Proximity and Intimacy in Writing Portrait Poems
Level: All Levels
What are poetry’s strengths as a form of portraiture? How does it most evocatively portray character and place? What are the poetic portraitist’s tools for handling voice and tone, landscape and lens? Where and how might the voice of the poet share space within the portrait?
Megan Grumbling—author of Booker’s Point, a book-length portrait-in-verse of an old Maine woodsman—will lead participants in exploring and practicing the craft of poetic portraiture, in a session that will include craft talk on both documentary and lyrical approaches, group discussion, and the creation of new work.
Grumbling will lead several generative exercises for working with memory, story, and artifacts, and then, using model poems, will present formal strategies for honing portrait poems. Students will then have the opportunity to craft their raw material toward the first draft of a poem, and to share and discuss their newly composed work.
+ PLEASE BRING Participants are asked to please bring to the session one memory, document, or artifact expressive of a person or place to be portrayed in verse.
+ PLEASE NOTE This workshop will occur online via 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 26th from 5:30pm to 6:00pm, MWPA staff will offer a tech help session on Zoom. Students are encouraged to attend the tech help session, which usually takes only 5-10 minutes, if they have any tech concerns, use Zoom infrequently, or simply would like to test their connection, 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.
Megan Grumbling is the author of award-winning poetry collections Booker’s Point and Persephone in the Late Anthropocene. Her poetry has been awarded the Ruth Lilly Fellowship and the Robert Frost Foundation Award, and has appeared in Poetry, Crazyhorse, The Iowa Review, Memorious, and elsewhere. She is theater critic for the Portland Phoenix, serves as reviews editor for the poetry journal The Café Review, and is librettist of the new spoken opera Persephone in the Late Anthropocene, which premiered this spring. VISIT megangrumbling.com
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advanced registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online via our website. 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 Meghan Sterling at programs@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.
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. Email Meghan at programs@mainewriters.org to see if the scholarship is still available. Application Due on May 12th at 9:00 a.m.
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MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
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