Winter 2003 Workshops at Writers & Books

Poetry

Let’s Write Haiku

• W3-182
• Instructor: Michael Ketchek [ bio ]
• 4 Thursdays, starting January 30, 6:30–8:30 pm
• $58 W&B Members/$71 General Public
• Limit 10

Here’s a chance to become immersed in the ancient art of writing haiku.

This workshop will give participants a chance to write many haiku and have them critiqued and improved. We will take a look at some classic haiku and also gain an overview of what is currently being published and what editors are looking for, but the main emphasis will be on our own writing.

The class will end with a haiku writing party not unlike one Basho might have attended 300 years ago.

Winter Speaks–Poetry at the Introductory Level & Beyond

• W3-114
• Instructor: Ron Bailey [ bio ]
• 8 Thursdays, starting January 16, 1–3 pm
• $116 W&B Members/$142 Non-members
• Limit: 10

We live in an area where the seasons are quite distinct, and winter has an especially strong voice. If you are just starting out in your exploration of poetry, or want to move further along, this might be the toboggan ride for you.

Winter is powerful, beautiful and sometimes bares its teeth. The possibilities are endless. We will focus on descriptive images, the use of the senses, a few of the traditional poetic techniques, and how this theme gives us permission to express our feelings.

There will be in-class start-ups, and an assignment each week of a poem to share for helpful feedback and lots of “applause.”

Poetry for Poemiphobes & All Others

• W3-183
• Instructor: T.M. Wright [ bio ]
• Saturday, March 15, 10 am–1 pm
• $34 W&B Members/$43 General Public
• Limit: 20

Myth #1: Poetry needs to be “understood” to be appreciated.
Myth #2: “Modern” poetry is just too dry and academic to be any fun.
Myth #3: Poetry is simply too fussy.
Myth #4: Poetry doesn’t matter in the real world of terrorism and social decay.
Myth #5; If a poem doesn’t rhyme, it isn’t poetry.
Myth #6: If a poem rhymes, it’s just meaningless wordplay.
Myth #7: All the good poets are dead.

Reality #1: Poetry is like pasta—you may like rotini, you may like rigatoni, you may like cavatelli. But it’s all pasta.

Poetry of all kinds can brighten your day, make a bad week more bearable, and even completely change your life. Join us for a discussion about the seven myths and the one lonely reality. And if you’d like to see where your poetry fits in this philosophy, bring copies of your work to share with the rest of the class.

The Prose Poem, More Than a Paragraph

• W3-184
• Instructor: M.J. Iuppa [ bio ]
• 4 Saturdays, starting February 8, 10 am–12 pm
• $58 W&B Members/$71 General Public
• Limit: 10

Immerse yourself in a form which has been called “a small suitcase,” a dense rectangular paragraph which incorporates elements of both poetry and prose.

We’ll brainstorm qualities of poetry and prose and where they overlap. We’ll discuss metaphor, the line and the sentence, narrative and lyrical qualities, musicality, and development of theme and image. There will be ample time for exercises and sharing of work.

This class is open to all levels, and is for writers of both poetry and prose (and of prose poems!)

“Nice Haircut!”—It’s All in the Tone

• W3-185
• Instructor: David Ruekberg [ bio ]
• 6 Thursdays, starting February 6, 6:30–8:30 pm
• $95 W&B Members/$105 General Public
• Limit 12

Diction, syntax, imagery, metaphor, sound, pattern—they’re easy to spot, and second nature in creating a poem. But tone—how is it made? How does it work? How does it affect meaning? After all, when we speak to each other, tone is evident. How does an author make black marks on a page convey a quality of voice?

Some poets (Hugo, Voigt, etc.) even go so far as to suggest that, given a clear enough tone, discursive information may be unnecessary, or nearly so: tone can carry much of the meaning. In this class we’ll examine how poets (ourselves included) create and maintain tone, using it as an intuitive channel into the reader’s mind.

This class is for experienced poets who want to build their understanding of craft and deepen their relationship to their own work. Submit in advance 12 copies of an original poem (one page) for discussion. Also, obtain Ellen Bryant Voigt’s The Flexible Lyric and read the essay “On Tone.”

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