Malibu Poet Laureate John Struloeff will host a free virtual poetry workshop on Saturday, Jan. 16, starting at 11 a.m.
All Malibuites 18 and up are welcome to attend, though all must RSVP online by Friday, Jan. 15, to receive the Zoom link and agree to abide by certain etiquette guidelines. Sign up at MalibuCity.org/Poetry. The workshop will be capped at 25 participants.
Participants do not need to bring poems ahead of time.
“As a group, participants will read and analyze poems written by published authors. Dr. Stuloeff will provide prompts, ideas and poetry writing strategies to the group, who will be given time to write a poem during the workshop,” a city staff representative wrote in an email to The Malibu Times.
Struloeff, Malibu’s third poet laureate, also directs Pepperdine’s creative writing program and has had his own work published in dozens of literary journals and magazines. According to the city’s website, he has been involved in the poet laureate program since its inception. He will serve in the role until June 1, 2021.
Struloeff will also host poetry events in the upcoming months: In February, he is scheduled to host a Caffeinated Verse event with the theme of Love and Relationships, and in March, he plans to host another poetry workshop. This month’s poetry workshop and March’s are not continuous, so anyone can join at any time.
He is also involved in producing the city’s 2021 Community Poetry Anthology, which is themed, “Who We Are.” Struloeff will be emphasizing that theme during the workshop, hoping that participants might contribute poetry for the book.