Educational Background/Training

• B.A. Sociology Randolph Macon Woman’s College
• M.F.A. Creative Writing Randolph College
• Alum Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference

About the Artist/Ensemble

Angela Dribben is an autistic artist and writer creating in the Appalachian region of Virginia. She has served her literary community as the Contributing Reviews Editor for Cider Press Review, and a Contributing Poetry Editor for Cave Wall. She is co-founder & co-host of Poetry Society of Virginia’s monthly Virginia Voices. She currently serve as VP of Poetry Society of Virginia’s West region. She enjoys being in service as an advisory panelist, adjudicator, editor, workshop leader, and peer reviewer for various fellowships and contests.

Dribben’s debut collection, Everygirl, finalist for the 2020 Broadkill Review Dogfish Head Prize, was released with Main Street Rag. She placed in Blue Mountain Review’s Women of Resilience chapbook contest, Crack the Spine’s poetry contest, and Bellingham Review’s 49th Parallel Poetry Contest. Her most recent work can be found or is forthcoming in Los Angeles Review, Orion, Coffin Bell, Split Rock Review, and others.

She leads multi-genre creative writing workshops for adults, Grief Writing Workshops for adults, Poetry Club for middle-schoolers, Ekphrastic workshop for teens, and found poetry workshops for all ages. She has co-taught Professional Development classes teaching teachers how to teach poetry. Essentially, the poets taught by modeling. They introduced teachers to the poet inside themselves.

Her approach to art and literature is the same as her approach to living. It is a journey of inquiry and joy. She writes to unravel language and the role it plays in cultural beliefs. She labors over language to name the bones connecting me to the world around me. She writes in search of a language of equity, a way of seeing that is both honest and fair. Literature serves as a vehicle to make art of even the ugliest memory. It is in that making that she finds hope.

This never-ending search is what Angela Dribben brings to people she has the fortune to work with. Because it is an exploration, everyone is met where they are. She reflects back to others the gifts she sees in their work. As someone entrusted with leadership, she feels it is her responsibility to meet each person’s work with the excitement that she would want for my own. After all, how one responds to another’s work says far more about them than it ever will about the work itself.

Educational Program Description

Youth Workshops

 If the workshop duration is one visit for one school block (typically 60-90 minutes), the poet will work with the educator to choose one topic that supports the student’s current curriculum focus and learning styles.

For example, if a history class is beginning a segment on the US Constitution, the poet may use Redaction (Erasure) and Visual Poetry to encourage student engagement with the document. This allows the student to comprehend and respond in a way that internalizes the subject matter making it personal and interesting.

Another example would be to use the poetic form of Centos to examine a segment on Edgar Allen Poe.

A series allows more in-depth exploration of the craft of poetry and the possibilities of language. It allows students to experience many different perspectives and begin to understand what poetic approaches best suit the individual. There is time for more in-depth conversation and work.

The poet will coordinate with the educator prior to the session to make the best use of the time. Whether a single class or a series, the poet will consider the current learning objectives of the students and craft the lessons of poetry and art around that.

This format can also be used outside of the classroom in a community center or a library. In this setting there may be less need to adhere to educational objectives. In which case, parameters such as age and community interests could drive the topic. One example of a community youth workshop is “Where I’m From.” The students will utilize tools like maps, photos, and other ephemera to create visual poetry exploring ways to define “Where I’m From.”

Teacher Professional Development Workshops

These workshops promote the use of poetry in educational and in community settings by bringing a workshop(s) to the professionals in the given field that blends together didactic and experiential learning.

Audiences

• Elementary Students
• Secondary (Middle/High School) Students
• Adults