Musical Influences in Writing Workshop

Write On, Door County (writeondoorcounty.org) will host poet Vida Cross as writer-in-residence the week of June 2, culminating in a presentation and writing workshop June 8, 1-4 pm, in Glas Coffeehouse’s conference room. Tuition is $45 per person; scholarships are available to Door County students and educators. Jazz, blues, gospel and classical music have long influenced writers, and Cross – who earned a 2018 Pushcart Prize nomination and a Cave Canem fellowship – will discuss the impact music has had on such authors as James Baldwin and Toni Morrison. She will also lead participants in writing exercises inspired by music and share how blues music influenced her debut poetry collection, Bronzeville at Night: 1949 – an exploration of the Chicago neighborhood to which her grandparents moved from Mississippi, and where she grew up.