Articles, Teaching and Workshops
Why Poetry?My Writing Philosophy
I have been a writer and teacher all of my professional life. For the first thirty years, I wrote legal documents and taught legal writing. Gradually, the right side of my brain began to assert itself, and I turned to creative writing. After experimenting with essay and historical fiction, I found my form in poetry. Why? Poetry unites several of my interests: language, metaphysical questions, and performance. How It Begins A thought, a line, or a question will seemingly “pop” into my mind. It relates to something I have been wondering about, perhaps without even knowing it. I pick up a pen (for me, the first draft must always be hand-written) start to write, another thought appears, perhaps a turn in an altogether different direction, then, frequently, a surprise emerges. It’s there on the page--rough, scraggily, often needing shaping, but a poem has been born. The Work of Revision Then, the work of revision begins. I work with a group of poets who have been meeting every two weeks for almost twelve years to read and critique our poems. We call ourselves Partners in Poetry, which shortens to the PIPs. Feedback from other poets is imperative for me to discover whether parts of my poem are clear or at least intriguing (if so, my reader will continue to read and re-read) or confusing and exasperating (if which case, he turns the page!). I also work in poetry workshops in my Master of Fine Arts in Poetry program at Southern Connecticut State University. My classes range between ten and fifteen poets, led by a professor, who make suggestions about issues relating to both meaning and craft. Poetry as Performance Poetry is musical, rhythmic, dynamic, dramatic, all qualities that make poetry unique both read aloud and on the page. Before I went to law school, I majored in drama. My sense of how words sound aloud informs both my writing style and the way I read or recite. It also means that, although I am gratified when a poetry journal agrees to print one of my poems, I experience an equal satisfaction when I read a poem aloud and experience its effect on an audience. My Learning Philosophy I’ve been attending poetry workshops, festivals and conferences since the year 2000. Frequently, I return with tips and ideas to share. I’ve written articles for The Connecticut Poetry Society and posted them on their website. I’ve organized lectures and readings for CPS and created a Greater New Haven Chapter of CPS, which runs monthly poetry critique sessions for our members, as well as a monthly reading. I am constantly writing checklists and prompts for getting started with new poems. See the section on this site where I give one good idea I’ve learned from each of my teachers. My Teaching Philosophy I believe that poetry is closely related to the soul, to our inner essence. We use every life experience, conscious and unconscious, in writing poetry. We take extraordinary risks in exposing our poetry to others. It is important to me to know whether I am working with a poet who is new to writing or has been writing for years. More important, I need to gauge the poet’s ability to hear and use critique. I remind myself to start off a critique with what is working well in a poem. At my first festival, the leader critiqued one of my poems and told me “you have terrific instincts. That’s something that can’t be taught.” My poems were elementary and rough, but her encouragement helped me keep writing. I remember that and try to give the same gift to new poets. I prefer teaching in a workshop room. The energy of creative spirits helps all of us do our best work. I have taught elementary students to write Odes. I have worked with undergraduates and adults. I have assigned essays on well-known poems and often learned some- thing new from students that I hadn’t seen in the poem before. Online Poetry Workshops I am also an experienced on-line educator. I taught Forensic Evidence and Legal Ethics online at the University of Hartford. I have created an on-line poetry workshop that combines a lecture on a craft topic, a poetry prompt, and online critique of the resulting poem involving all participants. This will benefit students enrolled in low-residency MFA programs, which offer ample critique from one faculty member (generally the member switches each semester), but do not give the poet much opportunity to work with the poetry of their peers. We all need to develop the critical skill of “close reading” a poem from the standpoint of both meaning and craft. |
Resources
I always recommend two sources. The first is American’s Favorite Poems, edited by Robert Pinksy when he was poet laureate, and the related website, americasfavoritepoems.org.
Not only does this resource contain a wide range of well- known poems, but each entry is “nominated” by a reader who has written a paragraph about the significance of that poem to him or her. If you have any doubt about the power of poetry to comfort, inspire, and move another person, this book will assure you of the enduring power of poetry. The second source is www.poetryfoundation.org. The site is maintained by the Poetry Foundation of America and contains hundreds of easily accessible poems. It also links to podcasts of poets reading their work and to “Poetry Off the Shelf,” a podcast of lectures about poets and poetry. Download these podcasts and “don’t leave home without them.” Good readers—and listeners—of poetry make good writers. As a poet who had spent most of my life in a different field, I entered the study of poetry with little knowledge of classic or contemporary poetry. There is no substitute for the rigorous study that my MFA program has provided (I am required to take at least six courses in literature to graduate), but listening to podcasts has introduced me to many important voices. As for books on the craft of poetry, I always recommend beginning with Ted Kooser’s The Poetry Home Repair Manual, because it is easy to read and enjoyable. Kooser’s voice is non-academic and likeable. Start there. Of the books I’ve read as an MFA student, my favorite is by Alan Longenbach, The Art of the Poetic Line. I wasn’t ready for this book when I began writing. You will know whether it helps you or not. Save it until you are ready to focus on specifics such as phrasing, line endings, and syntax. Poetry Critique Checklist
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