3 Days/3 Poets/3 Inspirations –Pat Fargnoli, Lesle Lewis, Alice Fogel

July 17 - 19, 2009
Tuition: $450
Application Form

Day 1:
Ekphrasis: The Poetry of Art
Pat Fargnoli

" I believe that the ‘Arts’ talk to each other. In this experiential workshop we will explore the conversation between artworks and poetry through a variety of strategies for writing about artworks.  We'll examine and discuss some contemporary poems triggered by artworks, and, through writing exercises, write and share poems as a way to practice the use of different strategies.”

faculty

Patricia Fargnoli is the current NH Poet Laureate and the author of five collections of poetry. Her latest book is Duties of the Spirit ( Tupelo Press, 2005) won the 2005 Jane Kenyon Award for Outstanding Poetry. Her first book, Necessary Light (Utah State University Press, 1999) was awarded the 1999 May Swenson Poetry Award judged by Mary Oliver.   Pat, a retired social worker has been the recipient of a Macdowell Colony fellowship.   She has published widely in literary journals such as Poetry, Ploughshares, North American Review, Mid-American Review, North American Review, Cimarron Review, The Connecticut Review and The Massachussetts Review.  A member of the NH Writer’s Project and a Touring Artist for the NH Art’s Council, she resides in Walpole, NH.

Day 2:
The Thin Line: between poetry and prose
Lesle Lewis

The line is not a hard one between fiction (as well as other forms of prose) and poetry. There are multiple mixed genres (flash fiction, prose poems) and room for much experimentation in the common ground. In this workshop, we will look at some of these hybrid forms and do some experimenting exercises. Participants will leave with some new poems, some new ways of thinking about the poetic line, and some new ways of composing. We will also take some time to look at pre-written work in any form by participants.

faculty

Lesle Lewis is the author of Small Boat, a collection of poetry that was awarded the 2002 Iowa Poetry Prize, and Landscapes I & II (2006). Lesle has also been published in numerous journals, and she currently teaches writing at Landmark College in Vermont.

Day 3:
Form & Essence in Poetry
Alice B. Fogel

Poetry is a conveyance of consciousness. Without form, how could we manifest, let alone share, that which is vital and formless at the heart of poetry—and life? By “form” (in poetry) I mean the visible structures on the page, including divided space and margins, syntax and sentences, punctuation and line. Looking at and changing many published samples as well as your own drafts, we’ll play with form and its fascinating interactions with less concrete aspects of poems like language, pacing, image, emotion, and idea, and we’ll explore these questions: How does form construct, carry, extend or collapse meaning? How do the shapes of poems affect our patterns of thought, and vice versa? How do form and essence in art correlate with our human physical and spiritual dimensions? With all this and more in mind, we’ll delve into the transformational power of our own poems and writing processes as they take form.

faculty

Alice B. Fogel’s most recent book of poetry, Be That Empty, spent four weeks on the national poetry bestseller list.  A recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, her work has appeared in the Best American Poetry series and many other anthologies and journals.  Publishers Weekly has compared her work to Rilke'’s, and poet Charles Simic has said, "“Her poems shine with intelligence.  Fogel is a poet alert to every nuance of the inner life, a true phenomenologist of the soul."”  She works as a writing mentor, workshop facilitator, and college and arts-in-the-schools instructor.  Her new book, Strange Terrain: A Poetry Handbook for Reluctant