audre Lorde’s understanding of poetry as the intimacy of scrutiny, i.e. paying careful attention to how we see and engage with the everyday world.
Poetry workshop delivered at a local girl’s high school
2022
by Donnalyn Xu
This workshop was delivered in 2 sessions to a Year 7 and Year 9 cohort. It explored how to read poetry, form and structure, poetic techniques, and included a writing and sharing session.
The focus was on how poetry can allow us to find and explore identity, particularly through Audre Lorde’s understanding of poetry as the intimacy of scrutiny, i.e. paying careful attention to how we see and engage with the everyday world.
