If you hang around me long enough, you’ll find out that I’m obsessed with villanelles. They’re my favorite poetic form. For this year’s creative challenge, I have two goals. First, I want to immerse myself in the villanelle. While I won’t write exclusively in form, I will spend the year reading, studying, and practicing. I love this form, so why not give it my full attention?
My other goal is to teach more workshops. I love teaching. I’ve taught workshops here and there, but this year, I want to make them a commitment the way I made giving readings a commitment. Given that preparing a workshop requires more effort than a reading (at least in my opinion), I’m not going to shoot for one a month. Instead, I’m going to go for 10 between now and March 31st, 2016.
Where is all this leading? To announce that I’ll be re-running the villanelle workshop I taught at the Flor de Nopal Literary Festival last year!
Workshop Description: Many poets are intimidated by the prospect of writing formal poetry. The villanelle, with the constraint of repeated lines, can seem especially daunting. This workshop will explore different ways of creating villanelles, including using found lines, to push the boundaries of constrains and make the form a fun exploration of sound and rhythm.
When: April 25th, 2015 from 3-5 4:00-6:00 p.m. (note the time change) at my home in East Austin (address provided after registration is finalized) OR April 26th from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. online (via Google Hangout)
Cost: $25 for the Austin workshop; $15 for the online workshop
Want to sign up? Fill out the registration form here. Payment can be sent via Paypal to literaryaustin@gmail.com, or contact me at that address to make other arrangements.
Poetry and Practice 