Hot golly! I’m teaching in Greece again this September…and you should join us! Register by April 10 to receive special grant pricing at https://www.mvicw.com/greece . Write in paradise this September! MVICW’s Freeing The Muse Retreat is returning for our second year at the Ionian Center for the Arts & Culture on the Greek Island of Kefalonia!
Silence your Inner Critic and let your creativity flow on the beautiful island of Kefalonia. Work with award-winning authors and poets, enjoy home-cooked Greek meals, and go on outings to caves, castles, and beautiful beaches! Join us this fall and dive into your writing and creativity with a deeply nurturing community.
The single most important teacher in my life (and I’ve had a bunch of great ones) has died. I’m gutted to hear that Wayne Dodd, my first poetry teacher, has passed. I entered his poetry workshops at Ohio University as a freshman, in love with writing poetry, but unaware that anyone had written poetry since the Beats. I took every poetry workshop he offered until there were no more to take. Every afternoon in his class, staring out at the sycamores from the upper floors of Ellis Hall, my mind was blown and the boundaries of my heart were enlarged. I’d never had a teacher like Wayne before, and I’ve never had one like him since. He introduced me to the poets whose work guided my life, both in poetry and in just, like, life. His teaching literally changed my life. And today, over 30 years later, every time I teach things that Wayne taught me about poetry come out in what I give my students. Those golden hours in his classroom are never far from my mind. RIP dear dear Wayne Dodd. A poet and teacher.
In the Landscape of Contemporary Poetry.Wednesdays, 6:00-8:00 p.m. ET. 6 weeks, starting December 3 (skipping December 24 and 31). We’ll read recently published poetry from literary journals and books, generate new poems with the help of prompts that I create, and spend the bulk of each class in a fun, inspiring poetry workshop. In this course participants will write and receive workshop comments on five original poems. Writers at all levels are welcome. I teach In the Landscape of Contemporary Poetry often, and every time the readings are all new, so you can take it again and again!
Participants will receive:
6 two-hour live Zoom classes
weekly pdf packets of sample poems from recent literary journals and books, focusing on craft elements and themes
original writing prompts written by me inspired by each week’s sample poems
workshop comments from the class and me on your five original poems
This is a live online writing workshop. Registered participants will receive a Zoom link prior to the beginning of classes. Registration will close when full (12 students). The class requires a minimum of 6 registered participants. Register early, as spots fill quickly.
What a joy to spend this morning Zoom-visiting John Howard’s Studies in Nonfiction class, where they have been reading and responding to my lyric essay “What You’re Thinking Now Is a Chunk of Marble” published in the Southeast Review. Thank you to John and his students for their insights and generosity!
The Southeast Review has made the entire essay available to read online:
And so ends another nourishing, inspiring week teaching at Paul Smith’s College, with the celebration readings at the Forestry Cabin. Kettle Pond Writers’ Conference!?! Ya’ did it again! Thank you everyone for making that week so magical!
More from the Kettle Pond Writers’ Conference at Paul Smith’s College of the Adirondacks! Late night socializing on the deck over Lower St. Regis Lake, floating in on said lake, the book table and Ghost City Press, and watching geese do their geese thing!
Kettle Pond Writers’ Conference! Hanging with friends (fellow writers and teachers) on the shore of Lower St. Regis Lake at Paul Smith’s College of the Adirondacks!
Day 7 Poetry Teaching Trip to Kefalonia Greece: I gave a poetry reading atop Mount Aenos!!!
…at 5,300 ft the tallest mountain on the Ionian island of Cephalonia, Greece…on a mossy stone outcrop, surrounded by Greek fir, black pine, wild bellflowers, violets, and poppies…and generous people willing to pay attention to me lipping off for 20 minutes while on top of the world.
Here I am reading my poem “Come In Go Ahead Say Again” recently published online at The Normal School.
I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be returning as a faculty member for next summer’s Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and registration has OPENED! There are two 1-week sessions available (I’m teaching during the first week). Do something nice for yourself, and register to join us on the Vineyard next summer for a writing extravaganza!
I’m delighted to announce that I’m teaching History of the Prose Poem: from the 1800s to the Present for The Downtown Writers Center. This inexpensive, 8-week Zoom-based class is open to anyone anywhere (you do not have to be a member of the YMCA to take this class).
We’ll read prose poetry, from its establishment in 1842, through Modernism, the surreal 70s, up to today. This online class features audio and video for a fun session each week, including handouts for further reading and exploration. Intended for both writers and readers who love poetry and wish to gain a deeper experience of this form. No prior knowledge required.
