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Gabriel Cortez
@gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
71 followers 42 following 23 posts
Poet • Educator • Organizer
Follow for writing prompts, workshops, lesson plans, poems, & the occasional boom bap beat.

More at http://linktr.ee/gabrielmcortez
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Gabriel Cortez @gabrielmcortez.bsky.social · Dec 18
Big News: Join me for “After School,” my new 6 week online poetry writing workshop series beginning Tuesday, March 11th, 2025

Sign ups are now open at GabrielMCortez.com/AfterSchool with an early bird special of $150 ending February 24th

I would love to write with you! 📝
"After School" flyer with illustrated face Text reads: What is it? “After School” is a new, 6 week long, online, generative writing workshop series led by poet and educator, Gabriel Cortez, beginning March 11th, 2025. Join a fun and supportive community of poets invested in growing as writers. Each participant will cultivate a deeper understanding of craft and the possibilities of their voice, developed through direct, hands-on learning, and guided study of some of the most exciting poets today. Sessions are highly interactive and include writing prompts, discussions of guiding texts, and sharing new original work created each class. After the final workshop, we will have a culminating online reading that is open to the public. Text reads: Is this for me? This series is open to writers of all experience levels, high school age and older. Whether you have a masters in fine arts, are still working on your GED, or haven’t taken a class in years, this “After School” series is for you! Join if you have a book you are working on and are looking for some inspiration. Join if you are searching for a way back to your pen after putting it down for a while. Join if you want to experience the creation of some amazing poetry up close. Participants need access to Zoom, a strong internet connection, and something to write with and we’ve got the rest. Text reads: “Gabriel’s approach to writing taught me there are so many ways to begin when you feel stuck.” – K “With Gabriel’s guidance, I feel confident that I can write a poem given any topic. I know I can continue to grow as a writer.” – D “The act of writing poetry can feel like a really solitary process and, with limited access to the poetry community in my area, having this available made me feel at home with my art again. Take this workshop if you want to be (lovingly) pushed to be more. The resources shared within this workshop were imperative to my continued work as an artist and activist.“ – B
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
Are there any great poems written from the perspective of jazz?
October 11, 2025 at 1:24 AM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
Kali Uchis dropped the perfect album for crushing on the full moon tonight
October 7, 2025 at 2:41 AM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
Saying “evil empire” is redundant

All empires are evil
May 18, 2025 at 1:09 AM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
What an honor to have this poem out in the world with the Academy of American Poets.

No more landlords ✊🏽
Upon Hearing Your Building is up for Sale
It’s hard not to cheer for the brother  that claims he bought weed
poets.org
April 23, 2025 at 7:40 PM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
My People! A writing prompt for loving on community 💕 #amwriting
January 29, 2025 at 11:04 PM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
Writing Prompt for Hometowns 📝

Follow for more each week!

#AmWriting
#poets #poems #poetry #writingprompts #writinginspiration #writingmotivation #writingcoach #poets #poems #creativewriting #writingtipsandtricks #forwriters #journalprompt #journalingideas #writingprompt #writingpromptsdaily
December 23, 2024 at 8:35 PM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
SZA is so chaotic

Samples Throw Some D’s then two songs later interpolates Girl From Impanema

Hits us with the sexy Antz photoshoot
December 23, 2024 at 6:54 PM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
In 1971, Nikki Giovanni dropped one of the greatest poetry albums of all time titled, “The Truth Is On Its Way”

#BlackSky #BlackWriters #BlackPoets #SpokenWord
Album cover for The Truth Is On Its Way I come from an era where poets were more likely to hand you a burned CD instead of a chapbook after the show. Yet, it wasn't until I listened to Nikki Giovanni's 1971 album that I realized just how great a poetry album could be. I imagine Giovanni recording this album in a studio with high walls, a mic craning towards her freckled cheeks like Aretha Franklin, whom she also paid homage to on track 8, "Poem for Aretha." I imagine the static tickling the speakers as the needle dragged itself into the groove of the wax the first time she played the record back to herself and her baby boy. And I imagine how Giovanni might have heard her voice and noticed the pieces of the Harlem Renaissance tucked between her teeth the way we might notice pieces of Nikki Giovanni and the Black Arts Movement tucked between ours.
December 23, 2024 at 7:01 AM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
One of my favorite things about R.F. Kuang’s “Babel” are the footnotes
The word strike, in relation to labour, originally had the connotation of submission. Ships would drop, or strike, their sails when surrendering to enemy forces or saluting their superiors. But when sailors in 1768 struck their sails in protest to demand better wages, they turned strike from an act of submission to a strategic act of violence; by withholding their labour, they proved they were in fact indispensable.
December 20, 2024 at 6:28 AM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
Here’s a writing prompt about obstacles. It invites you to use verbs to structure your poems

