Verses on Verses: Writing Workshop with Julian Randall!

A generative workshop on verse storytelling where students craft their own poetic short story seeds run by Chicago poet Julian Randall!

A generative workshop on verse storytelling and the narrative power of poetry, led by Chicago poet and author Julian Randall. After a brief warmup exercise, Verses on Verses pulls influence from legends such as Jason Reynolds, Lupe Fiasco, Liz Acevedo and Afaa Michael Weaver to explore how different artist structure story detail and character arc into their poetry. For the prompt, we will empower students to craft their own poetic short stories and share with the group at the end.

Workshop participants will leave with new writing and a coupon to preorder Julian's forthcoming novel in verse Shook.

Julian Randall is a Living Queer Black poet from Chicago. A recipient of multiple fellowships, including a Pushcart Prize. He holds an MFA from University of Mississippi. His writing appears in New York Times Magazine, POETRY, PEOPLE and The Atlantic. Julian is the author of Refuse (Pitt, 2018), winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and a finalist for an NAACP Image Award, The Pilar Ramirez Duet (Holt Books for Young Readers), and the forthcoming Shook (August 4, 2026). He can be found at @JulianThePoet and on his website JulianDavidRandall.com.