Bee Balm Arkansas is a community writing workshop, reading series, and publication that I started in October 2022. This grant will equip me to expand the workshop through: facilitating 3 traveling poet workshops and readings hosted in local arts venues; development of a unique community poetry library centered on small-press books; curriculum writing and implementation of a multi-week poetry workshop taught by me; and creating a hand-sewn chapbook that will be sold in local NWA bookstores, the second volume of the Bee Balm Arkansas chapbook series.
Julia Paganelli Marín is a poet and educator. She is the creator of Bee Balm Arkansas, a community writing experience in NWA begun in October 2022.
Julia holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Arkansas. Her publications include her chapbook, Blush Less, as well as individual poems. She has twice won the Lily Peter Fellowship in Poetry at the University of Arkansas.
Julia has more than 10 years of teaching and curriculum writing experience for high school, college-level, and adult writing classes. Her experience in community writing includes academic research, national conferences, and publication.