Category Archives: Fall 2020 Workshops

WHEN I USE I: Writing the Persona Poem, a poetry workshop taught by Herman Beavers

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WHEN I USE I
Writing the Persona Poem
A Poetry Workshop taught by Herman Beavers

5 Weeks
October 16-November 13
$275
Class Limit: 15
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

The persona poem is a staple of Western poetry. Whether it’s Andrew Marvel’s “To His Coy Mistress” or W.B. Years’ s “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death” or Ai’s cycle of poems written in the voice of J. Edgar Hoover, the persona poem offers the poet an opportunity to step out of her own skin and embody another personality, whose character traits may be a radical departure from her own but who gives the poet a mouthpiece through which to express feelings and ideas.

The main ingredient of the persona poem is empathy, which offers poets the means for entering into the concerns and predicaments of another person. In this five-week workshop, we will devote time each week to reading and discussing persona poems, trying to hone in on what makes the voice in the poem sound like authentic speech, how the poem’s use of syntax, rhythm, and pacing combine to create the sense that the persona exists in time and space, and finally the concerns the poet is using the persona to address in the poem.

Our goal will be to produce new work every week, so there will be prompts, but participants are welcome to devise their own strategies for “inventing” a persona. Poems will be submitted for peer review and instructor’s feedback. Responses to the poems will be posted to the workshop discussion board.

Though the bulk of the work will happen offline, there will be opportunities for participants to join an optional Zoom conversation to discuss the readings and talk about their experiences creating a persona. Writers, both beginning and experienced, are welcome. Schedules permitting, we will have a reading where the class can read (perform?) their poems.

Click here to register.

Syllabus

Week One: Introduction, Listening to My Own Voice?

The workshop will begin by looking at several persona poems as a way to hone in on how the poet uses language to create a voice, create the details essential to understanding the persona’s concerns, and builds a structure to contain the predicament the poem seeks to map. The assignment for this first week is to write an autobiographical poem.

Week Two: Instructions

In this assignment, students will write a 20-line poem (no more than 11 syllables per line), that features a persona giving a set of instructions for what might be a routine task (how to ride a bicycle) or a more complicated task (how to field strip a weapon).

Week Three:  Getting into Character: Building the Persona From the Inside Out

During this week, we will spend time learning how to accrue the small details that go into making a character authentic because the poet develops the quality of empathy necessary to not only identify the persona’s habits, anxieties, and affectations, but to figure out how these aspects of the persona get expressed verbally. We will try to schedule a meeting over Zoom so that we can be joined by a professional actor, who will talk to us about how she goes about getting into character. The poem you’re writing can be of any length, in whatever structure you deem appropriate.

Week Four: Isolating the Persona’s Concerns I: The Letter Poem

This week’s assignment will involve writing a poem in the form of a letter, written by a persona you’ve invented, to someone against whom they’ve committed a huge transgression or violation of trust.

Week Five: Isolating the Persona’s Concerns II: “If I had it to do over again…” *

The final assignment will be to write a poem in the voice of a person of middle or advanced age who reflects back on their life and expresses regret over how a specific event (or sequence of events) turned out, who then proceeds to narrate what would happen if they had the opportunity for a do-over.

*The personas created in Week 3 can be used in Weeks 4 & 5 or you can create a new persona every week.

Assignments will be posted Monday evenings

Poems due on Friday, by 11:59

Feedback due Sunday evening, by 10 pm

THE ART OF FLASH, Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction, taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa | October 3-November 7

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THE ART OF FLASH

A Workshop in Fiction and Nonfiction

Taught by Cleaver Flash Editor Kathryn Kulpa

5 weeks
October 3–November 7
$175 Early Bird before September 3
$200 Regular
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected] 

Register Now

Flash is a genre defined by brevity: vivid emotions and images compressed into a compact form. We most often see flash fiction, but flash can also encompass prose poetry, micro memoir, lyric essays, and hybrid works.

In this class, we will take a close look at different styles and forms of flash fiction, as well as flash nonfiction, hybrid, and experimental works. Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example-works and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback, then will choose one story to revise for the final class.

This workshop has weekly deadlines and assignments to help motivate you to write, but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time—there are no required meetings (although we may have an optional Zoom pop-up or two and bonus prompts for those who are interested). We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism.

Kathryn Kulpa was a winner of the Vella Chapbook Contest for her flash chapbook Girls on Film (Paper Nautilus) and has had work selected for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020 (Pelekinesis Press).  Her flash fiction is published or forthcoming in Jellyfish Review, Monkeybicycle, Smokelong Quarterly, and Wigleaf, and she serves as flash editor for Cleaver Magazine. Kathryn has been a visiting writer at Wheaton College, and has led writing workshops at the University of Rhode Island, Stonecoast Writers Conference at the University of Southern Maine, Writefest in Houston, Texas, and at public libraries throughout Rhode Island.

