One of my beloved poetry mentors once said that each of us have about 3-5 obsessions that will define who we are as writers. At first, I was struck by how limiting that sounded until I realized that rather than being a constriction, it was actually empowering to not only recognize our individual obsessions, but to embrace them. In doing so we are embracing ourselves. 

Our obsessions are born from our environment, our experiences, the things that have helped and harmed us. Our obsessions rise up from our landscapes and ancestry and are deeply tied to our senses. Even when we think we’re writing about something else, usually just beneath the surface our obsessions can still be found trying to find a way in. In this two hour workshop we will not only seek to identify our obsessions, but bring them together into one powerful piece of stand alone writing—a manifesto of self.  

TERI YOUMANS is a fourth generation Floridian. She received her BFA in poetry at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and her MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She’s published two poetry collections. Her first, Dirt Eaters was chosen for the University of Central Florida’s contemporary poetry series and was published by the University Press of Florida. Her second book, Becoming Lyla Dore, was published by Red Hen Press. 

Her poetry, fiction and non-fiction/memoir have appeared in The Rumpus, Prairie Schooner, The Keepthings, Green Mountains Review, Indiana Review, South Dakota Review, Connecticut Review, Sugar House Review, Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art, and Homegrown in Florida: An Anthology of Florida Childhoods, among other journals and anthologies. She is the recipient of a Nebraska Arts Fellowship and has been awarded residencies at Millay Arts, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Hambidge Center. She has taught in Creighton University's MFA Program, at the University of North Florida, and in the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s low-res MFA program. She lives in Jacksonville, Florida.