By Quinlan Lewis-Mussa | Grants Manager
On Monday, November 12, 2025, Pulitzer Prize nominee Mathieu Cailler led a Masterclass for a select group of students at Longfellow Elementary in Compton, California. An award-winning author and poet, Mathieu introduced these young storytellers to the art of prose poetry, guiding them through a dynamic two-hour workshop culminating in the creation of an original piece.
Mathieu began the workshop defining prose poetry as “something expressed in a poetic way but written in a paragraph,” helping students quickly grasp the form. After establishing its key elements and introducing concepts such as anthropomorphism and surrealism, Mathieu guided students through a close reading of exemplar texts, including selections from The Jaguar and The Mango by Jose Hernandez Diaz, as well as his own work. Together, they explored the playful personification of inanimate objects and animals, examining how surreal imagery can bring writing to life.
Students then applied these ideas through a “Three-Senses Warm Up,” practicing descriptive writing by articulating what their chosen characters see, hear, and feel. Building on these skills, the group collaborated on a collective poem, beginning with the prompt, “The sun didn’t want to come out today.” Students expanded on this idea with imaginative, expressive lines, envisioning a reluctant sun kept awake by “the stars partying all night,” or lingering in the universe “drinking star milk and eating Milky Ways.”
The workshop concluded with students composing their own original prose poems, rich with sensory detail and emotional depth. One student, for example, wrote about rain gently watching over the life it touches, demonstrating a strong grasp of both imagery and tone.
Presented in partnership with The Thelma Pearl Howard Foundation, this workshop is part of City Hearts’ Compton Masterclass Series, which provides students with direct exposure to professional artists and creative careers.
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By Charles Thornhill | Executive Director
By Charles Thornhill | Executive Director
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