SYLLABUS

Topic One: Time and Place

Time constraints in flash fiction—handling transitions—telling a larger story through a selected moment—zoom lens or wide angle?—creating a vivid setting in few words

Topic Two: Voice, Character, and Point of View

Choosing a lens—whose story?—first, second, and third-person—single or multiple points of view—speed dating: shorthand character reveals

Topic Three: Where Prose Meets Poetry

Borrowing poetic techniques to create brilliant flash—image is everything—white space and stories in stanzas—the right sound—the power of repetition

Topic Four: Flash Frontier: Experimental and Hybrid Forms

Prose poetry—lists, recipes, and want ads: hermit crab stories—lyric essays—ekphrastic flash—using found objects to tell a story

 

THE PROPULSIVE PICTURE, Image as an Engine in Poetry, a Workshop taught by Cleaver Poetry Editor Claire Oleson | September 19 to October 24

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THE PROPULSIVE PICTURE
Image as an Engine in Poetry
Taught by Cleaver Poetry Editor Claire Oleson

5 weeks
September 19 to October 24
$ 150 Earlybird (before August 15)|$175 Regular
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]

Register Now

In this course, we will explore how images can serve as the engine in a poem: driving the language as a plot might in a story or novel. We will work primarily on generating new work, encouraging participants to push their boundaries and hone their voice to create memorable and authentic pieces. The workshop model will facilitate constructive responses from both peers and the instructor. Particular attention will be placed on the visual life of the poetry we read and write.

We will read a few selections of poetry weekly that demonstrate the potential of images as communicative engines. The readings will be brief but rich, with the intent of inviting multiple re-readings, close readings, note-taking and flexibility for everyone’s lives and work. Supplemental reading will be available for those hungry for more plums from the proverbial icebox. Prompts will be provided inspired by the week’s reading, but will be designed more as springboards for beginning rather than hard-and-fast regulations. Participant work will be submitted weekly for peer and instructor review. One piece will be chosen by the student for revision for the final class. Optional Zoom conferences will be held to discuss the reading for those interested. We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and constructive criticism.

A final optional Zoom meeting will be held as a reading of our work.

Click here to register.

SYLLABUS

1: Introductions: What is an image?

We will open with an investigation of how language can create images and what these images offer to poetic work. In this first week, we will focus on writing from the image out: beginning with a picture, and allowing it to jumpstart a poem.

2: Imagism and its Departures

We will discuss the movement of Imagism that emerged in the early 20th century. From an understanding of how images came to hold meaning in and of themselves, we will navigate writing pieces that showcase images as more than what they literally seem.

3: Form and Function

This module will invite an exploration of some selected poetic forms, drawing specific attention to how the “frame” of the poem itself contributes to, enhances, and communicates the images it may hold. We will write with consideration to form, but with the specific bounds and restrictions set by each writer as they desire.

4: Color Theories

This module will be dedicated to examining the role of color in poetry. How do blues and reds suggest temperatures? Can you tell the “heat” of a poem? What do noticeable color swatches or departures from the expected colors change a landscape? How can a color speak, hold water, and mean anything at all when its perceived without it actually being there? For our assignment this week, we will work on writing pieces that speak to color as mood, scene, an environment rather than as a breed of light alone.

5: The After-Image

In this final module, we will inspect what images linger with us after each piece and how our work can create memorable and unshakable pictures in a reader’s mind. This will also be the week for revision, encouraging everyone to push their boundaries and consider how their final piece’s build and end on picture.

New Modules posted on Mondays,
Pieces due by Friday, 11:59,
Feedback from All Due by Sunday, 11:59

Cleaver Poetry Reviews Editor Claire Oleson is a Brooklyn-based writer hailing from Grand Rapids Michigan. She’s a grad of Kenyon College, where she studied English and Creative Writing. Her work has been published by the University of Kentucky’s graduate literary journal Limestone, Siblíní Art and Literature journal, Newfound Journal, NEAT Magazine, Werkloos Magazine, and Bridge Eight Magazine, among others. She is also the 2019 winner of the Newfound Prose Prize and author of the chapbook Things From the Creek We Could Have Been. 

 

URBAN WILDLIFE: WRITING TO COEXIST, Co-taught by Lucy Spelman and Susan Tacent | September 12 to October 3

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URBAN WILDLIFE: WRITING TO COEXIST
Co-taught by Lucy Spelman and Susan Tacent

4 Saturdays
September 12, 19, 26, and October 3
1pm-3pm Eastern Time
Click here to register
$225 early bird / $250 regular
Open to writers of all genres and all levels of experience
Class limit: 10

Register Now

This workshop is designed for writers of all genres who wish to express their love and concern for all creatures through writing that is both informed by science and emotionally charged. This is a hybrid workshop, with meetings on Zoom and written work via Canvas, a text-only platform for drafts to be shared in a supportive and practical environment. There will be weekly science presentations, craft discussions, readings, writing assignments, and group critiques. Writers interested in a particular animal will be able to tailor their research accordingly.

SYLLABUS

Week 1: Why are we here?

By way of introduction, we’ll share our individual perspectives on animals and consider representational strategies in pertinent literary texts. We’ll set out some of the scientific and literary terms useful for discussions, and go over some best practices for how to approach the science materials that will be used in the weeks to come.

Week 2:  How do we deal with the sad?

