Writing Our Way Home: A workshop inspired by the poetry of Mary TallMountain

Mary TallMountain's poems evoke a deep sense of home and homelessness, separation and belonging. Join TallMountain’s friends and fellow poets Kitty Costello and Kim Shuck for a writing workshop that uses her work to guide us toward these themes in our own lives, in our own words.

In conjunction with the exhibit Finding Our Way Home: Mary TallMountain in the Tenderloin, TLM presents a writing workshop led by Kitty Costello and Kim Shuck inspired by the poetry of longtime Tenderloin resident and Native Alaskan (Koyukon Athabaskan) poet Mary TallMountain (1918-1994). This gathering will also draw inspiration from the Tenderloin Women’s Writers Workshop (a special project of the Tenderloin Reflection and Education Center) that ran from 1987-1993 and at which Mary TallMountain was a key participant. 

Poet Kitty Costello (pictured to the right of Mary in the event flyer) was a regular participant in the TL Women’s Writer’s Workshop and is TallMountain’s literary executor. Kim Shuck is a Cherokee Nation poet, weaver, bead work artist, and the 7th Poet Laureate of San Francisco. Both were close friends with TallMountain and are committed to stewarding her legacy. 

Join us for this special Saturday afternoon public program at which participants will craft new work alongside two of our city’s celebrated poets and to reflect on the legacy and practice of Mary TallMountain.