Every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the historical Leimert Park, The World Stage hosts the Anansi Writers Workshop for any creatives looking to deepen and expand their skills. In an exclusive interview with former workshop facilitator, V. Kali, the Sentinel was able to gain greater understanding of how and why the workshop was developed.
“The actual World Stage was founded by Billy Higgins and Kamau Daood in 1989. Kamau had come from the Watts Writers Workshop and he founded Anansi in 1990, and I’ve been there since 1992…I facilitated it solo for thirteen years before 2024,” Vali revealed.
“When I got to the world stage, there were groups of young people who had just graduated from college. Now, they’re Pulitzer nominees, they’re on Los Angeles Times and New York Times bestseller lists.”
Today, a wide and impressive array of wordsmiths attend the donation-encouraged workshop weekly. It has a tried-and-true, three-part agenda: artists arrive at 7:30 p.m. to show new works and receive suggestions, then the nights’ featured writers share their poetry. excerpts, or performances, and last, the facilitator hosts an open mic where anyone can share their completed works.
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Some audience members attend not as performing participants, but as supporters and engaged listeners. On one Wednesday night that featured a performance from the female collective ‘The Ovary Office,’ an attendee noted, “I’ve learned more about women here, through poetry, than in any movie.”
“This space is created for us, by us,” remarked Kali. “It’s created for our survival, our growth, our history, it’s our medicine.”
“Being connected is so important. It’s what holds us up and keeps us together. If we don’t tell our stories, not only will they not get told, but somebody else will make up some [stuff],” advised
Kali.
The workshop is a space in which all ages are invited to share their perspectives and stories; parents bring their teens, young adults come of their own volition, those in the middle stages of their lives sharpen their abilities, and elders share their wisdom.
“The generations merge in this place: you aren’t too young, and you aren’t too old.
Multi-generational access is necessary because the world is just waiting for you to tell you all kinds of [stuff] that ain’t true. If you’re not getting your foundation built sturdily enough, then when you go out into the world, you fall apart. You grow up differently when you have a village,” said Kali.
The workshop is now in the safe hands of co-facilitators and long-time attendees, Jessica Gallion and Nadia Hunter Bay. Writers are welcome to share and learn more about the gift of words, which Kali recognizes as a deeply revolutionary modality:
“When we are unable to express in the ways that will help us the most, when you’re at the job and you’re being oppressed and you can’t speak up, writing is quiet. It transfers what is in the mind, heart, spirit, and soul systems. Writing is sacred.”
For updates on events and schedule changes, visit the Anansi Writers Workshop page on Facebook.