Do you secretly take way too long to write a text because you have to try six different synonyms for one word before deleting it and not sending anything at all? Are you an obsessive collector of weird facts? Do you ever keep yourself up at night thinking “deep thoughts?” Do you browse in incognito mode because you’re constantly Googling bizarre questions to satisfy your curiosity about the world and its array of totally bonkers delights and horrors?  

You might be a poet!  

In this introductory workshop, you will gain foundational knowledge needed to read, write, and engage in lively—yes! lively!—discussion about poetry. You will learn poetic terms and practice various modes and craft elements including image, sound and rhythm, lineation, shape and form, voice, lyric, narrative, and others. You will develop your own writing practice through reading and responding to poems, cultivating deep attentiveness and curiosity, and engaging with regular guided writing exercises, for which you will receive instructor feedback. You will support one another in these efforts in peer workshops, where you will learn how to provide thoughtful, constructive feedback with the instructor as a facilitator and guide. You will also expand your awareness of the contemporary poetry landscape through completing an exploration project of recently published of literary journals. The course will culminate in a portfolio of revised work.