The Poet in The Poem with Jennifer Jean (via Zoom)

This one-day intensive will take place via Zoom. The Zoom link will be sent via email directly after registration. Please check your promotions/spam folder for the Zoom link. Email admin@writerscenter.org with any questions.

There’s nothing wrong with a poet sharing their viewpoint by writing about themselves. Of course! However, some poems benefit from removing the poet from the poem. Sometimes this means writing docupoems, persona poems, interview poems, omniscient narrative poems, and the like, in order to share the poet’s viewpoint. Tyehimba Jess accomplishes this in his Pulitzer-winning, hybridic, and heavily researched collection OLIO. As well, some content benefits from keeping the poet “at a remove”. In these cases, the poet might show up in the poem, often using the first person point of view, but she remains an observer and tacitly (or maybe directly) admits to not knowing the core of her content by virtue of not having experienced it directly. Translator and novelist Idra Novey, accomplishes this in her collection EXIT, CIVILIAN where she talks about her experiences teaching writing in prisons but purposely doesn’t venture into persona poems about the prisoners’ lives.

In this interactive craft class, participants will discuss “the poet in the poem” in examples shared by facilitator Jennifer Jean. This is not a workshop, however: students will come prepared with 2-3 poem drafts which they will transform following the group discussion. They will then discuss those transformations in small groups, then share their insights with the class. The session will end with several writing prompts. 15 student cap.

Please register at:
The Poet in The Poem with Jennifer Jean (via Zoom) | Hudson Valley Writers Center

There are two Altman Persons of Color Scholarships available given on a first come, first served basis to writers of color living in the United States. There is one need-based scholarship for a writer living in the United States. Please register for no more than one free scholarship class per month. Please notify HVWC immediately if your plans change and you will not be able to attend the class so we can give your space to another student. Thank you, in advance, for your cooperation with this.

Jennifer Jean’s poetry collections include Object Lesson (Lily Books) and The Fool (Big Table). She’s also released the teaching resource book Object Lesson: a Guide to Writing Poetry (Lily Books) and is a co-editor and co-translator for an anthology-in-development titled Her Story Is: Contemporary Poetry by Arab Women. She has been awarded a Peter Taylor Fellowship from the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop; a Disquiet FLAD Fellowship from Dzanc Books; and, an Ambassador for Peace Award from the Women’s Federation for World Peace. Her poetry, prose, and co-translations have appeared in: Poetry Magazine, Waxwing Journal, Rattle Magazine, Crab Creek Review, DMQ Review, On the Seawall, Salamander, The Common, and more. Jennifer is the translations editor at Talking Writing Magazine, a consulting editor at the Kenyon Review, an organizer for the Her Story Is collective, and the founder of Free2Write Poetry Workshops for Trauma Survivors. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and children.