Inspiring Poetry Workshop by Gina Loring

The Multicultural Affairs department presented a soul to speak workshop created by poet, vocalist and professor Gina Loring. Loring started creating poetry when she was a teenager. She graduated from Spelman College, and from there, she became a full-time poet and toured internationally. Throughout her journey, she carried a motto “Breathe, smile, then look the demon in the eye & sucker punch that MF with a poem.”

"The performance by Gina Loring exceeded my expectations and left me speechlessly immersed in deep thought and emotion," said Dr. Gould, Eastern New Mexico University.

Loring said, “Soul speak workshops writing prompts are designed to help you up-level your life by empowering your voice, we all have a story to tell, and we are all worthy to be heard. Let's go! Your voice is your liberation.”

After a short PowerPoint of who she is, she followed with an empowering poem that she had written. The goal was to inspire the rest of the class to create a heartfelt poem, as well. After her poem, she had the class grab a paper and pen to create their own poems, which she led with a series of soul-digging questions.

When she was done leading the class to create their own poems, Loring opened up the mic for a few people to read their poems to the class. We had the joy of listening to three amazing poems before the hour-long class came to an end.

This class was truly inspiring. To learn more about Gina Loring, visit her website at www.ginaloring.com. They can also add her to her social media accounts which are posted on her website.