Poetry Workshops

HOSTED BY IOWA CITY POETRY

Upcoming Workshops

Over four Sundays, Sept 13, 20, 27, Oct 4, 12-1:30 pm Central

Form's Not Dead: New and Invented Forms

Griffin Rockwell

In this four-week online workshop, we will explore poems by contemporary poets who have invented new forms and experiment with writing our own versions.

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Over four Wednesdays, October 7, 14, 21, 28, 6:30-8 pm Central

Crafting Metaphor through the Art of Noticing

Kelsey Bigelow

With in-class writing and workshopping time, we will train our brains to find poetic images in the world around us.

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Past Workshops

Wednesday, September 9, 6:30-8 pm Central

So You Want to Self-Publish?

Kelsey Bigelow

Topics include formatting your pages, creating a cover, publishing platforms, costs that should and should not come with the process, planning your publication timeline, and what comes after hitting "publish."
Monday, July 13, 6:30-8 pm

Opening a Poem: The Power of the Title

Griffin Rockwell

By reading poems from Richard Siken, Sharon Olds, Tiana Clark, and others, we’ll explore the ways a title can shape and open a poem, and then experiment with our own titles.
Over four Sundays, July 12, 19, 26, and Aug 2

Grief Works: Writing through Ritual

Warren C. Longmire

The most powerful thing about writing through loss is not finishing a single piece, but exploring what emerges from a sustained ritual practice.
Sunday, June 28, 1-2:30 pm

Inspired by Oliver: A Generative Writing Workshop

Donika Kelly

Poet & Professor Donika Kelly offers poems and prompts to generate new work inspired by Mary Oliver
Over four Sundays, May 10, 17, 24 & 31

Rearranging the Room: The Serial Poem

Ryan Collins

Some ideas, some questions, are so fertile & generative, they cannot be contained or fully realized in the space of a single poem.
Sunday, April 26, 5:30-7:30 pm

“Miracles are wrought with axes” – Invective Poetry Workshop

Ryan Collins

Poetry is many things, including an excellent vehicle for carrying our anger into the world.
Monday, April 20, 6-8 pm CDT

Writing from the Inside Out: Holding a Conversation with Your Emotions

Caleb "The Negro Artist" Rainey

Poetry has the power to capture the chaos of emotions inside of us and create something beautiful.
Sunday, January 11, 2:30-4 pm, online

Building a Poetry Collection: Arc, Form & Voice

In this hands-on workshop, we’ll explore the art (and a little of the business) of shaping a poetry manuscript.
Four Sundays, January 4, 11, 18, 25

Growing / Gleaning / Gluing: A Generative Workshop on Literary Collage

Sarah Elgatian

We'll ask ourselves what objects, media, forms, or genres can best support or open up this piece? Make it unravel?
August 2, 12:30-2:30 pm

Tracing Ghosts 2: Typographic and Digital Poetry Techniques

Warren C. Longmire

This workshop explores how poetry can move beyond the line and into the visual field using free or low-cost web-based software.
Sunday, June 8, 15, 22, 29

Tracing Ghosts: Documentary Poetry & Practice

Warren Longmire

Documentary poetry offers us a way to honor what’s been overlooked. It’s a chance to tell the stories that matter most—starting with our own.
Four Wednesdays, June 4, 11, 18, 25

Generative Poetry Marathon

Margaret Yapp

A fast-paced and exciting marathon of generative and editing exercises that build on each other.
Four Wednesdays, May 7, 14, 21, 28

Protest with Poetry on the Page & Stage: A Spoken Word Workshop

Caleb Rainey

In times like these, we need even more writers who will take the brave step into the world of spoken word.
Over four Saturdays, April 12, 19, 26, May 3

Musical Muses: Writing Through Music

Glen Waters

How does utilizing music as the force for thoughts further push your resonance with readers?
Over four Sundays, Feb 2, 9, 16, & 23

