A 2-Day In-Person Poetry Workshop
2 Saturdays: January 10 & 24, 1 – 4 pm
In “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” T.S. Eliot wrote: “Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things.” This generative workshop assumes we all have personality and emotions, and therefore, we all would like to escape from them. In order to break free, we will read poems that avoid typical self-expressive articulation through the invention of characters or a persona (such as poems from John Berryman, Fernando Pessoa, and Louise Glück). And through exercises that draw on experiments from the OuLiPo and the surrealists, we will seek to expand how we express ourselves—through expanding our methods of escape.
$120 Members/$175 Nonmembers
Sarah V. Schweig’s second book, The Ocean in the Next Room, won the Jake Adam York Prize and was published by Milkweed Editions in January 2025. Her first book, Take Nothing with You, was published by the University of Iowa Press in 2016. Her poetry has appeared in Boston Review, Granta, Tin House, and the Yale Review, among others, and her critical essays have appeared at Public Seminar, Tourniquet Review, and elsewhere. A graduate of the University of Virginia and Columbia University, she works as an editor and is writing a philosophy dissertation for her PhD at the New School for Social Research on the value of poetry. She lives in Portland, Maine, with her husband and son.
ADVANCE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
All MWPA workshops require advanced registration. We accept registration by phone, mail, and online via our website. We cannot guarantee registration in the final 24-hours before a workshop, and can rarely accommodate day-of registration.
PAYMENT & CANCELLATION POLICIES
If you need to withdraw from a class after registering for any reason, please email or call the MWPA immediately. You may be eligible for a partial refund or credit, depending on how far in advance you cancel. → MORE INFORMATION
QUESTIONS
For any questions regarding this workshop, please contact programs@mainewriters.org.
REGISTER BY PHONE
Call 207-200-7180 and register with your VISA or MasterCard.
REGISTER BY MAIL
If you prefer to pay by mail, please print this registration form (downloadable PDF) and mail it to the MWPA with a check or credit card information.
SCHOLARSHIP
The MWPA is proud to offer one partial scholarship to this workshop for members-only. Scholarships are awarded on a combination of need and merit. Email programs@mainewriters.org to see if the scholarship is still available. Application Due two weeks prior to the workshop start date, at 9:00 a.m.
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MWPA WORKSHOP POLICIES
Registration in any MWPA workshop, program, or event constitutes your agreement to our terms and conditions. → MORE INFORMATION