Poetry Group: An Ongoing Writing Group, with Anders Carlson-Wee - ONLINE
NEW! This is an ongoing group that meets weekly for eight weeks, followed by a four-week break, before continuing on for another eight week session, and so forth. Registration in this group is according to an ongoing subscription plan: once you register, your place is held in the group and in all future sessions until / unless you withdraw. Please note that payment ($350) is for ONE 8-week session, and if you remain in the group you will be billed before each new session.
The Poetry Group meets on Sundays, from 6 - 8pm EST. (See schedule below!)
This group is for poets of all levels, at any stage of the process who want to be part of a supportive, weekly ONGOING writing group, whether you’re generating new poems or at work on your fourth collection! Meetings are structured so as to be casual and manageable with busy lifestyles, and as such there will be no readings or assignments outside of group meetings, and the commitment to your own writing.
Each meeting will include a mix of text-study and discussion of masterful poems; discussion and breakdown of different craft topics; prompts and generative in-class writing time; and an opportunity to share your work (and/or goals) aloud with the group for on-the-spot feedback and/or brainstorming (always optional).
The week-by-week agenda (including topics of discussion and poems the group will discuss) will evolve and change in response to the interests and goals of the writers in the group, as led by Anders. Above all, the Poetry Group is a space of community-building, creative support, and craft / process development for writers who aim to make time for their work and want to connect with other writers in a supportive, stimulating environment.
Please note: This group offers the opportunity for verbal on-the-spot feedback for those who would like to share work during class time, yet this group does not provide formal workshopping, written feedback, or submission of work for critique.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
ANDERS CARLSON-WEE is the author of Disease of Kings (W.W. Norton, 2023), The Low Passions (W.W. Norton, 2019), a New York Public Library Book Group Selection, and Dynamite (Bull City Press, 2015), winner of the Frost Place Chapbook Prize. His work has appeared in The Paris Review, BuzzFeed, American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many other publications. The recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Bread Loaf, Sewanee, and the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, he is the winner of the Poetry International Prize. His work has been translated into Chinese. Anders holds an MFA from Vanderbilt University and is represented by Massie & McQuilkin Literary Agents. Find him at www.anderscarlsonwee.com
SCHEDULE*
Fall 2023 Session: Sundays, October 1 - December 10* (6 - 8pm EST)
December Break
*No class on 11/12, 11/19, & 11/26
Winter 2024 Session: Sundays, January 7 - February 25 (6 - 8pm EST)
March Break
Spring 2024 Session: Sundays, April 7 - May 26 (6 - 8pm EST)
June Break
Summer 2024 Session: Sundays July 7 - August 25 (6 - 8pm EST)
September Break
Fall 2024 Session: Sundays, October 6 - November 24 (6 - 8pm EST)
December Break
Some dates may be subject to change, based on instructor, but that would be announced by instructor during the current session, and all changed/rescheduled meetings would be rescheduled for a Sunday evening during a break month.
COURSE GOALS
- Expand and deepen our understanding of various craft tools
- Discuss the nuances of those craft tools in detail
- Practice applying those craft tools through guided free writes
- Build comeraderie, new friendships, and community
- Make time for writing and sharing our work
- Support each other in our goals, writing, and development as writers
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 and ongoing groups, 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.
For Ongoing Groups: Each 8-week session is considered a new "class" for purposes of this policy.