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First Moves, Last Moves: A Poetry Craft Class with Rebecca Morgan Frank (via Zoom)


In his essay “The Figure a Poem Makes,” Robert Frost writes that a poem “begins in delight, it inclines to the impulse, it assumes direction with the first line laid down, it runs a course of lucky events, and ends in a clarification of life—not necessarily a great clarification, such as sects and cults are founded on, but in a momentary stay against confusion.” But how do we discover first lines that keep us writing? How do we revise our first moves to effectively invite our readers in and establish where the poem takes us? And what are some of the forms a final “momentary stay against confusion” can take? How do we create effective endings to our poems?

In this generative craft class, we will read, discuss, and write different modes of first and last lines and see where they lead us. We will move through prompts that allow opportunities for generative inspiration and effective revision. Come prepared to write and to walk away with a toolbox for when you are stuck with starting (or ending) your poems.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom.  This class is capped at 15 students. The Zoom link will be sent the day before the class.
There are two Altman POC Scholarships given on a first come, first served basis. There is one need-based scholarship for each one-day class. Please remember not to sign up for more than one scholarship seat every other month. Please tell us ASAP if your plans change and you can no longer use the seat. We will open up the scholarship to someone else. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this!
Please register at:
First Moves, Last Moves: A Poetry Craft Class with Rebecca Morgan Frank (via Zoom) | Hudson Valley Writers Center

Rebecca Morgan Frank’s fourth collection of poems, Oh You Robot Saints!, was published by Carnegie Mellon in February 2021. Her previous collections are Sometimes We’re All Living in a Foreign CountryThe Spokes of Venus, and Little Murders Everywhere, finalist for the 2013 Kate Tufts Discovery Award. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, Orion, The Kenyon Review, Pleiades, Poetry Ireland, and elsewhere, and her collaborations with composers have been performed and exhibited across the country. She is the recipient of the Poetry Society of America’s Alice Fay di Castagnola Award and fellowships from such places as the Mississippi Arts Commission and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Co-founder and editor of the online magazine Memorious, Frank lives in Chicago, where she teaches in the MFA Program in Prose and Poetry at Northwestern University.

Event Location and Ticket Information

Date: Sunday, July 25, 2021
Times: 12:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Ticket pricing:

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Presenter: Hudson Valley Writers Center
Presenter Phone: 19143325953