To Revision and Beyond!—A Poetry Workshop from Page to Stage
Calling all poets! You’ve written and rewritten your poem, maybe even workshopped it and incorporated the feedback of others to make it stronger—more poignant, innovative or musical. Now that you’ve accepted the gift and branded the poem “finished” (or close enough): what now? Lock it in a drawer? Share it with a friend? Post it online? Submit to a journal? Yawp it to the whole world from your rooftop?
This workshop series will revise our perceptions of re-vision, daring to pose the questions: When is a poem truly finished? Is it possible to love revision as much as the original writing of a poem? And now that you’ve harnessed and honed the poem via the creative act, how can the gift of a poem be re-given to others, continuing its journey from beyond to beyond?
Ticking a checklist of revision thresholds, our three sessions will move from a poem’s final stages of creation to pursuing its dissemination—culminating in the test of tests: performing for a live audience! We’ll explore poetry’s oral traditions along with craft elements (e.g. music, modes, rhythm, meter) and what makes a poem suitable for the page or stage or both. Which may segue into talking about publication too, pending interest. These workshops are ideal for poets—regardless of age or publication history—who are currently in the process of writing poems, willing to share them with others, and eager to participate in an open and mutually supportive setting that offers each participant respectful, constructive feedback. Spoken word poets are encouraged to participate.
To Revision…and Beyond! is a forum for us to voice and experience our deeper music—an opportunity we’ve seldom had in recent months. Upon completion, poets will have (at least) three poems in the bag that are strong both on the page and stage, ready to be published and/or presented live! Poets will also gain: a better sense of audience and the diverse ways poetry may be imparted to others, more confidence in being a voice among voices, and a closer affinity for our own revision process—tools we can customize as we continue to write and revise.
Thursdays, January 27th, February 10th and February 24th, 2022
Time: 6 – 8pm
Location: Zoom
Recommended for poets age 15 & up
Facilitated by Partridge Boswell
To register in advance for this series, please register through our Google Form.
***Due to the new COVID-19 restrictions in effect in Quebec, all sessions will be held virtually over Zoom. We anticipated being able to host this event at the Yellow Door, but in the interest of safety it has been moved entirely online.***
Advance registration for this workshop is now closed. If you wish to participate, please contact outreach@vallummag.com.
Partridge Boswell’s poems appear in the Grolier Prize-winning collection Some Far Country and in Poetry, The Gettysburg Review, The American Poetry Review, Poetry Ireland Review, Plume, Prairie Schooner, The Moth, &c. Co-founder of Bookstock Literary Festival, Partridge is a trustee of Burlington Writers Workshop and the Grolier Poetry Foundation. He lives with his family in Vermont and troubadours widely with the poetry/music group Los Lorcas, whose debut release Last Night in America (2021) is available on Thunder Ridge Records.
