Poetry Plant Project (PPP), an initiative by Aekta K. is a learning platform that curates month-long, generative creative writing workshops for adults.
We equip students with tools, techniques, writing prompts, revision worksheets, interdisciplinary syllabus readings, and other resources nudging students to indulge in different styles and forms of writing.
In our bones and skin, we believe that writing can be taught.
We love to see our writers grow. We are goal-oriented, whether that means taking risks and attempting a new genre, getting a poem published, being accepted in an MFA program, or working on your memoir.
We intend for our PPP workshops to be a safe and inclusive space, where students explore the written word, read, edit, revise, publish, and gather new perspectives and ways of looking at the world around us.
Aekta teaches workshops in Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction with an interdisciplinary syllabus. Silent films, and collage making, and guided meditations, have also been a part of her workshops.
Offerings:
- 1-1 Workshops: Private workshops curated as per your needs and goals
- Full Manuscript Development with Aekta K
- Follow Poetry Plant Project to know about current Group Workshops
Love from Students
Swagatika Sarangi (she/her)
“I love homework” - words I’ll say only during PPP workshops. Be it flash writing, free writing, or long form essay - the multi-genre reading helped to look at grief as a sugar cube, pineapple cake, a chair, and rain. It was a sweet surprise to realise my brain could do that.
Entering PPP is like stepping inside a sandbox in a big playground. You know you’re safe, your words are safe, you can experiment, fail, try again, you will be cheered on, no matter what.
You will read many writers, many genres, you will wonder “can I write like them?”, “am I even a writer”, that’s when Aekta will wave her magic wand and give you exercises that have a way of reassuring you that you’re a writer on your journey. You can write and you ARE writing! PPP is a community where we write/learn about all our emotions from grief to trauma, but also where joy is guaranteed!
Aditya Vikram Shrivastava (they/them)
Through this workshop I gathered that some poems can be less than mirrors. They can be translucent blocks of ice that hold bleak reflections of the world on their multiple faces. I grappled with the economy of words. Initially, giving structure to my poems felt difficult and restricting. But experimenting with forms and styles was a wonderful experience. I wrote an abecedarian, a bop, and a prose poem. I built shapes and tried to shuffle italics and indentation on paper. Different vessels that held water in different ways. With all of this going on, the workshop gave me enough space to stay true to what poems meant to me.
Hansika Jethnani (she/her)
PPP pushed me to think about poetry differently–to really decipher what makes a poem, and what holds a poem together. I learned a lot about the latter through all the universes we visited in poetry packets and each other’s poems. It pushed me to take risks and write about subjects I usually struggle with. It’s made me want to experiment further with punctuation and form and most importantly made me read both my poems and others with a different perspective. Overall, it’s been a journey full of wonder, learning, growth, as both, a human being and a poet. Aekta is a wonderful educator and PPP is really a beautiful experience. It was nourishing not just for my poems but also for my soul.
Bhavya Bhagtani (she/her)
The 1:1 sessions helped me get back into the routine of writing, something that I personally end up neglecting when I don't have someone to check-in with on a regular basis. While writing and creating are largely impulsive and cannot be pre-planned, I think a certain amount of discipline can do wonders for one’s craft and progress. And that is exactly what the sessions help me strive for, with just the right amount of motivation, reassurance and most importantly, accountability. It made me think and ponder, and question why I write the way I write, without bringing me any sense of fear or discomfort.
Aekta is a warm yet stern mentor, who knows exactly how to bring the best out of her mentees. The critique she offers always encourages me to push myself and access the parts of my identity as a poet that I otherwise wouldn’t try to explore. PPP's careful curation with the materials it offers to writers (such as the reading packets, the writing prompts and the in-class exercises), is also undoubtedly one of the biggest reasons I keep coming back to it.
Nayan Sharma (he/him)
PPP was just everything I thought it’d be and more. The different kinds of poetry that came in poetry packets were very revealing. It helped me to break from the rigid shell of poetry that I was in. I landed up experimenting with various styles every week. By the end of two months, I could see a significant change in the way I wrote poetry. Not to forget the rigorous reading and writing exercises gave me a routine that I’m very thankful for.
Vaishnavi Radhakrishnan (she/her)
I know of very few people who can make the presence of a screen vanish in an online class simply through their art of teaching, engagement, and complete dissolution into the subject. Aekta is one of them. Having her as my writing mentor has been phenomenal.
What I appreciate about her teaching style is the combination of intensity and tenderness with which she mentors me. Through nudging me to try different forms of writing while also creating a safe space for me to do so, Aekta constantly surprises me with my own writing.
One of the most generative parts of PPP has been the writing sprints with the uniquely curated, thoughtful prompts that Aekta provides. Through PPP, I have also been indulging and experimenting with creative non-fiction, and what has been especially useful for me is Aekta’s thorough feedback on every piece I write.
All in all, I’m immensely grateful to have Aekta as my mentor, and I am incredibly excited to discover all the magic that writing and words have in store for me.
Fathima Zahra (she/her)
I was struggling to write for the past few months. PPP helped ease me back into it with a plethora of prompts, reading material, and a collaborative playlist to use as diving boards. The questions and conversations in these workshops also expanded the ways in which I think of poems.
Aditi Bhattacharjee (she/her)
Our conversations on craft have been my favorite part of PPP’s 1:1 format. As compared to group workshops, this was much more focused, and great for set projects.
The weekend readings were the most rewarding exercises for me. I would look forward to it and it definitely steered my writing in a different direction where I was trying something different with each assignment/poem.
Sachin Prabhu (he/him)
Now when I look back on the journey, PPP has given me tools and introduced me to many forms of poetry other than spoken word. When I say tools, I also mean to question the heart of the poem, voice of the narrator, tone, mood, shape of the poem. It was an intimate workshop where I could be myself without fear of judgement. Aekta has been the best mentor, always open to queries, assisting each week through every single line of the poem with much care so that each one of us could be the best versions of ourselves, in writing. Grateful to be a part of PPP and highly recommend it to everyone.