Poetry Writing Workshop Instructor

Poetry Writing Workshop with KC Trommer: June 2009 This class is open to those who are just beginning to write poetry and to more established writers interested in working with other poets in a small workshop setting. In workshop, we will explore the individual voices of the poets in the class as well as the craft of writing—the technical skills a writer employs when composing—and the art of writing, in which a writer brings his or her unique vision to a poem. We will work as a group to train our ears, eyes, and understanding to record the delights of the world as we experience it. In addition to reading and workshopping each other’s poems, we will also do close readings of poems both formal and innovative. We will use these primary texts as the basis for our own writing, investigating what we can learn from writers who have been slogging away at the hard work of writing well. We will discuss the stylistic elements that make each writer distinctive and further explore these elements in frequent short writing exercises. Workshopping each other’s work will be a significant part of class as we develop a critical vocabulary and approach to reading works-in-progress. Students will participate in thoughtful, constructive workshops of each other’s poems and respond to critiques of their own work with attentive, imaginative Available for individual manuscript consultations and to assist with MFA program applications.