Examine your poems, line by line.
August 1st–5th, 2022, Rockport, Maine
In this workshop you will be giving close word by word examinations of your poems. This methodical approach will help you break through old habits in order to discover new and vibrant paths for your poems to travel. There will be an exploration between sound and sense as you cover the major aspects of poetic craft. You will explore the various constructions of the line and its overall importance to a poem’s architecture along with how metaphor moves the entire poem towards a greater truth. In short, for an entire week poetry will be at the center of your lives. There will be take home exercises at the beginning of each class along with discussions of poems by contemporary poets.
We will examine the vibrant energy in their language and incorporate that energy into your own poems. This workshop is suitable for both beginning and advanced students. Individual conferences after class are offered to all participants.
About Kevin Pilkington:
Kevin Pilkington is a member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College. He is the author of ten collections: Spare Change was the La Jolla Poets Press National Book Award winner; Getting By won the Ledge chapbook award; In the Eyes of a Dog received the New York Book Festival Award; The Unemployed Man Who Became a Tree was a Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award finalist. His poetry has appeared in many anthologies including: Birthday Poems: A Celebration, Western Wind, and Contemporary Poetry of New England. Over the years, he has been nominated for four Pushcarts. His poems have appeared in numerous magazines including: The Harvard Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, Iowa Review, Boston Review, Yankee, Hayden’s Ferry, Columbia, North American Review, etc. He has taught and lectured at numerous colleges and universities including The New School, Manhattanville College, MIT, University of Michigan, Susquehanna University, Georgia Tech.
His debut novel Summer Shares was published in 2012 and a paperback edition was reissued in summer 2014. His collection Where You Want To Be: New and Selected Poems was a 2017 IPPY Award Winner. A new collection entitled Playing Poker With Tennessee Williams was recently published by Black Lawrence Press. His second novel entitled Taking On Secrets is slated for publication later in 2022.