Announcing "Around the World Through Poetry"

A 4-part workshop series

I’m excited to share my new workshop series with you—Around the World Through Poetry, where we’ll explore four forms: the Japanese Waka, the Malaysian Pantoum, the French Villanelle, and the Arabic Ghazal, covering their historical origins and cultural meaning, as well as their specific stanza structure and musical devices, including refrain, rhyme, and use of repetition.

Through examples and discussion, we’ll look at the particular patterns and music of these poetic forms to express cultural differences, celebrate love, beauty, and spirituality, hone in and insist on an idea or theme, and generally address our shared humanity through poetry.

How can learning formal poetry help us become better poets?

Understanding the rich history and practicing the craft and structure of formal poetry can often inform our free verse poems in beautiful and surprising ways. It can help us become better listeners when we read poetry and write our own, bringing awareness to the lines we create and the patterns and melodies of our word choices, while maintaining freedom of theme, expression and poetic voice. Paradoxically, writing within a container offers great creative freedom.Four 2-hour sessions in January

Limited to 12 participants. All levels of poetry welcome!

Four Saturdays in January.

Visit the Eventbrite page for more information and to register.

Hope to see you there!

With Gratitude,