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Using the Puerto Rican poet Julia de Burgos as a foundational reference, it connects feminist and anti-colonial themes to women’s identity formation. It then examines poetry communities such as the “Power Writers,” highlighting empowerment through collective reading, writing, mentorship, and constructive feedback, and shows how workshops can provide safety for free expression.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":15,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-power-of-the-poetry-club-practitioner-stories-voices-from-near-and-far/578486/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-power-of-the-poetry-club-practitioner-stories-voices-from-near-and-far/578486.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Hazel","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-21","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why does the article emphasize poetry’s power for liberation?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It presents poetry as a means to create spaces where young people can express themselves freely and build identity. The article links liberation to both individual fulfillment and social conditions that enable participation.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What role do “Power Writers” sessions play in student empowerment?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The article states that the group’s name reflects empowerment. Students gather to read and share poetry with structured participation, including a “read and feed” system of contributing writing and giving constructive feedback.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How do poetry workshops support participants in managing sensitive experiences?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It describes workshops as providing an “aesthetic safety zone” for self-expression. 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It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Educational Research and Innovation by an authorized editor of UNCOpen. For more information, please [contact](contact Nicole.Webber@unco.edu)[ Nicole.Webber@unco.edu](contact Nicole.Webber@unco.edu).  \nThe Power of the Poetry Club  \nApril Vázquez  \nUniversity of Delaware  \nYo misma fui mi ruta I was my own path  \nYo quise ser como los hombres quisieron que yo fuese: I wanted to be as men wanted me to be  \nun intento de vida; an attempt at life;  \nun juego al escondite con mi ser. a game of hide-and-seek with my own being.  \nPero yo estaba hecha de presentes, ButI was made of the present,  \ny mispies planos sobre la tierra promisora and my feet, flat on the land ofpromise,  \nno resistían caminar hacia atrás, couldn’t resist walking backward,  \ny seguían adelante, adelante, they kept going, going,  \nburlando las cenizas para alcanzar el beso mocking the ashes to reach the kiss  \nde los senderos nuevos. of new paths.  \nIn the lines above by Puerto Rican poet and activist Julia de Burgos, the poet asserts the notion that, to achieve liberation and personal fulfillment, women must forge new paths for themselves. Herself an iconoclast who broke with convention in both her writing and her life, de Burgos wove themes of feminism, anticolonialism, and personal identity into her work (Pérez Rosario, 2017) . She pushed back against oppression and hegemony, serving as a feminist icon for generations of poets to come (López Springfield, 1994) .  \nPoetry has a unique capacity for making us see the world in new ways. It  \ncreates spaces where young people can come together to read, write, and share poetry built on constructivist principles that highlight the learning that takes place at the social intersection of students, adults, and peers (Applefield et al., 2000) . These spaces offer young people a place to express themselves, as well as developing “soft skills” like critical thinking, empathy, and creativity (Wilkie, 2019) .  \nStudent empowerment is a key element of poetry spaces. The very name of the “Power Writers,” a group of teenage poets who met after hours in a New York City high school, represents this sense of empowerment. The predominantly African American, Dominican, Puerto Rican, and West Indian students and recent graduates convened on Mondays, Fridays, and even some Saturdays to read and share poetry with Joe, a high school English and music teacher. Fisher (2005), who conducted a qualitative investigation into the group’s activities, noted that the Power Writers constitute a Participatory Literacy Community (PLC) . PLCs are chosen spaces, organized outside of work and school settings, where literacy is seen as a social practice learned through participation in  \nPublished by UNCOpen, 2024 1  \nevents like open mics and writers’collectives. In Power Writers’ sessions, Joe encouraged a “read and feed” system, with everyone making contributions by a) sharing their writing and b) actively listening and giving constructive feedback to other members of the community (p. 128) . The graduates took on the role of mentors for younger poets. For this communi","cbCaivwKbsn8xDMT","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivwKbsn8xDMT","pdf",304646,"English","# The Power of Poetry as Liberation\n## Julia de Burgos and New Paths for Identity\n## Poetry Spaces and Constructivist Learning\n## Empowerment Through Participatory Literacy","[{\"question\":\"Why does the article emphasize poetry’s power for liberation?\",\"answer\":\"It presents poetry as a means to create spaces where young people can express themselves freely and build identity. The article links liberation to both individual fulfillment and social conditions that enable participation.\"},{\"question\":\"What role do “Power Writers” sessions play in student empowerment?\",\"answer\":\"The article states that the group’s name reflects empowerment. Students gather to read and share poetry with structured participation, including a “read and feed” system of contributing writing and giving constructive feedback.\"},{\"question\":\"How do poetry workshops support participants in managing sensitive experiences?\",\"answer\":\"It describes workshops as providing an “aesthetic safety zone” for self-expression. Participants can share writing on topics like sexual assault and witnessing violence in a safer environment with encouragement and feedback.\"}]","The Power of the Poetry Club - Practitioner Stories: Voices from Near and Far | PDF",1792033840,12]