Poetry Workshops

HOSTED BY IOWA CITY POETRY

Upcoming Workshops

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.

Learn More

Past Workshops

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.