Interested in private instruction?

New In-Person Intensive with Sea Level Coming Soon!

Previous Classes

Lyric and Narrative: A Month of New Material

with the Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College

October 31 to November 21, 2022 (4 weeks)
Online Asynchronous
Live Zoom Session Tuesdays, 1:00pm to 2:00pm EST

Are you interested in writing a story or essay that sounds and feels poetic? Or poems that tell true narratives? Join me as we explore “lyric” and “narrative” as tools for making in this highly-generative asynchronous course, open to all levels and all genres.

In order to define these two terms for ourselves, and understand how they can serve each of us, we will read poems that work like stories or essays (e.g. Harryette Mullen, Sawako Nakayasu, Eula Biss, Anne Carson) and essays and stories that work like poems (e.g. Claudia Rankine, Julio Cortazar, Renee Gladman). Then, we will ask ourselves through guided and unguided prompts to employ the lyric and the narrative in new drafts.

In weekly sessions, we will discuss a short reading and try out generative prompts related to that reading. In the last class, I will give everyone an opportunity to share what they’ve worked on and celebrate each other’s growth. In the time between classes, students are expected to try at least one generative prompt from a provided list, and to spend time with the reading for that week’s class (no more than a few pages each week). Students will have the opportunity to try prompts that encourage revision as well as prompts that are purely generative. Throughout the course, I will meet twice with each student for 30 minute one-on-one conferences in which I will provide feedback and support.

At the end of our month together, students will have experienced dozens of replicable prompts for generating new work, and they will leave the course with many new drafts, my individualized feedback, and an understanding of "lyric" and "narrative" modes.

SummerGATE Sessions I & III

Session I: June 12th - June 30th (3 weeks)

Session III: July 24th - August 4th (2 weeks)

For grades K-2, I will be facilitating half-day and full-day in-person summer camp. There’s something to excite the imagination of every young child in these fun, engaging courses that incorporate games and activities as well as reading and circle time. SummerGATE will be hosted at St. Gabriel’s School in the Sunset. For course descriptions, scheduling information, and registration, click the link.

Summer Fling: A Love Poem Intensive

with Landline Literary

Saturday June 4th and Sunday June 5th, 11 - 1 pm MDT

Join me for a two-part investigation into the art and craft of the love poem. We will look at some astonishing, alarming, arresting,amazing love poems and ask ourselves: how can the most cliche and tried of poetic emotions be rendered in ways that feel inventive and genuine? And, what does modern love have to do with poetics?

In the first section, we will explore both traditional and modern love poems, such as Neruda's love sonnets and odes, William Carlos Williams' "This is Just to Say," Osip Mandelstam and Marina Tsvetaeva's poems to each other, June Jordan's "poem for my love," Meg Day's "10 AM is When You Come to Me," and Alex Dimitrov's recent work. We will take the tools and skills learned from this deep-dive, and the time in-between sessions, to craft a draft of a love poem for the next class.

In the second section, we will do a few exercises surrounding revision strategies for the love poem draft generated between classes. All participants will be given the opportunity to share something from our time together with the class, and all participants will leave the experience having been exposed to a broad range of love poems, including several in translation, having attempted their own love poem, and having received feedback on some of their writing.