A 5-Week Poetry Workshop
Tuesdays, May 11 to June 8
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Sometimes a particular subject—natural disasters, addiction, the body—grabs a poet’s attention and simply doesn’t want to let it go. What do we do when we find certain images, people, places, events, or activities haunting our poems? In this workshop, we will allow our obsessions to organically propel our poems, exploring what happens if, rather than shying away in order to avoid the risk of repetition, we allow ourselves to be simply transfixed. With eyes and ears tuned toward the gradual goal of developing both a regular poetic process and a cohesive body of work, we will delve into our obsessions and engage in various strategies for investigating them from multiple angles and at greater depths.
We will read poems by poets such as Sharon Olds, Patricia Smith, Ross Gay, and Natalie Diaz. Participants will also receive various prompts to spark discovery. Each participant will submit two poems to be workshopped over the course of the five weeks, and will read and provide feedback on their peers’ poems.
This workshop is limited to 10 participants.
+ SUBMIT After registering, participants are asked to submit one poem by no later than 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 4. Please take this deadline seriously as late submissions likely cannot be accepted. Please note that this poem will not count as your first submission for the class (unless you would like it to); your instructor will read it to get a sense of your work before class begins. Please email the manuscript to hannah@mainewriters.org with the subject line: “BOUWSMA WORKSHOP MSS.” *Word docs (ideally) or PDFs only, please.
+ PLEASE NOTE This workshop will occur online, using the video meeting platform Zoom. Students do not need to create an account to participate, but should test out Zoom before their class if they are first-time users. On Thursday, May 6, from 5:30pm to 6:30pm, MWPA’s Hannah Perry will offer a test session on Zoom. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in the test session, which usually takes only 5-10 minutes, and those who do not are responsible for ensuring that they are able to use Zoom on their own. The week of the workshop, students will be emailed a link that they may click to enter the test session and the class.
+ REQUIRED EQUIPMENT A reliable, fast internet connection (broadband wired or wireless (3G or 4G/LTE), speakers & a microphone (built-in or USB plug-in), and a webcam (built-in or USB plug-in).
If you would like to quickly and easily test your internet connection and your computer’s compatibility with Zoom, click HERE. Full details on supported Operating Systems, internet browsers, and more can be found HERE. To download and familiarize yourself with Zoom, click HERE.
PAYMENTS MWPA members may pay for this workshop in one payment, or may pay in two installments of $122.50, due at registration and May 24. *PLEASE NOTE If you have selected to pay for this multi-week workshop on the installment option, once registration for the workshop has closed, you are responsible for paying all of the remaining installments. If you should, for any reason, leave the workshop after registration has closed, you are still responsible for paying all of the remaining installments.
CEU The MWPA is proud to offer Continuing Education Units (CEU) for this workshop. The CEU is a nationally recognized method of quantifying the time spent in the classroom during non-credit learning. Ten hours of instruction equal one (1) CEU. (*Please note that by definition, CEUs are non-credit continuing education and therefore not transferrable as academic credit.)
Julia Bouwsma is the author of two poetry collections: Midden (Fordham University Press, 2018) and Work by Bloodlight (Cider Press Review, 2017). Honors she has received include the 2019 and 2018 Maine Literary Awards; the 2016-17 Poets Out Loud Prize, selected by Afaa Michael Weaver; and the 2015 Cider Press Review Book Award, selected by Linda Pastan. Her manuscript Sugaring at the Start of Another War was a 2020 National Poetry Series finalist. Her poems and book reviews can be found in Cutthroat, Grist, Poetry Daily, Poetry Northwest, RHINO, River Styx, Verse Daily, and other journals. She serves as Library Director for Webster Library in Kingfield, Maine, and lives and farms off-the-grid in the mountains of western Maine.
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advance registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online (see below). We cannot guarantee registration in the final 24-hours before a workshop, and can rarely accommodate day-of registration.
PAYMENT & CANCELLATION POLICIES
If you need to withdraw from a class after registering for any reason, please email or call the MWPA immediately. You may be eligible for a partial refund or credit, depending on how far in advance you cancel. → MORE INFORMATION
QUESTIONS
For any questions regarding this workshop, please contact Hannah Perry at hannah@mainewriters.org.
REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-228-8263 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
REGISTER BY MAIL
If you prefer to pay by mail, please print this registration form (downloadable PDF) and mail it to the MWPA with a check or credit card information. Please note that mail delivery to the MWPA office is currently experiencing extensive delays, so please email hannah@mainewriters.org first if you would like to register by mail.
SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer one full scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Application Due on April 26 at 9:00 a.m.
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MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
Registration in any MWPA workshop, program, or event constitutes your agreement to our terms and conditions. → MORE INFORMATION