Poems have their own lives and their own minds, it seems. At some point, even with our best intentions, we may encounter resistance from the poem. Or worse, the poem may revolt and fall apart. So perhaps, the poem is like a young adult: It wants to say something and needs the freedom to do so. For this to happen, we as poets must set aside our expectations and predeterminations of what a poem “should be.” Perhaps we need to get out of the way and let the young poem find itself, its shape, its own life. This is to say, we mustn’t be afraid to let the poem try things and fail. We must encourage its curiosity and courage.
This workshop will be a time to just “see what happens” when we get out of the way and try different processes to determine the poem’s desires. We’ll set aside our ideas about right and wrong. Instead, we’ll ask, what happens when we completely alter the punctuation? What happens with short lines versus no line breaks at all? What happens when the text sprawls across the page freely or sings from a cozy corner? We will embrace missteps as part of the process, all in pursuit of the question, What does the poem want?
Participants will need a notebook dedicated as a “thinking journal” to write in and outside of class, a computer, and an open mind to listen sensitively and judgment-free to our young poems.
Applications are due for the Advanced Workshops by March 9. Apply here!
Your tuition includes:
- The workshop
- An orientation before the start of the workshop
- All eight business panels
- All four visiting author readings
- Tickets to the opening and closing parties
- Continental breakfast and coffee on workshop days
- Discounted rates at local hotels