National and international news carries stories about the number of species threatened with extinction. How can we embed these small and large tragedies into our writing to move readers to understand, learn, share, or even act instead of turning away? We’ll consider existing strategies for incorporating difficult truths in fiction and nonfiction and brainstorm new approaches.

Week 3: Good fences, good neighbors?

We pave roads, put up fences, put out our often delectable trash, as if the land were ours alone. Understanding the ways nonhuman animals use the land and its resources will get us closer to being good neighbors to all. During this week’s meeting, we’ll also work on how to cut through the plethora of science materials available online to find reliable sources, and how to glean useful information from them.

Week 4: There’s no place like home.

Diurnal, nocturnal, crepuscular—whatever our habits and rhythms, we all need somewhere to live. What does affordable housing mean in the context of all living creatures? This final week will also include discussion and suggestions for how to continue connecting with the science, scientists, and field experts to create work that reaches a wider audience and empowers others to care and to act.

Lucy Spelman bio picLucy Spelman is a board-certified zoo and wildlife veterinarian with degrees from Brown University and the University of California at Davis. During her tenure as the first woman and youngest person to head the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, she brought two giant pandas to the US from China and launched a major renovation plan. She worked as a consultant for Animal Planet before moving to central Africa to run the field program for the Gorilla Doctors. Inspired by the many connections between the arts and sciences, she began teaching biology to students at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2010, and founded the non-profit, Creature Conserve in 2015. She is the author of over 40 scientific articles, the National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia, and The Rhino with Glue-on Shoes.

Susan tacent author photoSusan Tacent’s work has been published in a variety of academic and literary journals including Dostoevsky Studies, Tin House Friday Fiction Online, Michigan Quarterly Review, DIAGRAM, and Cleaver. She’s taught literature and creative writing in classrooms from kindergarten to college. She also facilitates an assisted living book club, six years strong now, where the participants’ collective age exceeds 900 years.  Visit her website.

TELLING TRUE STORIES A Workshop in Creative Nonfiction Taught by Cleaver Editor Sydney Tammarine | October 19–November 20

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cover image telling true stories a lightbulb on a dark backgroundTELLING TRUE STORIES
A Workshop in Creative Nonfiction
Taught by Cleaver Editor Sydney Tammarine

5 weeks
October 19–November 20
Click here to register
$150
Class limit: 12
Questions: [email protected]Register Now

Writer Dinty W. Moore says that creative nonfiction equals curiosity plus truth. CNF comes in a variety of forms: from expansive memoir to intimate personal essay to the lightbulb “eureka!” of flash. But in any form, the CNF writer is a guiding voice in the dark: a storyteller seeking truth, thinking alongside the reader toward a deeper understanding of ourselves and our world.

In this class, we’ll practice the essay in its most dynamic form: a verb that means “to test; to practice; to taste; to try to do, accomplish, or make (anything difficult).” Each week, we will read and discuss one or more example essays and generate new work from prompts. Students will share their work for peer and instructor feedback.

This workshop has weekly readings and writing assignments to inspire you—and deadlines to motivate you—but the work can be done at your own pace and on your own time. There are no required meetings, although we’ll hold optional Zoom write-ins and discussions for those who are interested. We welcome both new and experienced writers looking for motivation, structure, and enthusiastic feedback on their work.

Sydney Tammarine’s work has appeared in Ploughshares, LIT, Pithead Chapel, The Missing Slate, and other journals. She is the co-translator of a book of poems, The Most Beautiful Cemetery in Chile. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University and teaches writing at Virginia Military Institute. She has led workshops at The Ohio State University, Hollins University, Otterbein University, and at high schools, including as Writer-in-Residence at Appomattox Regional Governor’s School. She serves as flash and creative nonfiction editor for Cleaver.

SYLLABUS

Topic One: Writing the Tough Stuff

In our first week together, we’ll explore: Why does the most powerful writing often come from loss, grief, or trauma? What value do the “tough stories” of our lives have to others? Why is nonfiction uniquely posed to connect us to others, and what value do the “tough stories” of our lives have to them? We’ll also practice strategies for writing our toughest material in an environment that’s safe and encouraging.

Topic Two: Finding Your Truth

Novelist Tim O’Brien often talks about the role of truth in his fiction: “I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why a story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth.” In CNF, we have an obligation to truth that is greater than just getting the facts right. How do we write the story-truth, the happening-truth, as best we know it? Can any piece of writing be objectively true? We’ll talk about strategies for writing in the face of these questions, and also for finding what we think we can’t remember.

Topic Three: Hell is (Writing About) Other People

Writer Anne Lamott said, “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” But that doesn’t always feel so easy, does it? This week, we’ll practice making characters in nonfiction—including yourself—feel real on the page, and discuss the ethics of writing about other people.

Topic Four: Finding Poetry in Prose

The Seneca Review describes the lyric essay as “[l]oyal to that original sense of essay as a test or a quest, an attempt at making sense,” but with prose that “might move by association, leaping from one path of thought to another by way of imagery or connotation, advancing by juxtaposition or sidewinding poetic logic.” This week, we’ll try out such poetic logic, experimenting with moves that can bring the music of poetry to our prose.