What makes a poem a poem? How do poems engage us, surprise us, make us laugh, or give us goosebumps? Emily Dickinson said, “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.” How do poets make us feel this way?

In this workshop you will read modern poets (Dickinson, Frost, Gluck, Neruda, Roethke,Stevens, Tate, Whitman) and develop an awareness of the techniques they use (structure, music, line breaks, stanzas, narrative voice, closure). You will read and write list poems, epistolary poems, imagistic poems, riddle poems, praise poems (or odes) and ekphrastic poems (poems about paintings or photographs.)

We will follow a protocol that encourages community building, mindful listening, and keen observation rather than criticism. Be prepared to share your work and to help your fellow poets make their poems better.

Presented by Hilary Sideris [http://www.hilarysiderispoetry.com]