Poetry Workshop: Turn Your Drafts into Finished Poems

“Sharing our poems with fellow writers is vital to gaining insights about whether and how our intentions are coming through on the page,” says instructor Erin Rodoni. “Perhaps less obvious, but no less valuable, is the craft awareness we gain by offering feedback as generous readers of one another’s work.”

This 6-week workshop will provide a dynamic virtual space where you can get personalized feedback on poems in progress, from brand-new drafts in need of development to later drafts in need of polish. Erin will share lessons and optional writing exercises that respond to the questions and challenges that arise during workshop. Lessons might spotlight formal elements of poetry such as stanza types and line breaks, or language elements, such as word choice and syntax. The focus of the lessons will be on how to use the virtues of poetry to realize your own vision.

This course uses the online platform Wet Ink, an intuitive space designed for writers that allows for clear, targeted feedback on your submissions. Each week, Erin will write a critique for your submitted draft. Additionally, on this platform, everyone will be assigned to small, rotating critique groups where you’ll receive attentive responses to your poems from classmates and will engage deeply with your classmates’ writing.

“By the end of the class, you will come away with actionable feedback on 5 or 6 poems,” Erin says, “and you will be a stronger reader of your own and others’ work.” 

*This class does not have set meeting times. Throughout each week, participants will set their own schedule for writing and critiquing. The class will require 2 hours a week for workshop critiques, and participants will make their own decisions in terms of the number of hours a week they'd like to spend on creative submissions.

*Registration for this class closes at midnight on Friday, September 27.