A 2-Day Poetry Workshop
2 Saturdays, February 8th & 14th, 11 AM - 2 PM
Poets writing in free verse have a sometimes bewildering number of choices regarding line length and breaks. While lineation is an essential aspect of style, in workshops it can easily get eclipsed by language-based subjects like diction, imagery, tropes and sonics. So what to do about that ragged right margin? Should we end-stop or enjamb? Are there rules, or do we simply wing it? In these two sessions, we’ll identify some ways to approach lineation with confidence.
At the first session, I’ll present a few poems that use lines and breaks in interesting ways; then we’ll move on to workshop discussions of your work with special attention to lineation. At the second meeting we’ll continue the workshop. For each session, submit a poem that has some fluidity (i.e. not a poem you consider finished and would not want to revise), perhaps a draft in which you have struggled with lineation. The poems should be sent to me on the Wednesday preceding each of our meetings; I’ll send you a file late Wednesday with all the poems for you to read and prepare to discuss.
$120 Members/$175 Nonmembers
Pamela Alexander’s Left, winner of Beloit Poetry Journal’s 2024 Chad Walsh chapbook award, is forthcoming this fall. She is the author of four collections of poems: Navigable Waterways, a Yale Younger Poets selection, Commonwealth of Wings (Wesleyan University Press), Inland (an Iowa Poetry Prize winner), and Slow Fire (Ausable Press, available from Copper Canyon). She taught creative writing at M.I.T. and Oberlin College for many years and served on the editorial board of FIELD magazine.
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. Email programs@mainewriters.org to see if the scholarship is still available. Application Due by January 25 at 9:00 a.m.
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MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
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