“Poetry is a life companion,” says instructor Katharine Harer. “People come and go, pets die, places change, but poetry doesn’t go away because it’s already inside you. It keeps you company through life’s ups and downs and, above all, it connects you to yourself, guiding you through the maze of your thoughts and feelings.”
In this Saturday class, we will read and discuss poems by writers such as Mary Oliver, Frank O’Hara, Lucille Clifton and Li-Young Lee. We’ll talk about what “works” for us in the poems, and Katharine will identify some of the elements of craft poets use to help both the reader, and the poet, create connection. We’ll do several in-class writing activities, starting with freeing-up exercises and moving on to poetry writing prompts that will help you discover new ways to express what’s going on inside and outside of you.
When the class ends, you’ll take away some helpful tools and strategies for continuing to write poetry on your own as well as new drafts of poems that got their start in our class.
About The Writing Salon's In-Person Classes
Before your class meets, you'll receive an email from The Writing Salon with more information about your class. If you have any questions about in-person learning, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at hello@writingsalons.com.
Katharine Harer loves teaching creative writing. She has worked with hundreds, maybe thousands, of students in her over thirty-year career as a community college writing teacher at Skyline College and as a private workshop instructor. Katharine has published seven collections of poetry, the most recent, Deconfliction, in 2020, and a full-length volume of poems, Jazz & Other Hot Subjects, in 2016. Her poetry and nonfiction have been published widely in literary journals, newspapers, magazines, and anthologies. Her travel essay Delle Donne appeared in Best Women’s Travel Writing 2016 and a personal essay, Blue Flags & Painted Crosses, is forthcoming from Sonora Review in Tucson.
- Saturday, May 17, 10:00am-1:00pm
I found Katharine's teaching style empathetic and helpful. She was always about improving, no matter what level we were at.
I think Katharine is a great teacher. She gives everyone respectful, individual attention. She lets everyone have their own opinion and encourages us to listen to each other with the same empathy.
This was an excellent class - it did exactly what I wanted it to do: gave me a base from which I can read and write poetry more regularly. Katharine offered a really good combination of reading poetry with structured writing exercises - it was generative and fun!