#amwriting
December 19, 2024 at 11:42 PM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
Many organizations experimented with flatter organizational models during the 1st years of the pandemic. I’m excited by orgs making it a permanent fixture

May it help us evolve past the antiquated myth of the “strong leader” and the burnout, abuse, and ego tripping that power structure reproduced
SF Arts Space 500 Capp Street Announces New Collective Leadership
Instead of looking for a new executive director, a five-person staff will lead the nonprofit together.
www.kqed.org
December 19, 2024 at 10:29 PM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
Here's a writing prompt for saying goodbye, in honor of Nikki Giovanni

Follow for more! 📝

#poetry #poetrycommunity #writingcommunity #poems #poetsofbluesky #writersofbluesky #writing #amwriting #writersky
write a poem honoring something or someone you said "goodbye" to this year. start every line with "dear," using each line to further love up on your subject. optional: resist revealing their name until the very end. example: dear founding queen of the black arts movement dear poem cd heir to gospel liberation dear 5 foot 5 and ego trippin dear standing toe to toe with baldwin and ali dear I get the minimum dear fake it with me dear nikki, dear nikki, how does one begin to honor your wake?
December 19, 2024 at 7:57 PM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
Big News: Join me for “After School,” my new 6 week online poetry writing workshop series beginning Tuesday, March 11th, 2025

Sign ups are now open at GabrielMCortez.com/AfterSchool with an early bird special of $150 ending February 24th

I would love to write with you! 📝
"After School" flyer with illustrated face Text reads: What is it? “After School” is a new, 6 week long, online, generative writing workshop series led by poet and educator, Gabriel Cortez, beginning March 11th, 2025. Join a fun and supportive community of poets invested in growing as writers. Each participant will cultivate a deeper understanding of craft and the possibilities of their voice, developed through direct, hands-on learning, and guided study of some of the most exciting poets today. Sessions are highly interactive and include writing prompts, discussions of guiding texts, and sharing new original work created each class. After the final workshop, we will have a culminating online reading that is open to the public. Text reads: Is this for me? This series is open to writers of all experience levels, high school age and older. Whether you have a masters in fine arts, are still working on your GED, or haven’t taken a class in years, this “After School” series is for you! Join if you have a book you are working on and are looking for some inspiration. Join if you are searching for a way back to your pen after putting it down for a while. Join if you want to experience the creation of some amazing poetry up close. Participants need access to Zoom, a strong internet connection, and something to write with and we’ve got the rest. Text reads: “Gabriel’s approach to writing taught me there are so many ways to begin when you feel stuck.” – K “With Gabriel’s guidance, I feel confident that I can write a poem given any topic. I know I can continue to grow as a writer.” – D “The act of writing poetry can feel like a really solitary process and, with limited access to the poetry community in my area, having this available made me feel at home with my art again. Take this workshop if you want to be (lovingly) pushed to be more. The resources shared within this workshop were imperative to my continued work as an artist and activist.“ – B
December 18, 2024 at 11:07 PM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
Dreaming a world that won’t betray us

Dreaming an us that won’t betray the world
December 17, 2024 at 12:35 AM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
Why was Venom the Last Dance randomly better than Gladiator II?
December 16, 2024 at 7:14 AM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
Poetry writing prompt for saying goodbye

Follow for writing prompts, poems, and more 📝
December 14, 2024 at 2:21 AM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
Poetry writing prompt for the end of the year, featuring your Spotify Wrapped

Follow for writing prompts, poems, and more 📝
December 12, 2024 at 2:58 AM
gabrielmcortez.bsky.social
2011: joined Twitter for updates on the Oakland General Strike

2024: joined Bluesky for updates on a tsunami warning
December 5, 2024 at 7:08 PM