This is an in-person workshop that takes place at Inprint House.

Letters: The Epistolary Form in Poetry

Epistolary writing is a form that blurs boundaries: between poetry and prose; between public and private speech. Letters often come concealed, in envelopes, their true messages reserved for a named recipient, yet when we write in the epistolary mode, we redirect this message towards the public. As writers, how can we play with the artifice of the epistolary form to create and subvert expectations of the audience? In the case of love letters, does the nature of the published poem as “an open letter” betray or enhance the feeling of intimacy between the speaker and the beloved?

In this workshop, we will explore these and other questions, complementing our discussion with analysis of writings in epistolary form from writers such as Matthea Harvey, Charles Bernstein, William Carlos Williams, Michael Ondaatje, and Thomas James. Participants will also have the opportunity to generate their own epistolary poems and receive feedback from the instructor and peers, with the option to send these missives (or not!) as postcards in the mail.