Workshops

Saturday morning poetry workshop, February 2006

 

Spring 08 Workshops

Please email me with some info about yourself and a recent poem or two to apply.

TUESDAY NIGHTS in Oakland, 7-9:30 p.m., April 15--June 3 /$400

ONLINE WORKSHOP April 21--June 9 /$450

The online workshop is limited to 10 poets. In addition to posting a weekly poem for my feedback, everyone will be asked to comment on the work of 2-3 other writers each week. I'll offer a weekly writing suggestion. There will also be a blogs page so that workshop members have the opportunity to share revisions, discuss writing, publishing, & whatever else you like with each other during the course of the workshop.

Below, some details about how my Oakland groups work (and some recomended books).

Workshops are limited to 8 students. The focus is on your own work; the group critiques it with an eye to helping the piece of writing become more fully realized. This involves pointing out strengths and weaknesses, offering suggestions for revision, and delving as deeply as we can into the issues the work seeks to address. I also give a writing idea each week, which isn't an assignment but a suggestion, and hopefully something to feed your imagination. I try to make my workshops an alternative community for anyone who is serious about trying to write well. I help arrange occasional readings, and let people know about upcoming events, new books and literary journals, contests and publishing opportunities. If you have to miss a meeting of the group, you will still receive the writing suggestion and some written feedback on your work.

Generally, my workshops are for writers who are comfortable with the idea of critique and are ready for honest, constructive feedback. The aim is to support you as a writer--both your process and your need to grow and develop through reading, writing, and the study of craft. Some of my students have published; some have not. Some have MFA's or are headed for graduate programs, while others are completely outside of academia. My students range in age from their twenties to their sixties (where are those seventysomethings hiding?) and are at different levels of accomplishment.

The group does not read poems in advance (unless they are longer than 2 pages). This means that what you will get, in my workshop, is a response (but, I believe, a pretty thorough one)based on an initial read. If you prefer to read, and to have your work read, in advance, it's important for you to know that this is not the way I work. I am interested in the immediate impact of a poem. My groups are meant to stand in for readers of poetry and for editors--who will not pore over your poem but will look for an immediate effect before delving further. This doesn't mean that your work cannot be complex, multilayered, and mysterious. It does mean, though, that you will see how several other intelligent, poetry-savvy readers respond on encountering your poem for the first time. It's also my belief that *too much* information for a writer, while the writer is drafting the poem, can be detrimental to one's process. If we don't address everything in your poem at one sitting, that's a good thing--it means you will not be overwhelmed! I encourage students to bring work back to the group in successive stages.

If your poetry requires an extensive knowledge of critical theory to be understood, I'm probably not the teacher for you.

If you are a beginner, I'd suggest that you take some sort of introductory class before jumping into a workshop. Try UC Extension, Albany Adult School, local colleges, or the Writing Salon in San Francisco. It's also a good idea to read some books on craft.

 

Recommended Books: (All of these are useful, whatever your level)

My book, cowritten with Dorianne Laux, THE POET'S COMPANION: A GUIDE TO THE PLEASURES OF WRITING POETRY (W.W. Norton)

IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND: THE POET'S PORTABLE WORKSHOP, Steve Kowit (Tilbury House)

THE DISCOVERY OF POETRY, Frances Mayes (Harcourt Brace).

NINE GATES: ENTERING THE MIND OF POETRY, Jane Hirshfield (HarperPerennial)

BEST WORDS, BEST ORDER, Stephen Dobyns (St. Martin's)

THE RESILIENT WRITER: TALES OF REJECTION AND TRIUMPH FROM 23 TOP AUTHORS, Catherine Wald (Persea)

STRUCTURE AND SURPRISE: ENGAGING POETIC TURNS, ed. Michael Theune (This is hard to get hold of right now but worth it! To order, call Teachers & Writers Collaborative at 1-888-BOOKS-TW