Welcome!
I'm so happy you're thinking about signing up to be a participant in one of my upcoming online poetry workshops. (Click here to read more about my background in poetry and here to see where my work has appeared.
Workshop Format
My workshops are four-week community-oriented courses consisting of four two-hour group video conferences (held via Zoom), weekly writing assignments, and (brief) weekly reflective reading exercises. The primary objective of these workshops is to create a welcoming environment where creators can be affirmed and challenged in the work of making and finding meaning, and can develop friendships over a shared love for the power and beauty of language. Before you enroll, please read my Poetry Workshop Content & Conduct Policies to make sure you feel comfortable with the kind of environment I am seeking to foster in my workshops.
This workshop will be capped at five participants, and there must be a minimum of three participants enrolled in order for it to go ahead. I will give you a 1-week notice via email if I need to cancel due to low enrollment, in which case you will of course be refunded in full.
A full refund (minus a $30 registration fee) will be given if you need to withdraw from the workshop at least three weeks before the first session. (After that time, I'll be unable to give you a refund since it will most likely be too late for me to fill your spot. However, you will be welcome to transfer your spot to a friend.)
Note: If necessary, you can pay for your registration in four installments. Select this option at checkout to learn more.
Who Is This Workshop For?
My goal for poetry workshops is to create spaces where writers of varying skill and experience levels can learn from one another by meaningfully engaging with the craft of poetry to provide and receive in-depth feedback, constructive criticism, and encouragement. Past workshops have been laid-back, including participants with varying levels of familiarity and comfort with poetry. So whether you've been writing poetry for decades or are just dipping your toes into the world of verse, if you feel ready to commit to a month of dedicated engagement with other writers regarding your work and theirs, this workshop could be for you!
Course Requirements & Expectations
In order to facilitate robust class discussions and fruitful workshop sessions, participants will be expected to write one new poem each week, and to thoughtfully read and take notes on the poems submitted by the other participants. They will also be expected to actively engage in the workshop sessions, offering thoughtful, honest, and kind feedback on others’ poems. Since each workshop is of only four weeks' duration, it's important that participants make every effort to attend all four group sessions.
While all other readings and activities will be optional, participants will be strongly encouraged to devote some time each week to reviewing the weekly poem I'll select and send out for the purpose of enhancing class discussions and enriching participants' writing practices.
Course Dates
In order to make it possible for us to get straight into workshopping your poems in our very first session, each participant will turn in a first poem before our first workshop session, and will attend the first session prepared to discuss the poems turned in by the others. By December 30, 2022—six days before our first group session—participants will be expected to email me their first poem. At least three days before the workshop begins, I'll email everyone a packet containing poems from the group, and participants will be asked to read them and be ready to offer thoughtful feedback in our first session.
Barring an unexpected emergency that may require the postponement of a session, the dates and times participants will need to be aware of are as follows:
December 30, 2022 (Friday) 11pm EST: first poem due via email
January 5 (Thursday) 7-9pm EST: Workshop Session
January 6 (Friday) 11 pm EST: second poem due to me via email
January 12 (Thursday) 7-9pm EST: Workshop Session
January 13 (Friday) 11 pm EST: third poem due to me via email
January 19 (Thursday) 7-9pm EST: Workshop Session
January 20 (Friday) 11 pm EST: fourth poem due to me via email
January 26 (Thursday) 7-9pm EST: Workshop Session