Workshop descriptions 2

The Material World of the Poem: Why do poems like Billy Collins’ “Litany”, Mary Oliver’s “Flare”, and Sylvia Plath’s “Morning Song” strike us, despite their occasional structural or formal weaknesses? This workshop will look at poems for their descriptions of the material world, the world of objects and their qualities, in order to understand how [...]

Workshop descriptions 3

No Bamboozling: Prose Poems for Pleasure: The poet William Stafford quipped in regard to prose poems, “You gain something in that the reader will feel you are not trying to bamboozle him with white space . . . prose poems don’t worry me.” Peter Johnson remarked that “the prose poem plants one foot in prose, [...]

Workshop descriptions 4

The List Poem: We will be taking a look at how lists function and dysfunction in American poetry–including inquiry into what elements define a list in poetry (are they different from what defines a list outside of poetry?  Can a series/sequence of poems be viewed as an annotated list? Is there a difference between listing [...]

Workshop descriptions 5

Persona in Contemporary Poetry: Using examples from contemporary poetry, this workshop will explore the ways poets create or take on a character, examining how a persona can allow or hinder different methods of discourse.  We will look closely at the motivations a poet has when using a persona and closely investigate the strategies involved when [...]

how

How can I support these events? How do I go about getting a ticket? How do I get involved as a volunteer?

These are all questions that this post will answer over the coming weeks. Right now, the important (and time-sensitive) one is ‘How can I support these events?’. The Nottingham Poetry Series is seeking community [...]

what

Workshops: Intensive meetings during which a small number of participants share material for critical reading by their peers, the workshops will consist of a round-table discussion during which the participants and instructor offer impressions, observations, and analysis about each piece. Each workshop will have a different theme, and some will focus more heavily on the [...]

who

Alex Lemon is the author of Happy: A Memoir (Scribner), the poetry collections Mosquito (Tin House Books), Hallelujah Blackout (Milkweed Editions), Fancy Beasts (forthcoming, Milkweed Editions), and the chapbook At Last Unfolding Congo (horse less press). His writing has appeared in Esquire, Best American Poetry 2008, AGNI, BOMB, Gulf Coast, jubilat, Kenyon Review, New England [...]