Poetry Prompt
Everyday Dada: An Easy Intro to Writing Your Own Surrealistic Poetry
By Millicent Borges Accardi
Loosely adapted from A Book of Surrealist Games (1995) by Alastair Brotchie
I created this fun challenge to help poets engage with their writing in playful and, hopefully, astonishing ways, to relax, take chances, and recalibrate (breaking some rules of disbelief) in a guided, safe way, using everyday things as inspiration. At a CantoMundo workshop in Austin, taught by Roberto Tejada in 2012, I was introduced to the notion of playing surrealist games as an entry point for broadening my poetry vocabulary. After that, I took what I learned and taught surrealism poetry workshops at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, at the Gathering at Keystone College and, most recently, at Poetry Camp on Zoom.