Look, Listen, Write: Creating New Work from Art & Music

“Have you ever wanted to write something that captures an idea or sensation you had while looking at a painting or listening to a song?” asks instructor Michael Klein. “What story begins to form when you look at Andrew Wyeth’s Christina’s World, the woman in the foreground turned toward a house that may or may not be her own? What memory or mood kicks in when you hear a favorite song you haven’t listened to in years?”

In this 3-week class, through in-class prompts and take-home assignments, we’ll use visual art and music as doorways into creating poems and prose pieces with vivid images and emotional charge. A Hopper diner might invite a story of loneliness, secrecy, or escape; a Van Gogh sky might stir a memory of restlessness or grief; a song might bring back a younger self you’d all but forgotten. We’ll write from what a painting or piece of music makes us imagine, remember, and feel. 

We’ll also read poems and essays about art and music by writers such as Adrienne Rich, W.H. Auden, and Zadie Smith. These readings will show us how other writers turn looking and listening into lively, descriptive language, and they’ll key us into our own instincts as writers: what we’re drawn to and what we resist. 

“By the end of 3 weeks, you’ll have a few new starts or drafts in poetry or prose,” says Michael, “plus a more practiced way of turning art and music into writing. You’ll leave with greater confidence in your descriptive eye, your emerging voice, and your own instincts for where a piece might begin and where it might go next.”

About The Writing Salon's Online Zoom Classes

You will be able to participate in live class meetings via Zoom videoconference. To attend classes, you'll need a phone, tablet or computer and access to the internet. You can participate in the class from wherever you'd like, whether on your living room couch or in your office. Before your class meets, you'll receive an email from The Writing Salon with more information about Zoom and your remote class. If you have any questions about remote learning, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at hello@writingsalons.com.