class

This is a class in dualities: two forms, two poems. (In two hours!)

The two forms: We’ll explore the prose poem (a hybrid of prose and poetry) and the prose poem as memoir (a lyric rendering of a narrative or moment from your life).

The two poems: Taking inspiration from the diptych in art (a pair of paintings hinged together), we’ll discover how to bind poems by form and subject (call and response, before and after, shifts in perspective, and other ways) and be mindful of how tightly or loosely poems depend on each other for meaning and impact.

This two-hour generative workshop is for writers of any level and genre who want to explore the prose poem form, break away from linear storytelling, and start thinking about intertextuality—the key to eventually building a series of poems or even a book-length project. Also, once you write a diptych, how (and where) can you submit it for publication?

This generative workshop will include lecture, readings, and generative writing prompts.

Come ready to write and play!

About Cynthia Marie Hoffman

Cynthia Marie Hoffman is the author of two collections of prose poetry: Exploding Head (Feb 2024) and Call Me When You Want to Talk about the Tombstones, as well as two previous collections of lineated poetry. Her poems and prose have appeared in The Sun, Electric Literature, TIME, The Believer, and elsewhere. Recipient of fellowships from the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, Civitella Ranieri Foundation, and the Wisconsin Arts Board, Cynthia lives in Madison, WI.

www.cynthiamariehoffman.com

Crafting Non-linear Personal Narratives with Poet José Angel Araguz

Traditional storytelling often follows a linear path, moving steadily from beginning to end. But what happens when we embrace digression, repetition, and reflection as essential tools of narrative? In this generative, discussion-based class, we will explore how rumination can shape and propel personal narratives, creating compelling essays that mirror the rhythms of thought itself. Through short readings, interactive exercises, and guided writing prompts, participants will experiment with ways to craft essays that spiral, double back, and expand outward—discovering meaning through movement rather than destination.

This class is ideal for writers at all levels interested in exploring experimental forms of nonfiction, deepening their engagement with voice, and crafting essays that follow the mind’s natural wanderings.

About José Angel Araguz

José Angel Araguz, Ph.D. (he/him/él) is the author most recently of the lyric memoir Ruin & Want (Sundress Publications) as well as the poetry collections Rotura (Black Lawrence Press) and La esperanza espera (Valparaiso Ediciones). His poetry and prose have appeared in Prairie Schooner, Poetry International, The Acentos Review, and Oxidant | Engine among other places. He is an Assistant Professor at Suffolk University where he serves as Editor-in-Chief of Salamander and is also a faculty member of the Solstice Low-Residency MFA Program at Lasell University. He blogs and reviews books at The Influence.

Explore epistolary poems with poet Pauletta Hansel.

Poems as letters, letters as poems: We will read and discuss a range of letter poems including those from Pauletta’s collection Friend, and use writing and revision prompts to help us write our own poems from this rich and varied epistolary poetry tradition.

About Pauletta Hansel

Pauletta Hansel’s ten poetry collections include Will There Also Be Singing? (Shadelandhouse Modern Press, 2024); Heartbreak Tree (Madville Publications, 2022), which won the Poetry Society of Virginia’s 2023 North American Book Award; and Palindrome (Dos Madres Press, 2017) winner of Berea College’s Weatherford Award in Poetry. Her writing has been featured in Oxford American, Rattle, Appalachian Journal, Still: The Journal, Verse Daily and Poetry Daily, among others. Pauletta was Cincinnati’s first poet laureate, and the 2022 Writer in Residence for the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.

Explore persona poems with poet Jessica Cuello.

A generative course that will look attentively at poems by Ai, Lucie Brock-Broido, and Patricia Smith among others. We’ll explore ways to enter persona and deepen the imaginative possibilities of writing outside ourselves.

About Jessica Cuello

Jessica Cuello’s most recent book is Yours, Creature (JackLeg Press, 2023). Her book Liar, selected by Dorianne Laux for The 2020 Barrow Street Book Prize, was honored with The Eugene Nassar Prize, The CNY Book Award, a finalist nod for The Housatonic Book Award, and a longlist mention for The Julie Suk Award. Cuello is also the author of Hunt (The Word Works, 2017) and Pricking (Tiger Bark Press, 2016). Cuello has been awarded The 2022 Nina Riggs Poetry Prize, two CNY Book Awards, The 2016 Washington Prize, The New Letters Poetry Prize, a Saltonstall Fellowship, and The New Ohio Review Poetry Prize. In addition, Cuello has published three chapbooks: My Father’s Bargain (2015), By Fire (2013), and Curie (2011). In 2014 she was awarded The Decker Award from Hollins University for outstanding secondary teaching. She is poetry editor at Tahoma Literary Review and teaches French in CNY.