Poetry Workshop Registration: A Presentation of Meaning (Spring 2021)

Poetry is a distillation of life. The task of a poet is to examine an incident or an idea with painstaking attention and retell it in such a way as to extract the essence of it, the significance, the meaning. That’s what poetry is: it’s a presentation of meaning. And meaning is the key to courage. If our lives have meaning, if what we do matters, we will have courage, because we can’t afford not to. This is what Garrison Keillor is talking about when he says "the meaning of poetry is to give courage.”

        —Bryana Joy, 2019 Interview with The Cultivating Project


Before You Register
I'm so happy you're thinking about signing up to be a part of my first poetry workshop! Please note that there are two sections for this workshop. Although the content covered in the two workshops will be more or less identical, the Tuesday evening section is reserved exclusively for adults (at least 18), whereas the Monday afternoon section is open to writers aged 15 and older. If you're considering signing up for the Monday workshop, please bear in mind that writers as young as fifteen may be reading the work you share, and prepare to exercise appropriate discretion. However, the Monday evening workshop is not a "young writers" group, and currently has both teens and adults enrolled. 

Once you've placed your order, your spot in the workshop will be secured! Within a day or two, I will contact you via email with a brief registration form to fill out. Your answers to this form will help me prepare and facilitate the workshop in a way that better meets your needs, so please do try to fill it out as soon as you can!


Course Description
This course is a community-oriented workshop designed to provide a space for writers of varying skill levels to share their work and engage meaningfully with one another to provide and receive in-depth feedback, critique, and encouragement. It will consist of weekly group video conferences (held via Zoom), weekly writing assignments, and various supplementary readings and activities designed to expand the participants’ familiarity with a wide range of poetic styles and voices, both contemporary and classical. The primary objective of this course 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.


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. While all other readings and activities will be optional, participants will be strongly encouraged to devote some time each week to reviewing supplementary readings arranged by the course instructor for the purpose of enhancing class discussions and enriching participants' writing practices.


Course Texts
Selected readings from classical and contemporary poets, including Gerard Manley Hopkins, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, e.e. cummings, Mary Oliver, W.S. Merwin, Naomi Shihab Nye, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and others.


Course Dates
Two weeks before the workshop begins, participants will receive a preliminary assignment and a small selection of readings to complete before the first session. The two workshop sections will have their first meeting on March 22 and March 23 respectively. The sessions will then take place weekly, with the exception of a two-week break for the Monday workshop and a one-week break for the Tuesday workshop (when Bryana will be traveling for a family wedding). The break weeks for the Monday workshop will be the weeks of May 3 and May 10. The Tuesday break week will be for the week of May 4. The final sessions will be held on May 24 and 18.