This is an online workshop that takes place via Zoom.

The Art of Distance in Poetry

The poet and the reader, the poet and the speaker, and the poet and the subject of the poem are always in implicit conversation. The distance between them creates a specific effect on the poem. Mastery over the poem is also a mastery over the understanding of the way distance and time manifest themselves in the poem. In this workshop, we will identify how each of our poems play with distance and time and explore further ways to manipulate time for emotional effect.

We will discuss topics such as the ethical implications of persona writing, the poet’s closeness to the topic they are writing about and to the speaker of the poem, the strengths and limitations of writing in different points of view, and the emotional effect of the way time moves in poems. Poets we will discuss include Terrance Hayes, Sylvia Plath, Roger Reeves, Brigit Pegeen Kelly, June Jordan, Etheridge Knight, Solmaz Sharif, Layli Long Soldier, Tracy K. Smith, and many more. Along with poems by these writers, we will read a number of essays and letters relating to the craft of distance in poetry, and the concept of the audience of a poem.