SUMMER 2018 POETRY CLASSES

All Writing Workshops Dallas instructors are professional writers, teachers and editors, who have taught at major universities and attended top MFA programs across the country. Our instructors are dedicated teachers who have a passion for the craft of writing. Workshops are limited to eight writers. Students will have their work critiqued in class and will receive written feedback from the instructor and their classmates. Private consultations with the instructor will also be provided. 

Before completing your purchase, you must first receive enrollment confirmation using the Register button below each class or seminar description to ensure there is still room in the class/seminar.

Refund Policy: included in the price of each multi-week workshop is a $100 non-refundable enrollment fee, required for all multi-week workshops. If a student drops a multi-week workshop up to 5 days before the class starts, all but the enrollment fee will be refunded. After the 5-day grace period, there are no refunds, and students will be required to pay the full course fee. We have this refund policy because we keep our classes intentionally small. Dropping a class at the last minute or after the class starts means that someone else who wanted to be in the class cannot participate, and so we don't offer refunds after the 5-day grace period. For a writing workshop to function, enrolled students must be dedicated to the class.

All returning writers receive a $25 discount on any course offering.

CLICK ON A LINK BELOW TO NAVIGATE TO THE GENRE COURSE OFFERING OF YOUR CHOICE:

POETRY I | ONLINE POETRY

6-WEEK POETRY I: POETRY FOR BEGINNERS - CLASS BEGINS Monday, August 27, 2018

8 SPOTS OPEN

Have you always wanted to write poetry, but never found the time to give it a try? Or perhaps you aren’t sure where to start, or are nervous to share what you’ve already written? If so, this class is for you! In this jam-packed, six-week course, we’ll read poetry from historic time periods as well as the present moment in order to trace the evolution of the genre and see what’s most popular now. We will also consult selected chapters from Kenneth Koch’s Making Your Own Days, which will guide our weekly discussions of topics ranging from poetic forms and traditions to descriptive techniques and revision strategies.

Each week, we will talk about the assigned readings, participate in writing exercises, and—most importantly—discuss each other’s work. Students will have two opportunities to have their work critiqued (up to 2 poems each time), and they will receive feedback from the instructor as well as their classmates. In addition to providing written feedback, students will also be expected to adhere to respectful and open-minded workshopping standards.

Note: Students are required to purchase The Best of the Best American Poetry: 25th Anniversary Edition, edited by Robert Pinsky and David Lehman and Making Your Own Days, by Kenneth Koch.

Instructor Mag Gabbert holds a PhD in creative writing from Texas Tech University and an MFA in creative writing from UC Riverside. Her work has appeared in The Rumpus, 32 Poems, Stirring, Carve Magazine, Sugar House Review and The Nervous Breakdown, among other places. She currently teaches creative writing for the Graduate Department of Liberal Studies at Southern Methodist University and serves as an editor for Iron Horse Literary Review .

Fee: $395 for new students; $370 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students.)

• Mag Gabbert, Instructor
• Enrollment limit: 8 students
• Meets Mondays 7:00PM to 9:00PM / August 27,  2018 to October 1, 2018
• Class meets at The Foundry Club at Mockingbird Station: 5307 E. Mockingbird Ln / Dallas, TX / 75206

Before completing your purchase, you must first receive enrollment confirmation using the Register button below to ensure there is still room in the class.

ONLINE 8-WEEK POETRY I - CLASS BEGINS Thursday, June 7, 2018

CONTACT US BELOW TO KNOW WHEN THIS CLASS RETURNS

This ONLINE COURSE is an introductory workshop in poetry writing for beginners with no experience and intermediate students who want to brush up on the basics. The course aims to help you develop and refine your sense of what you like in a poem—what do you want your poems to do, and how can you make them do it? To that end, we’ll read published poems from a wide range of very different poets, in addition to prose discussions of what makes poetry tick, and apply those case studies to student work. Topics covered include metaphor/simile/conceit, imagery, the use of abstract and concrete language, the poetic speaker as a character, and purposeful line breaks. Although most of the work we'll read will be free verse (the default mode for contemporary poetry), we'll also look at the traditional forms and metrical schemes that are always hovering in the background of the English poetic tradition.

Though each week will include an exploration of craft and of published work, the central focus will be the discussion of student work. Student poetry will be workshopped in a supportive, respectful, and constructively critical environment with the goal of honing each poem's craft. Each poet will have four opportunities to have their work critiqued in class (every other week, up to two poems each time) and will receive typed feedback from both the instructor and their classmates. A private conference with the instructor via Skype is included.

Note: Students are required to purchase a copy of The Poet’s Companion and The Oxford Book of American Poetry as the foundational texts for this course. Both books are available for purchase via Amazon.

Fee: $400 for new students; $375 for returning students. (Payment plans available to returning students.)

• Jonathan "J.G." McClure, Instructor
• Enrollment limit: 8 students
• January 7, 2018 to July 26, 2018
• Course is fully ONLINE; students can work according to their own schedule within weekly deadlines. Once you have enrolled the instructor will send you a link to our online classroom, provided via Wet Ink.

Before completing your purchase, you must first receive enrollment confirmation using the Register button below to ensure there is still room in the class.