BeatLit Workshop: The Young Poetry of Tupac Shakur

East Hartford, CT—On Friday, March 15 at 2:00 PM, Hartford Poet Laureate Frederick-Douglass Knowles II will present an interactive workshop at the East Hartford Public Library that will explore the early poems of American icon Tupac Shakur, composed during his adolescence in efforts to promote cultural empathy. Frederick-Douglass Knowles II is a poet, educator and activist involved in community education.

Imagine a young poetic voice that is powerful, yet fearful. It fears that no one wants to hear about its innermost vulnerabilities due to a cultural absence of empathy. Or a powerful young voice that is fully aware of its magnitude, but unaware of how to articulate its experience, utilizing literary techniques designed to amplify its story. Now imagine those same voices expressing themselves to the heartfelt rhythm of #BeatLit. The workshop, open to ages 11 and up, will incorporate a multi-media presentation into a generative creative writing exercise.

Frederick-Douglass Knowles II is the inaugural Poet Laureate for the City of Hartford. His works have been featured in the “Connecticut River Review,” “Sinkhole Magazine,” and “Poems on the Road to Peace: A Collective Tribute to Dr. King Volume 2,” as well as Peabody Museum of Natural History by Yale University Press, The East Haddam Stage Company of Connecticut, The 13th Annual Acacia Group Conference at California State University, “Folio” –a Southern Connecticut State University literary magazine, “Lefoko” –a Botswana, Southern Africa Hip-Hop magazine, and “Fingernails Across the Chalkboard: Poetry and Prose on HIV/AIDS” from the Black Diaspora by Third World Press.

Frederick-Douglass is currently an Associate Professor of English at Three Rivers Community College. His poem "Mason Freeman Cuts Jenkins Down," has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. His collection of poetry, “Black Rose City” was featured at the 2018 Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP).

No registration is required for this drop in program. For more information, contact Cathy Potter, Children’s and Teen Librarian. The East Hartford Public Library is located at 840 Main St., East Hartford.