This workshop is FULL. To be added to the waitlist, email Meghan at programs@mainewriters.org.
A Workshop on Revising Poetry
Level: All Levels
This workshop welcomes poets who want to strengthen or re-discover poems still tugging at them. Through reading several samples and talking about the development and shifts within the poems, we will identify a range of techniques for revision.
Using writing exercises based on some of the techniques demonstrated in the reading, participants will re-enter their work, write, and later share their transformed poems in a supportive setting. By bringing larger questions to the work, guided by instructor Beatrix Gates, participants can discover new approaches. Discussion will encompass expanding imagery, dramatic juxtaposition of sequence, altering the voice, or using repetition, to name a few possibilities. We will aim to find a fresh approach to the work at hand, share the changes, and cheer each other on.
+ 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, November 4, from 5:30pm to 6:30pm, 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.
Beatrix Gates has published six poetry collections, including Dos and In the Open, a Lambda Poetry Award finalist. In 2020, Artifact Press published her chapbook desire lines. Gates’ awards include Poetry Fellowships at MacDowell, Monson Arts, Ucross and VCCA, and the Huntington Library’s Non-Traditional Scholar Jutzi Fellowship. She shared an NEA, as librettist for The Singing Bridge, with composer Anna Dembska, and a Witter Bynner Award with Electa Arenal for translating Jesús Aguado’s The Poems of Vikram Babu (HOST). Gates’ translations of Aguado’s work, as well as her own poetry, appear or are forthcoming in bateau, Beloit Poetry Journal, Kenyon Review, Tupelo Quarterly, and London’s 2020 New River Press Yearbook. Her hybrid work appears in Jane Cooper: A Radiance of Attention (University of Michigan) and in Scotland’s MAP magazine. Poetry Northwest recently published an interview detailing her path to poetry, politics and publishing.
A long-time Goddard MFA faculty member, Gates has taught literature and writing for twenty years in many settings, including Colby College, NYU, and CCNY. She founded Granite Press (1975-89) in Penobscot, Maine and published Grace Paley’s Leaning Forward, the bilingual IXOK AMAR.GO: Central American Women Poets for Peace, as well as letterpress limited editions. She serves on the Board of The Cannery at South Penobscot and lives in Down East Maine.
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 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.
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 October 25 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