Spring & Summer 2004 Workshops at Writers & Books

Poetry

Working Poets Workshop

• SA4-P27
• Monday July 19 – Friday July 23, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
• $108 W&B members / $120 general public
• Instructor: M.J. Iuppa [ bio ]

This workshop is designed for active poets, intermediate or advanced, looking to improve their skills.

The instructor will select great poems for study and lead critiques of work written by workshop participants. The general setting will be an open discussion among colleagues, with the concentration on improving technique and insight into poetry.

The Friday session will finish at 8 pm, and an open reading for students will follow from 8 – 9 pm

Previous workshop experience is expected.

A Taste of Poetry

• SA4-P28
• Five Tuesdays, 7 – 9 pm
• June 22 – July 20
• $88 W&B members / $100 general public
• Instructor: Ron Bailey [ bio ]

For those who have little or no experience writing poetry, yet might be interested in exploring the possibilities, this course is for you.

Participants will be given start-up activities to help the pen begin writing, and the instructor will address the techniques of strong metaphor, imagery, and what e. e. cummings called “less is more” (trimming away the excess). In-class activity may include reading work aloud, and giving and receiving supportive, helpful feedback.

Writing Rochester: A Sense of Place

• SA4-P29
• Six Wednesdays, 7 – 9 pm
• May 12 – June 30
• $139 W&B members / $160 general public
• Instructor: Dr. Anne Coon [ bio ]

Charlotte Pier, Monroe Avenue, Highland Park, or your favorite booth in a neighborhood diner. What are the places in the community that have meaning for you?

Each week students in this workshop will write poetry that explores the sights, sounds, emotions, and memories of places—some well known, some unknown—in the Rochester area. Students will receive between-class writing assignments centered on a “sense of place.”

In class, everyone will read and discuss their poems, as well as examine some examples of poetry evoking other places. As the workshop progresses, and if there is an interest among participants, the class may move outside the walls of W&B to explore and write poetry in various settings around town.

(Some previous workshop experience recommended.)

Poetry of the Natural World

• SA4-P14
• One Saturday, May 22, 10 am – 2 pm
• $36 W&B members / $40 general public
• Instructor: Patricia Roth Schwartz [ bio ]

The class will explore themes of the natural world and its cycles in the work of three poets: 19th century Victorian Emily Dickinson, 20th century poet Robert Frost, and contemporary poet Mary Oliver.

The instructor will discuss how style, form, imagery, and symbolism in their works contribute to theme. The unique world-view of each poet, as well as how these powerful writers envisioned the human connection to nature, will be emphasized.

After lunch, participants will write their own poems using exercises to facilitate the process, based on the natural setting of the Gell landscape as well as other tranquil places they have known well. Voluntary sharing of the group’s writing will follow. Bring a bag lunch.

(Writing Rochester: A Sense of Place also recommended.)

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