New Orleans Poetry Festival, 2025
Focused on the sacredness and connectivity of water, this New Orleans Poetry Festival ekphrastic workshop is part short film screening, part immersive art exhibit, and part guided writing prompt.
“Reflections on the Water: A Guided Ekphrastic Workshop in Response to Short Conservationist Film and Experimental Art Installations.”
Focused on the sacredness and connectivity of water, this ekphrastic event is part short film screening, part immersive art exhibit, and part guided writing prompt.
This workshop was a partnership between Houston and Asheville-based artists. We were meeting in New Orleans, and after Helene, all our artists now shared an experience that many New Orleanians know well: ecological vulnerability and devastation. The artists joining Aliah Lavonne Jahan-Tigh were Liz Williams-Trader, Keagan Wheat, and Tiffany Westry.
We gathered to generate writing, yes, and also, something good and healing. This workshop was devoted to beauty, narratives of true community power, and to experiencing environmental joy.
Standing to the left, filmmaker Tiffany Westry is seen watching her film with the writers.
The first half of New Orleans Poetry Fest Workshop began with Tiffany Westry’s film(22mins), What About the Drinking Water?, an empowering story of Southern conservation and successful community action.
The workshop writers listening as they learn about the massive amount of water-protecting and purifying work riparian forests. “Riparian” means the area where the land and the water meet. For example, a forest growing next to the Cahaba River is a riparian forest.
For the second portion of this ekphrastic workshop, the stunning water-themed immersive digital project by Liz Williams-Trader, Mik Mitchell and Shani Kashani the room washed the walls in azure and cloud-colors.
A side note, this work wouldn’t be possible without artist Liz Williams-Trader’s exceptional tech ingenuity, and the inspiring and kind organizers at the New Orleans Poetry Festival.
Aliah began guiding the writers through the second prompt—a call to reflect on a moment of enviromental joy. To return to the truth that our climate and topography has brought you more than suffering—remember when you bobbed in the waves, peace settling in your chest, or when you floated down the river, sun hitting your arms, surrounding by the laughter of the friends you love?
The workshop ended with the writers sharing their poems. Because this is a national and international festival, the landscapes varied so beautifully as the attendees shared their poems.
More about this New Orleans Poetry Festival Workshop:
The first half of our journey began with Tiffany Westry’s film(22mins), What About the Drinking Water?, an empowering story of Southern conservation and successful community action. Workshop participants were then guided through a structured and approachable writing prompt based on Tiffany Westry Womack's film.
An outline of the New Orleans Poetry workshop layout:
The workshop, lasting 1 hour and 50 minutes, is divided into two parts. Part I, the film-based portion (60-75 minutes), begins with a 10-minute introduction to the artists, followed by a 5-7 minute introduction to the film and an overview of the first writing prompt. The film screening and a community update from the director take 27 minutes, leading into a 25-minute guided writing prompt.
Part II, the digital art portion (30-45 minutes), starts with a 5-minute introduction to the immersive digital artwork, followed by an 18-20 minute guided writing prompt. The workshop concludes with a 10-15 minute session for participants to share their work.