With a steaming cup of chowder on the ferry off of Martha’s Vineyard I toast thank you to all the wonderful people who came out for my lyric essay class yesterday and my poetry reading and book signing today. Thank you to Carolina and Merissa for your help and hospitality. Thank you to everyone for making my winter visit to the vineyard cozy and warm! Can’t wait to come back in June for the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing tenth anniversary!
Thank you Kate Feiffer of the The Martha’s Vineyard Times for this beautiful, generous article about my lyric essay class and poetry reading this weekend at the Oak Bluffs Library on Martha’s Vineyard! If you’re in the area come on by! Both my class (Fri 1/25 3:30-5:30) and my reading (Sat 1/26 10:30-11:30 am) are free and open to the public, thanks to the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Year-Round Visiting Writers Series.
Read the article HERE.
I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be traveling to Martha’s Vineyard in a few weeks to offer a creative writing class on the lyric essay and to give a poetry reading – as part of the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Year-Round Visiting Writers Series. Both the class and reading are free and open to the public. If you’re in the area come on by!
The Year-Round Visiting Writers Series highlights local and national writers and offers free creative writing workshops and readings to the Vineyard community.
Learn more here: http://oakbluffslibrary.org/event/mvicw-writing-series-the-poetic-essay-writing-seminar/
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be teaching an 8-week poetry writing workshop called “In the Landscape of Contemporary Poetry” starting January 23, 2019 at The Downtown Writer’s Center in sunny Syracuse, NY. I teach this workshop every winter session, and the readings are all new every year. If you’re in the area come on down!
In the Landscape of Contemporary Poetry with Christopher Citro. Wednesdays, 6:00 – 8:00. 8 weeks, starting January 23. “You grow to love the creatures you create/ some of them come out with pupils swirling/ others with teeth” writes Kaveh Akbar in his 2017 book Calling a Wolf a Wolf. In this regular winter session workshop, with all different readings each year, we’ll discuss poetry from recent books and journals, then use prompts from our readings to inspire us in the creation of our own darling poetic creatures.
Registration is inexpensive and open to the public. To learn more about The Downtown Writer’s Center, download the winter class schedule, and register for this workshop, visit the Center’s website HERE. Feel free to share with anyone who might be interested!
On a beautiful Tuesday evening, the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing is treated to the fabulous short stories of fiction instructors Randi Beck and Phong Nguyen.
And with the traditional elderflower wine toast the 9th annual Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing gets joyfully underway tonight with a reading by Director Alexander Weinstein from his book Children of the New World. Skol!
I’ll be teaching Tuesday and Wednesday and giving a reading Thursday night!
Wednesday evening I had the honor and delight to receive a 2018 Residence Hall Association Professor Recognition Award for being an outstanding educator at SUNY Oswego. Thank you to Richard Kolenda, Jacob Gardner, and most of all to my students!
Howdy friends. I’m delighted to share the news that I’ll be teaching an eight-week poetry workshop called “Welcoming Surprises” this spring at The Downtown Writer’s Center in sunny Syracuse (see class description below). Registration is inexpensive and open to the public. To learn more about The Downtown Writer’s Center, download the spring class schedule, and register for these workshops, visit the Center’s website below. Feel free to share with anyone who might be interested!
Welcoming Surprises with Christopher Citro. Wednesdays, 6:00-8:00. 8 weeks, starting April 18. In this workshop, we’ll discuss poetry that incorporates leaps, turns, and the unexpected. We’ll use prompts and exercises drawn from our readings to inspire new writing that helps us break out of our ruts and embrace fresh discoveries.
I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be returning this year for my sixth summer teaching at the Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. I’ll be there for Week 1 (June 10-16), during which I’ll conduct seminars on “The Voices of the Poet” and “The Lyric Essay.”
My fellow week one faculty includes Alexander Weinstein, Samantha Tetangco, Randi Beck, and Phong Nguyen. The second week’s faculty includes Alexander Weinstein, Amelia Martens, Britton Shurley, Sequoia Nagamatsu, and Kea Wilson.
Click HERE to register for both or either weeks, learn about financial aid opportunities and fellowships (Parent Writers deadline April 21 & Voices of Color deadline March 20), and to enter this year’s contest (deadline March 31).
Come join us on the island!
I’m thrilled to share the news that I’ll be teaching two eight-week creative writing workshops this winter at The Downtown Writer’s Center in sunny Syracuse, NY — a Monday night poetry workshop focusing on very contemporary poetry from literary journals and recent books and a Wednesday night workshop focusing on the lyric essay (the lyric essay course will be a repeat of the course I taught last year). Both classes begin the last week of January (see the class descriptions below). Registration is inexpensive and open to the public. To learn more about The Downtown Writer’s Center, download the spring class schedule, and register for these workshops, visit the Center’s website HERE. Feel free to share with anyone who might be interested!
In the Landscape of Contemporary Poetry with Christopher Citro. Mondays, 6:00-8:00. 8 weeks, starting January 29. “I have/enough ink to give you the sea” writes Ocean Vuong in his 2016 book, Night Sky with Exit Wounds. We’ll discuss poetry from recent books or journals, then use prompts from our readings to inspire new writing
The Lyric Essay with Christopher Citro. Wednesdays, 6:00-8:00. 8 weeks, starting January 31. “The lyric essay partakes of the poem in its density and shapeliness, its distillation of ideas and musicality of language. It partakes of the essay in its weight, in its overt desire to engage with facts” (Tall & D’Agata). Explore this exciting hybrid genre, using prompts to inspire.