June 3-5, 2005
Like song and story, poetry is a natural form of self-expression and a healing balm. With courage to delve beneath our social selves, quiet to hear the voice beneath the din, and patience to play with words, anyone with a yen to write a poem can do so.
In Toby Simon’s poetry writing workshop, you learn a method for silencing the chatter and focusing attention, a procedure for generating an initial draft, and a strategy for moving toward a completed poem. This three-part structure helps you locate your material and write poems that will make you proud and happy and proud! We will also consider features that make language poetic, such as imagery, metaphor, and rhythm. For pleasure and to learn from example, we’ll dip into poems by Nobel Prize winner Wislawa Szymborska, Anne Sexton, Hayden Carruth, and other word magicians.
This workshop is a good fit for individuals who have never tried their hand at writing poetry as well as for more experienced poets looking for encouragement and a fresh approach to their work.
Toby Simon has been writing and teaching poetry for over 30 years. While a professor in Pratt Institutes Department of English and Humanities, he edited Snakeroots, a national literary magazine. With Linda Trichter Metcalf he co-authored Writing the Mind Alive: the Proprioceptive Method for Finding Your Authentic Voice. He has published two volumes of poetry and is currently working on Fredericktown Rhapsody, a performance memoir. Through the Proprioceptive Writing website (Pwriting.org), he coaches poets and other writers on line.