WORKSHOPS:
Cut-up Poetry To Go
This is a hands-on workshop. Participants create a unified piece of writing from words/phrases cut from a variety of texts that range in subject from drag racing to constellations. A phrase from one text will be completed by a word or phrase from a totally different text. One can choose a word because of its color, font, meaning or tactile feel of the paper. Be prepared to enjoy yourself with no fear of the blank page!
Led by Sallie Ehrman
Dear Diary: Finding the impersonal in the personal and the personal in the impersonal
It’s difficult to think of a successful poem that remains entirely on the level of the impersonal, a truly memorable and moving poem in which the person of the poet does not enter the poem in some way. But how are we to get the personal into our poems without wrecking them? This workshop examines various strategies for finding what is universal and accessible in what is idiosyncratic and particular, as exemplified in poems from recent books including Brenda Hillman’s Seasonal Works With Letters on Fire, Paul Muldoon’s One Thousand Things Worth Knowing, and John Gallaher’s In a Landscape.
Led by: Troy Jollimore
Where Do Poems Come From?
The German philosopher Martin Heidegger wrote often about what he called “The Mystery,” which seems to be “the place” where poems come from. Poet Mark Strand said, “One of the amazing things about what I do is you don’t know when you’re going to be hit with an idea, you don’t know where it comes from…I have no idea where things come from. It’s a great mystery to me…” In this workshop, we’ll explore this question through various writing activities and discussion. Please bring your ideas about where poems come from—and be ready to receive and consider others’ ideas as well.
Led by: Shannon Rooney
Object, Image, Surprise:
In this workshop poet Ken Letko directs you through a series of activities that will generate a draft of a poem. Participants will be asked to spend about 25-30% of the time writing. This is a hands-on workshop accessible to all levels of poets. Participants will practice generating concrete details, appealing to the five senses, and connecting feelings to concrete details.
Led by Ken Letko
Inviting Paradox Into Your Poetry
This workshop will explore the nature of paradox in poetry. What does it mean for an image to be at once ugly and beautiful, or for a poem about a difficult situation to elicit grace and poise? In this workshop we will work on drafts of poems that offer a complicated, complex view of a subject or a situation, inviting in the light and the dark to elicit a more challenging and realistic reading experience.
Led by Amy Antongiovanni
The Power of Submission
This will be a mixture of lecture, discussion, and question-answer. Join poet Ken Letko as he defines publishing, especially its benefits. Participants will develop new awareness of what publishing means in terms of preservation, accessibility, personal achievement, and cultural effect. Letko will comment on and engage the audience in dialog about these topics. Even though the focus will be on the benefits of submitting manuscripts for publication, some liabilities and heartaches will be included. Examples will primarily refer to poetry, yet the essence of session will also be relevant to writers in other genres.
Led by: Ken Letko
