A Poetry Writing Workshop with Kathleen Ellis

This three-hour poetry workshop for all levels of writers will question what it is to live on the edge of the country as well as explore how to write poems that are edgy, confronting the crises of climate change as well as local, geographical, and personal issues. Ellis will lead participants in exploring and practicing a range of approaches to writing poems, as well as discussing craft, forms, and strategies along the way. Group discussion and workshopping of one recent poem of yours and the creation of two new poems through in-class prompts.

Model poems will include both modern and contemporary work by Pablo Neruda, Philip Booth, Robert Creeley, Craig Santos Perez, Camille Dungy, Adrienne Rich, Ilya Kaminsky, and others. Participants will bring 10 copies of a recent 10–20-line poem of theirs to be workshopped by the group. Ample time will also be given to writing and crafting raw material toward generating two new poems during the workshop.

Please contact Nick Berry to register at 326-4375 or email nick@witherlelibrary.net.