A Form Poetry Writing workshop with Zainab Ummer Farook by Usawa
About the Workshop
Over the course of the workshop, we will look at three forms—the sonnet, the duplex, and the sestina—and think through what it means to write in an established form. Why bother writing in specific forms at all? Can formal constraints inspire creativity, or do we break the structural rules to make our poems work? Does a certain form attract a certain kind of subject/theme? Wait, what even is form actually? Together, we will explore these lines of enquiry as Zainab reflects on her attempts at the three forms. She will also talk about inventing her own form, the matryoshka, and how it emerged from her thematic preoccupations of inheritance and motherhood.
Key Takeaways
- Familiarise yourself with the origins and structures of sonnet, sestina, duplex
- Examine 2-3 representative poems for each form
- Identify helpful strategies that can make it easier to write in these forms
- Try making up your own form
- Broaden our collective notion of what ‘form’ entails
- A list of further readings on forms
About the Facilitator
Zainab Ummer Farook believes in the magic of picture books and a well-made cup of lemon tea. She was a 2023 South Asia Speaks Fellow, and won the 2024 Toto Funds the Arts Award for Creative Writing in English as well as the 2025 Osmosis Poetry Prize. Her poems have been featured in Muse India, nether Quarterly, The Bombay Literary Magazine, and Scroll.in, among others. Having grown up mostly in Kozhikode, she now lives in Bangalore and loves to splurge on dessert.
Details of the workshop
Where: Online (over Zoom)
Batch 1: Nov 22
Batch 2: Nov 23
Time: 10 AM – 1 PM IST
Fees: INR 1,250
This workshop has concluded. Check our currently open workshops.