A poet, scholar, and "Black Feminist Love Evangelist," Gumbs was on campus October 2 to talk about her 2020 book Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals.
Before she spoke about the book, she led eighteen Bowdoin students and faculty through a writing workshop in Lancaster Lounge in Moulton Union.
Participants were first asked to dedicate their writing practice that day to someone or something. Gumbs gave everyone an opportunity to share who or what they were keeping in mind.
One attendee dedicated their practice to a now-defunct program in their hometown that had instilled a passion for giving back to their community. Many others mentioned family members.
For student Lydia Branson ’27, taking that moment to dedicate one's coming work was a highlight of the workshop. “It was a wonderful way to get the group feeling connected and mindful,” Branson said.
Gumbs then read an excerpt about orcas from Undrowned, inviting the group to consider the relationship between home and place. The reading provided an impetus for participants to reflect on their own relationships to home.
Participants were then asked to find a partner who did not know their name and share a story related to it—where, how, or why they got their name, what it means, its cultural significance, or any connected story. One participant commented that her name traced back to a lineage of important women in her life.
Students, faculty, and Gumbs then spent ten minutes in conversation, introducing themselves through the stories they chose to disclose.
Following that, Gumbs asked participants to write a haiku about their partner’s name, based on what they had just heard about it. Participants read the poems to their partners, with some students also sharing with the larger group.
Gumbs described her enthusiasm for this kind of exchange with a wish that extended beyond the morning’s exercise. “I just want to live in a world where everybody writes poems for everyone all the time,” she said.
