A 5-Week Poetry Workshop
Wednesdays: January 29th - February 26th, 6-9 PM
When writing a poem, the speaker’s tone is crucial to how the piece is received. The writer’s attitude toward her/his/their subject matter, toward her/his/their self as the speaker, and toward the reader are all part of the mix in terms of the poem's emotional effect. This mini-class will hone our ear for noticing such things. Is the tone didactic, conversational, ironic, angry, sad? Is the speaker’s chosen tone the most effective for the subject matter… etc. Are there places in the poem where the tone shifts and is it working?
In each of our classes, we will look closely at a couple of example poems to analyze the tone and we will workshop each participant’s original poem. There will be optional prompts given each week as well.
The class will be limited to eight poets and will meet on Zoom for three hours for five consecutive weeks. All levels are welcome.
Here are some of the poets we might read: Marie Howe from What the Living Do; Stanley Kunitz, “The Portrait”; Patricia Smith, “Skinhead”; Louise Gluck from The Wild Iris; Carolyn Forche from The Country Between Us, “What My Father Told Me;” Dorianne Laux, John Murillo, Nathan McClain, Jill McDonough’s “3am”; Ellen Bass with “Blue Indigo”; Rita Dove with “Pearls”; Natasha Trethaway, Peter Pereira with “Missing e”; Diane Seuss, Ilya Kaminsky, Bridgett Pegeen Kelly, & Yehuda Amichai.
$275 Members/$475 Nonmembers
Sally Bliumis-Dunn teaches at the 92nd Street Y and writes features for PLUME. Her poems appeared in New Ohio Review, The Paris Review, Prairie Schooner, PLUME, Poetry London, the NYT, PBS NewsHour, 32 Poems, The Writer’s Almanac, Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-day, Maine Public Radio's Poems from Here, SWWIM and Ted Kooser’s column, among others. In 2002, she was a finalist for the Nimrod/Hardman Pablo Neruda Prize. Her third full-length collection, Echolocation, was published by Plume Editions/Madhat Press in March, 2018 and was a finalist for the Julie Suk Award.
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 programs@mainewriters.org.
REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-200-7180 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 partial scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Application Due by October 22nd at 9:00 a.m.
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MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
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