Class Description

A good image will ensure that your work is enjoyable. A great image will ensure that your work is unforgettable. But what does it take to create a great image for your piece of writing? And what is “imagery,” anyway? Perhaps most closely associated with poetry—at least in the world of writing!—one potential definition of imagery could be “figurative language that evokes sense-memory or sense impressions.” It’s not always drawn just from visual inputs, though; sometimes the freshest and most surprising images in a piece take their inspiration from sound or smell, bypassing the reader’s logical mind to connect directly with memory and imagination so that the reader feels the story or poem as much as they read it. Or, to put it another way, you’ve probably heard the old saw “Show, don’t tell!” given as writing advice since the first time you picked up a pencil. Writing fresh, inventive images into your work is a form of telling-through-showing, making use of the potency of images to sidestep pages of expository dialogue or long narratives to build up backstory for a character. As poets and writers, the success of our work often depends on imagery, and with the ways we can layer meaning in images, combining the sensory response with social associations to develop the complexity our writing needs—and our readers deserve. In this workshop, we’ll start with the basics, using notable excerpts from poems, stories, and essays to identify different types of imagery, and talk about the possibilities inherent in each. After that, we'll try our hands at some writing prompts to kickstart drafting own images. We'll end with a breakdown of ways you can make imagery a consistent part of your writing practice. Prior to the class students will be emailed a small packet of examples to inform discussion. INSTRUCTOR MICHAEL MERCURIO is a poet, editor, and occasional critic who lives and writes in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. His poems, interviews, and reviews have been published or are forthcoming in Palette Poetry, Thrush, The Common, Cream City Review, Sierra, and elsewhere. Michael founded and curates What The Universe Is: A (Virtual) Reading Series, where established and emerging poets read together monthly on Zoom. You can learn more at poetmercurio.com.

Cancellation Policy

If you withdraw from a workshop TEN DAYS OR MORE before the start of the class: You'll receive full credit toward another workshop OR a full refund (minus 10%, a transaction fee that is non-refundable and that we would otherwise be charged). If you withdraw from a workshop nine days before the start of the class up until 48 hours before: You'll receive a refund minus 20%. If you withdraw from a workshop less than 48 hours before the start of a class or after the class has begun: We cannot offer credit or any refund. If you are absent on the day of your workshop or miss it for any reason, we are unable to offer any kind of refund or credit. If we have to cancel a class you have paid for, you will receive a full refund, without the service charge deducted. For our full listing of policies, visit www.PioneerValleyWriters.Com, Policies page (under Home). To withdraw and receive a partial refund according to the above, please get in touch with Joy at joy@pioneervalleywriters.org

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