The Poetics of You: An Intro to Poetry Workshop with Melissa Studdard

Monday(s), April 7, 14, 21 & 28, 2025, 6:30-8:30pm CST, via Zoom

Nonmember $155        Member    $130                  Student $ 90    

*EARN CPE’S

TWO SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE

Poetry has a way of shifting the way we view the world and ourselves, of transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, of infusing the mundane with meaning. Ready to see life through a poetry lens? 

In this four-session workshop, we’ll explore and review basic poetic concepts while working with prompts designed to unlock your own unique poetic gifts and subject matter. The Poetics of You will be a generative, supportive, and encouraging space to learn, experiment, and explore. In the weekly virtual meetings, we will study basic techniques, read sample poems, compose drafts, and share writings.

This course is open to writers of all genres, backgrounds, and skill levels, 18+.

Students will leave this class with: 

• New drafts of poems
• Understanding of basic poetic concepts
• A sense of your own subject matter and unique abilities

Melissa Studdard writes poetry, fiction, song cycles, and libretti. Her most recent book is the poetry collection Dear Selection Committee (Jackleg Press). Her work has been featured by PBS, NPR, The New York Times, The Guardian, Ms. Magazine, the Best American Poetry blog, and the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series and has appeared in periodicals such as POETRY, Kenyon Review, and New England Review. Her Awards include the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, The Penn Review Poetry Prize, the Tom Howard Prize, the REELpoetry International Film Festival Audience Choice Award, and more. As a librettist/lyricist, she has had works commissioned by Aspen Music Festival, Wolf Trap, Yale Institute of Sacred Music, and the University of Michigan School of Music. With Kelli Russell Agodon, she co-hosts the Youtube poetry series Poems You Need. You can find her at www.melissastuddard.com and www.youtube.com/@PoemsYouNeed

Social media links: @melissastuddard