Poetry as Time Machine to Childhood (Rebecca Olander) - ONLINE
We write poems for many reasons, some of which have to do with our obsessions with time. Our poems can be attempts to defy time, wrestle with it, understand it, reclaim it, pause it, or even just marvel at it. In her essay “The Poem as Time Machine,” poet Tess Gallagher makes the case that “we have no better machine for the re-invention of time than the poem.” In this workshop, we’ll use poetry as a vehicle to transport us to childhood, not just through memories, but as a way to have the present self interact with past and future selves. An old photograph is a fixed image, but a poem, Gallagher posits, is “the place where the past and future can be seen at once without forsaking the present.” We’ll consider contemporary poems by Derrick Austin, Arda Collins, Trish Crapo, Geffrey Davis, Jennifer L. Knox, Audre Lorde, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Brenda Shaughnessy and discuss the different ways they invite speaker and reader back to the terrain of childhood. These poems will be launching pads for generating our own poems; each participant will leave with three new poem starts as well as take-away ideas for writing beyond the workshop. This workshop is appropriate for beginning and experienced poets. Limited to 12 writers.
WHEN: 3 Hours: Sunday, December 3, 2023 (1 - 4pm EST)
WHERE: Online, via Zoom video conference
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
REBECCA OLANDER is the editor/director of Perugia Press, a nonprofit feminist poetry press. She has taught poetry writing at Amherst College, Westfield State University, and Mass Poetry, and she works with poets in the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Wilkes University. Her poetry and collaborative visual and written work has been published widely, and her books include Dressing the Wounds (dancing girl press, 2019) and Uncertain Acrobats (CavanKerry Press, 2021). She holds a BA from Hampshire College, an MAT in English from Smith College, and an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
WORKSHOP GOALS
- Participate in a welcoming and fun poetry workshop
- Read and discuss contemporary poems by a diverse group of poets as models of the theme of the workshop: “Poetry as Time Machine to Childhood”
- Explore how to mine such poems for writing prompts and portals
- Use prompts provided to generate three poem starts
- Have the chance to share something created during the workshop with the group
- Take home extra prompts to continue playing with ideas from the workshop
RECEIVING THE ZOOM LINK: For one-day workshops, we send out the link to attend the Zoom session 1 - 2 days before the event, via email. For multi-week workshops, you should receive info and the link about a week before the first meeting. Please mark your calendars and look for our emails. If you don't see the email in your inbox on the day before the event (or a few days before, in the case of multi-week workshops), please check your spam and junk mail folders (and search all folders) for an email from joy@pioneervalleywriters.org. We have found that very often our emails end up in those folders. This is based on your own email settings, and you can prevent this by adding our email as a contact.
ONLINE SESSIONS happen remotely, via Zoom video conference. All you need is a laptop, computer, or phone with functioning audio and a webcam. Those who RSVP receive directions and a link to "join" the session via email (please see above note about receiving the Zoom link). All online instructors will log on to the video conference 10 minutes before the start of the session, to help anyone with technical issues, so please plan to log on early if you'd like assistance! We'll do everything in our power to help you get comfortable with this new format, though when the session begins, we will not be able to assist with technical difficulties.
REFUND & CREDIT POLICIES AT PVWW
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 automatically-deducted 4% service charge we must pay Square). 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 are not able to offer you credit toward another class or a refund. In the case of medical emergency, please contact us directly and this will be handled on a case-by-case basis. 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. However, if we have to cancel a class you have paid for, you will receive a full refund, without the service charge deducted, or if you choose, credit in the amount of your payment to be used for any future PVWW class. Anyone who does not specify whether they would like a refund or a credit for a cancelled class will automatically receive credit, which will automatically receive credit. Please contact Joy (joy@pioneervalleywriters.org) for all matters concerning credit and refunds.