WRITE BAD: POEMS THAT BREAK THE SILENCE
Facilitated by: Roya Marsh
This is a generative writing workshop, open to all skill levels.
$5 Donation.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
This workshop space will inspire writers to confront their fears and doubts with unapologetic courage and creativity. Write Bad is the space to be your most daring self and write the thing you’ve been running from. We will look at the work of Barbara Fant, Donte Collins and KB Brookins. Participants will be called to continue writing beyond the session, reminding them that the act of writing boldly is an ongoing practice. Courage is the most important tool in our writing toolkit.
ABOUT THE FACILITATOR
Bronx, New York native, Roya Marsh is a poet, performer, educator, and activist. She is the author of dayliGht, a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Lesbian Poetry and SAVINGS TIME (MCDXFSG). Roya works feverishly toward Queer liberation and dismantling white supremacy. She is the co-founder of the Bronx Poet Laureate, a PEN America Emerging Voices Mentor, Lambda Literary faculty, and the awardee of the Lotos Foundation Prize for Poetry and the 2024 Bronx Recognizes Its Own (BRIO) Grant from Bronx Council on the Arts. Roya’s work has been featured widely including, The Academy of American Poets, Poetry Magazine, Electric Literature, the Village Voice, Nylon Magazine, Huffington Post, The Root, Button Poetry, BAM, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Apollo Theater, Joe’s Pub, Lexus Verses and Flow, On One with Angela Rye, BET and The BreakBeat Poets Vol 2: Black Girl Magic(Haymarket 2018).
THE STOOP PROJECT: SUMMER SERIES 2025
Hosted by A Gathering of the Tribes, The Stoop Project: Summer Series 2025 features a curated selection of generative writing workshops by bearded poet Thomas Fucaloro. Sessions are open to all skill levels and will be held in person every third Monday from June through August 2025 at The Center’s bookstore, Bureau of General Services—Queer Division, in NYC. Each workshop will be led by a different facilitator and focus on a unique theme. A $5 donation reserves your spot — see calendar for all event listings.
In tandem with the workshops, each month Tribes will select a featured book from The Center’s Bookstore, Bureau of General Services—Queer Division.
THE HISTORY OF THE STOOP
The Stoop Poetry Workshop (1991–1995) was established and facilitated by Tribes’ founder Steve Cannon with fellow Lower East Side poet Bob Holman. Conceived on the stoop of Cannon’s East 3rd Street residence, the workshop served as a creative incubator held before the Nuyorican Poets Café’s Friday Night Slams — allowing poets to refine their work and perform it the same evening. An extraordinary roster of poets participated in the Workshop, including reg e. gaines, Edwin Torres, Tracie Morris, Dana Bryant, Mia Hansford, Keith Roach, Paul Beatty, Willie Perdomo, Dael Orlandersmith, Ed Morales, Ra, and Mike Tyler.
Building on Cannon’s ethos of “Each one, teach one,” The Stoop Project expands the original vision of the Workshop by inviting a wide array of guest facilitators to carry forward its spirit of collective growth, experimentation, and intergenerational exchange.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
The winner of numerous grants from the Staten Island Council of the Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, and NYC Commission of Human Rights, to name a few. Thomas Fucaloro has been on six national slam teams. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the New School and is a co-founding editor of Great Weather for Media and NYSAI Press. He is an adjunct professor at Wagner College, BMCC, and CSI, where he teaches various poetry and literature courses. Thomas is the cofounder of Poetry in the Park, WORDPLAY, Creating Space, Poetry in Motion, and Creativity Meets Geek. Thomas has released 2 full-length albums: It Starts From the Belly and Blooms, and Inheriting Craziness is a Soft Halo of Light by Three Rooms Press. He also has 4 chapbooks: Mistakes Disguised as Stars (Tired Hearts Press), Depression Cupcakes (Yes, Poetry), There is Always Tomorrow (Mad Gleam Press), and The Only Gardening I Do is When I Give Up by Finishing Line Press. His new chapbook LE(t)GO is out by Neuronautic Press.