“Freeing the Angel of Precise, Concise, Powerful, Distilled-Down-to-Its-Essence Poetry from the Marble of Floridity, Flummery, and Furbelows,” or “Shut Up and Kiss Me” with Kim Addonizio (via Zoom)

As poets, we’re often tasked with not only precision—the right word—but concision. Poetry can dive deep in a short space; that’s a special virtue of the short poem. It can be surprisingly difficult to write one—or to trim the fat from a longer piece. We’ll talk about the virtues of “slashing and burning” as well as look at a particular short form, the triolet. This is a craft lecture that will involve some in-class writing as well, so besides getting a list of handy, practical tips, you’ll have the opportunity to try out a couple of exercises with specific limits, including drafting a triolet of your own.

NB: This class will be taught on Zoom (Saturday, June 29, 12:30-2:30 PM ET) and will be capped at 20 students. Registrants will receive the Zoom link to the email address they use to register. It will arrive immediately after registration so please check your spam folder if you do not receive it. It will also be sent the day before class as a reminder. Please review the course policies page before registering for any classes. Please email misty@writerscenter.org with any questions.

All HVWC scholarship applications will be available on May 1 and will be due on May 15 for all summer/fall 2024 classes.

Kim Addonizio’s latest poetry collection is Now We’re Getting Somewhere (W.W. Norton, 2021). Exit Opera is forthcoming in September 2024. She is the author of seven other poetry collections, two novels, two story collections, and two books on writing poetry, The Poet’s Companion (with Dorianne Laux, Norton ) and Ordinary Genius, as well as a memoir, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life (Penguin). Her awards include fellowships from the NEA and Guggenheim Foundation. Tell Me was a finalist for the National Book Award. She lives in Oakland, CA and teaches poetry workshops on Zoom. https://www.kimaddonizio.com