Radha, you have collected and thoughtfully brought your experience to bear on the workshop experience. There are many ways in which my framing of workshops has grown, for the better, but you have illuminated aspects that are both of the moment and central to my concerns. I'm not in a position to comment more right now, as I'm out of town and short on time, but want to thank you for this. Hurrah! I'm going to share this widely.
I recently participated in a press's poetry manuscript workshop. I came out of it with a completely different "core message" and title. Half the poems I'd need to cut. I felt invigorated. If I had sent out the ms. as it was, I would have received nothing but rejection and not known why. Now I know more about sequencing strategies, titling strategies, and where I need to inject more imagery. Last summer I applied for and was accepted into an online poetry workshop. I was attracted to it because I respected the work of one of the three instructors. Turns out I was least enamored with her teaching/facilitation style but became fascinated with the second and third instructors whose work I had not previously known. Years ago at another manuscript conference, one of my fellow poets said I did not write poetry, because I write narrative poetry. That remark still stings.
Thank you for sharing that remark. I will now remove "The Iliad," "The Odyssey," "Beowulf," "Paradise Lost," "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and much of Shakespeare from the poetry section of my personal library.
Yeah, an odd remark. Perhaps what they meant was poetry that seemed to them more like prose; to exclude it because it told a story doesn’t make sense. Note that most of the examples you cite are in meter, so definitely not prosy stuff; wouldn’t call Shakespeare’s sonnets or the blank verse dialogue of the plays narrative poetry though.
Great points, Barbara. It's helpful to look for workshops specific to the work we are doing (i.e. manuscript development) and to seek instructors whose work resonates. Brava!
Radha, you have collected and thoughtfully brought your experience to bear on the workshop experience. There are many ways in which my framing of workshops has grown, for the better, but you have illuminated aspects that are both of the moment and central to my concerns. I'm not in a position to comment more right now, as I'm out of town and short on time, but want to thank you for this. Hurrah! I'm going to share this widely.
I recently participated in a press's poetry manuscript workshop. I came out of it with a completely different "core message" and title. Half the poems I'd need to cut. I felt invigorated. If I had sent out the ms. as it was, I would have received nothing but rejection and not known why. Now I know more about sequencing strategies, titling strategies, and where I need to inject more imagery. Last summer I applied for and was accepted into an online poetry workshop. I was attracted to it because I respected the work of one of the three instructors. Turns out I was least enamored with her teaching/facilitation style but became fascinated with the second and third instructors whose work I had not previously known. Years ago at another manuscript conference, one of my fellow poets said I did not write poetry, because I write narrative poetry. That remark still stings.
Thank you for sharing that remark. I will now remove "The Iliad," "The Odyssey," "Beowulf," "Paradise Lost," "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and much of Shakespeare from the poetry section of my personal library.
Yeah, an odd remark. Perhaps what they meant was poetry that seemed to them more like prose; to exclude it because it told a story doesn’t make sense. Note that most of the examples you cite are in meter, so definitely not prosy stuff; wouldn’t call Shakespeare’s sonnets or the blank verse dialogue of the plays narrative poetry though.
I loved "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and also "Sohrab and Rustum" (sp).
Great points, Barbara. It's helpful to look for workshops specific to the work we are doing (i.e. manuscript development) and to seek instructors whose work resonates. Brava!
Great wisdom here, Radha!
These are great reminders, and should be either included in every workshop handout or posted at the door!