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This remote poetry “class” offers a unique opportunity for personal and intimate poetry instruction. Students will work with Brian Tierney one-on-one, via written correspondence over nine weeks, during which students will compile and send one "packet" every three weeks.
Each “packet” will consist of: 1) 3-5 poems for in-depth written feedback from Brian; 2) a small critical engagement with select reading assignments in poetry (which Brian will provide) and which will foster close-reading skills and inform creative practice; and 3) a small “letter” to be addressed to Brian, in which students can discuss their writing and creative life, and pose any relevant questions. Brian will review and respond to these packets in writing, for a total of three packet responses over nine weeks.
This mentorship opportunity is ideal for poets who are craving critical feedback that workshops can provide, but looking for a more comprehensive and focused engagement, where the specific concerns of one’s writing practice and poems can be addressed individually.
Intermediate writers and above recommended.
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Brian Tierney is the author of Rise and Float, winner of the 20-2021 Jake Adam York Prize (Milkweed, 2022). His poetry and prose have appeared in such journals as Paris Review, Kenyon Review, AGNI, New England Review, The Adroit Journal, and others. A former Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, and a graduate of the Bennington College MFA Writing Seminars, he was named among Narrative Magazine’s 2013 “30 Below 30” emerging writers, and is winner of the 2018 George Bogin Memorial Award from The Poetry Society of America. Raised in Philadelphia, he lives in Oakland, Ca., where he teaches poetry at The Writing Salon.
September 23 – November 25
- This is an enthusiastic endorsement for Brian - I'm a long time educator so I know what to look for. Brian is well planned, knowledgeable and reflective. He's sensitive to the class and to individual needs as well as leading us to a wider appreciation of poetry and helping us to feel our way to what 'good' poetry means. He is careful not to get in the way of our individual creative processes nor to be too prescriptive. I recommend him without reservation.
I appreciated Brian's careful, critical readings of my work and his deep insights. Also, the assignments and readings for the class were brilliant.
Brian's mentorship dives deep. He provides sources that broaden my understanding of poetics and prosody. He helps me understand what it is to live a writer's life, to read as a writer, to live fully from that perspective.