Master Your Beginnings and Endings: A Poetry Craft Series

The Writing Salon’s Craft Series offers writers an up-close opportunity to learn from and engage with an acclaimed author about the art and craft of writing. In our winter installment of the Craft Series, Brian Tierney will delve into various approaches to creating dynamic and surprising openings to poems and to developing closings that leave us with a sense of arrival, wonder, even awe. 

“A poem’s beginning draws us in, establishing dramatic predicaments, setting tone and mood, and opening the world of the poem for writer and reader,” says Brian. “Endings can ask us to reflect or question, can startle or ground us.”

Over two Craft Series sessions, Brian will use example poems from his award-winning book, Rise and Float, as well as examples from other poets’ work, to show how titles can build a frame for a poem, how first lines can generate curiosity and momentum, and how last lines can create narrative arrival or a subtle power that stays with us long after we’ve finished reading. 

Through generative in-class writing assignments and take-home activities, you will apply these varied approaches to your own poetry. With 3-5 poem drafts in hand, you can “break the mold” of first attempts, testing new approaches to free your poems into what they truly want to be.

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 the class. If you have any questions about in-person learning, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at hello@writingsalons.com.