In this workshop, we will study the work of Lorine Niedecker, engaging her Collected Poems edited by Jenny Penberthy. This book of poetry will generate conversation and strategies for the writing we enact.

To inquire about becoming a virtual or in-person student, please contact me at hn2626@gmail.com.

Format:
We spend one hour reading poems aloud and another hour writing. The writing portion takes the form of starting points & prompts drawn from the poems as well as those of my own design. Writing sessions are formalized into poems—participants gather works into mini-manuscripts for review and commentary in the final class or, in the case of virtual students, in one-on-one consultations with me.

All students may keep abreast of the material via weekly email summaries; these provide continuity and content regardless of whether attendance is possible to all meetings.

More Details on the Workshop:
Both in-person and virtual students have found that the workshop’s weekly engagement has generated poems, lead to revision of older work, given new understanding to poetics, and triggered the reworking of dusty manuscripts.

Attendance is in cyberspace (a weekly email) or, for Toronto poets, in my home near Chester Station. Meeting time for in-person attendance is 4 PM to 6 PM each Sunday.

Required text:
The Collected Poems by Lorine Niedecker (University of California Press)

Suggested Text:
Lake Superior (Wave Books 2013)

History of the Workshop, Cost and How to Join:
I have been leading poetry workshops like this one for 15 years. The focus is poetics, transmission, absorption and enacting. Previous workshops have engaged the poetry of Creeley, Olson, Kyger, Ted Berrigan, Spicer, Stein, Dickinson, Notley and Whalen. An essay on the class is included in the anthology Poets on Teaching (University of Iowa, 2010).

Cost for this 10 session series is a reasonable $140. Please inquire about payment forms and installation plans. PayPal payments should be sent to possumego@gmail.com.

That night, I’ll be performing at 7:30 PM, reading from my most recent publications.

British & Irish Studies Room
Norlin 5th floor
LIBR M549

RSVP on Facebook here.