Discover Poetry

“Emily Dickinson called poetry ‘Possibility,’ a place and a practice composed of equal parts reality and imagination,” says instructor Gillian Osborne. “After decades of writing and thinking about poetry, I’m still thrilled by the possibilities of this weird and wonderful way of making sense of life.”

In this intro to poetry, we’ll play our way into poems by writing down what’s been communicating itself to us, especially that stuff we don’t yet understand, what experiences have made us feel most chilled, on fire, or alive. Drawing on examples from poets old and new–from Fernando Pessoa to Haryette Mullen or Lorna Dee Cervantes–we’ll learn tactics for tempering, forming, and sharing this emotional core. 

Gillian says, “Throughout our weeks together, we’ll practice gathering sense impressions, observations, and images, and reflecting on big feelings from the safety of tranquility, or at least, some distance. We’ll see what happens to our voice when we write as a ‘speaker’ or when we write towards someone real or imagined as an ‘addressee.’ And we’ll go wild with form and formlessness, seeing what happens when we apply the constraints of particular shapes to our thoughts, feelings, and language, and what happens when we let go of those forms or tear them apart.” 

During the final class meeting, you’ll optionally share your poetry with the group, for celebration and light feedback. And you’ll walk away from class with a portfolio of 3-5 poems pulled from our work together, a kit of poet’s tools, and a backlog of prompts to draw on to carry your explorations onward.

About The Writing Salon's In-Person Classes

In-person class schedules are subject to sudden change or cancellation due to Covid. We will communicate any course changes to you as quickly as possible. Masking, social distancing, and other Covid measures will be enforced in accordance with local guidelines. 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.