Poetry as a Coping Tool: A Generative Workshop

Kelsey Bigelow

This workshop dives into methods for writing poetry through grief, loss, and trauma.
June 17-21, 2:00-5:00 pm

Write Down, Speak Out: Youth Slam Poetry

Caleb "The Negro Artist" Rainey

With spoken word/slam poetry as our guide, we will learn ways to write with a power & complexity that stays true to our story.
March 6, 13, 20, 27

Broadsides: Creative and Independent Techniques

Dana King and Margaret Yapp

There are infinite ways to make a broadside — one-of-a-kinds and editions — and in this four-session class, participants will design, develop, and print at least two of their own broadsides.
Oct 7, 14, 21, 28 online

Writing Interiors: An All Genre Workshop

Glen Waters

How we decorate our interior houses is how we view our interior selves, and to explore this interior is to tap into a pool of creative energy.
Sept 10, 17, Oct 1, 8 in person

Writing Poetry Toward a Book Form

Margaret Yapp

Join us in person at PorchLight to generate new writing intended for book form and learn intro-level skills to make your own books
Sunday, July 9

give me a second: a generative poetry editing workshop

Dani Charles

This is the workshop for the people who want a moment of guided editing activities to help them look at their work with fresh eyes.
June 12-16, 2-5 pm

Write Down, Speak Out: Youth Slam Poetry

Caleb "The Negro Artist" Rainey

With spoken word/slam poetry as our guide, we will learn ways to write with a power & complexity that stays true to our story.
Four Saturdays, June 10, 17, 24, July 1

Morning in the Burned House: Writing Poems on Grief & Loss

Joan Kwon Glass

In this generative workshop, we will write poems about what and whom we have lost and how we move forward.
4 Wednesdays, June 7-28

Beyond Inspiration to Badass: Where Disability, Activism, and Poetry Meet

Sarah Rizzuto

Join us in solidarity and in celebration!
Saturday, May 6

Submit to Me: Demystifying the Submission Process to Literary Journals (May)

Hannah Bonner

Join us to discuss and demystify the process of submitting to journals.
Jan 22, Jan 29, Feb 5, Feb 12

Planning for Surprise: A Virtual Poetry Workshop

Chad Abushanab

How do we move away from what we wanted to say in order to access the things we didn’t know we needed to say?
December 10

Submit to Me: Demystifying the Submission Process to Literary Journals (Dec 10)

Hannah Bonner
Dec 3 or Dec 10

Submit to Me: Demystifying the Submission Process to Literary Journals

Hannah Bonner

Register for either the Dec 3 or Dec 10 workshop
Oct 15, 22, 29, Nov 5

Shapes: Poems in Space

Nora Claire Miller

During weekly in-class and at-home assignments, we’ll survey the shapes that our poems make and try our hands at some new ones.
October 1, 8, 15, 22

The Feedback Chamber

Micky Bayonne

As writers, we often find ourselves struggling with one piece of writing for weeks (sometimes even months). We know the work needs something, but we cannot identify exactly what.
August 6, 13, 20, 27

Embracing Rewriting Alongside Revision: A Virtual Poetry Workshop

Hannah Bonner

In this four-week poetry workshop, we will generate new work and embrace radical rewriting, exploring every angle, voice, and format of a poem’s potential.
August 7, 14, 21, 28

Lawn of the Poetic Everywhere: A Nature Poetry Workshop

Hannah Bonner

Join us in the Public Space Gardens, where this site of fecundity will inspire writing about landscapes, trees, flowers, and environmental justice.
July 24

This Compost! Green Whitman

Dr. Micah Bateman

Join us at this outdoor writing workshop with poet & Whitman scholar Micah Bateman.
Sunday, July 10, 1:30-3:30 CT

Where World and Skin Meet: The Embodied Lyric Essay

Hannah Soyer

This generative writing workshop invites participants to explore what it means to put body to words
April 12 & 16, May 9

