Workshops and Panels

In this workshop, we will discuss how some contemporary poets have responded to current events, headlines, and newspaper clippings. Then we will write poems of our own in a guided prompt session. Optional: Bring in a short newspaper or magazine article that you find interesting.

The prose poem engages poets who search for a different kind of energy that is between, or maybe beyond, genre.  Its intent and desire has always been to fuse, not to fragment. Still, what has consistently brought writers together—alas, via disagreement—is the question of the prose poem.  Is it, as Russell Endo said, "A poetry freed from the definition of poetry and a prose freed from the necessity of fiction"?  Is it "a cast-iron aeroplane"?  If so, can it fly?

The compelling choice to write about family members is fraught with tough questions: What do we reveal—or conceal—and why? How will the poems affect relationships? Where do we draw the line? The ethical dilemmas are delicate. When it comes to writing about family, what are our truths and consequences

Presenting your work to an audience is an excellent opportunity for any poet; it helps you to hear the music of your poem, to evaluate the impact of your imagery, and to see an immediate emotional response.  It scares you half to death.  This workshop focuses on techniques for becoming a better reader of your own work and for, if not quite getting beyond fear, then using it constructively.”

What do editors want? Jamie Brown, Michael Blaine, John Elsberg, Dennis Forney, H.A. Maxson, Richard Peabody, and Kim Roberts—the editors of Bay Oak Publishers, Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Bogg, The Broadkill Review, The Delaware Poetry Review, The Delmarva Quarterly, The Delmarva Review and Gargoyle—will answer your questions. Come get a glimpse of what it’s like to be opening those envelopes!

Some poems emanate from a particular geographical location or natural setting in a way that evokes what James Wright described as the "genius of place."  The poet concerned with place, after awhile, realizes that place has very little to do with geography (our geography is disappearing) but rather with his or her own sense of place, home or otherwise.  The intimacies of memory gravitate--inevitably--toward nostalgia.  So, we will take a look at work in which the accumulated power of sensory detail and landscape can both celebrate and transcend the purely local, purely geographical.