Dear City: A Free Poetry Workshop with High School Writers

Caleb "The Negro Artist" Rainey & Cory Hutchinson-Reuss

Join us to start a new piece, get published online, and have your poems displayed as public art!
April 9

Where World and Skin Meet: The Embodied Poem

Hannah Soyer

This workshop invites participants to explore what it means to put body to words — to attempt to capture the tangible in the intangible.
April 5, 12, 19, 26

Onsense-nay Oems-pay: Workshop on Nonsense Poems

Nora Claire Miller

Join us for some serious play as we explore relationships to the idea of "nonsense" in poetry.
Jan 8, 15, 22, 29

To Hell & Back: A Poetic Journey

Becca Klaver

Part poetry workshop, part mythic quest, this session invites participants to go down to the underworld and reemerge to make poetry out of what is found there.
October 9, 16,23, 30

The Power of "I": Writing from Experience

Micky Bayonne

The coffee pot in the morning, the conversations with friends, the show you have been shamelessly binge watching. How do we translate that to the page?
August 8, 15, 22, 29

Write, Memory: Embracing the Poetic through the Lyric Essay

Hannah Bonner

Explore memory through the lyric essay, a hybrid form that complements the circuitous, nonlinear nature of recollection.
July 11, July 18, July 25, August 1

Beyond Beauty: Poetry as Expansion and Resistance

Jessica Lawson

What kinds of poetic topics, poetic forms, and human lives exist in Beauty’s shadow?
June 7, June 14, June 21, June 28

Closing Time: Using Spoken Word Techniques to Create a Powerful Ending

Caleb "The Negro Artist" Rainey

From effective final lines to structure subversion, spoken word artists have found multiple ways to leave audiences stunned.
June 1, June 8, June 15, June 22

Bringing the World into Your Poetry

Hannah Bonner

Over the past year, we have spent so much time separated from the outside world. Over four weeks in June, we will explore ways in which to bring the world into our poetry.
May 15, May 22, May 29, June 5

Queer as Form

Jessica Lawson

Is queer poetry just using old tools to tell new stories? Are there poetic forms that are themselves queer?
March 17, March 24, March 31, April 7

Poetry in Active Voice - Wednesday Sessions

Steven Willis

With influences from Spoken Word, Shakespeare, and American Poetic Realism in theater, Willis shows how the single person speaking in real time is the most underutilized element of poetry.
March 15, March 22, March 29, April 5

Poetry in Active Voice - Monday Sessions

Steven Willis

With influences from Spoken Word, Shakespeare, and American Poetic Realism in theater, Willis shows how the single person speaking in real time is the most underutilized element of poetry.
February 27, March 6, March 13, March 20

Variations on a Theme: The Foundations of a Poetry Project

Micky Bayonne

This four-week workshop will investigate methods for beginning work on a poetry “project” or a series of poems with a common origin.
January 9, January 16, January 23

Walking with Walt

Micah Bateman and Danielle Wheeler

Whitman will serve as our touchstone as we discover new verse forms and chart poetic pathways
November 7, November 14, November 21

The Power of "I": Writing from Experience

Micky Bayonne

The coffee pot in the morning, the conversations with friends, the show you have been shamelessly binge watching. How do we translate that to the page?
October 8, October 15, October 22, October 29

Mark-Making ~ The Interplay of Eye and Ear in Poetry

Shira Dentz

What motivates a writer to push outside the lines?
September 9, September 16, September 23

If Not a Luxury: A Workshop in Poetry & Vision

Becca Klaver

As Lorde writes: “For women, then, poetry is not a luxury.
August 22, August 29, September 12

The Poem Inside the Poem: Experiments in Radical Revision

Nora Claire Miller

During this three week workshop, we will investigate what it means for the poems we have already written to "begin to live."
MAY 19, MAY 26, JUNE 2

Hook, Line, & Sinker

Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey

When a poet steps to the microphone, truth on the tip of their tongue and vulnerability in their voice, you listen.