WORKSHOPS & EVENTS CALENDAR, 2017
Poetry is knowledge, salvation, power, abandonment. An operation capable of changing the world, poetic activity is revolutionary by nature; a spiritual exercise, it is a means of interior liberation. Poetry reveals this world; it creates another. -Octavio Paz
Event Archives 2016
JANUARY
RANCHOS DE TAOS, NEW MEXICO
The 4th Annual “Mind of Winter Springs Open!:
A Poem-A-Day Poetry Writing Workshop”
- Dates: Monday, January 9 – Sunday, January 15
- Times: Daily, 12 noon – 3 pm, for One Week
- Location: Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico
Description: This poetry-writing event is meant to help us create, as poet Robert Hass says, poems that are “stronger and truer than ever before.” We will meet each day to share poems written within the previous 24 hours. At our first meeting, you’ll be offered a series of prompts toward the creation of a new poem. After that, you’ll bring the first draft of a new poem to our workshop each day. At the end of each workshop you’ll be provided with a magic packet to draw from, if you wish, for the inspiration of your next poem. You will be free to use the suggestions from the packets in whatever way you wish, or not at all. We’ll engage in a craft discussion of hand-out poems each day and you’ll be eligible for one 10 minute private session with Sawnie to discuss your poems. Writers at all levels of writing experience are welcome.
TO REGISTER AND/OR FOR MORE INFORMATION: CONTACT US
VENICE, CALIFORNIA
WRITING WORKSHOP at BEYOND BAROQUE
THE MAGIC OF THE POETIC LINE: A generative workshop in which we explore the craft of line breaks and other visual and auditory experiences
- Date: Saturday, January 28, 2017
- Times: 10am – 3:30pm
- Location: Beyond Baroque Literary Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA, 90291
Description: Part of what makes poetry a magical art is the poet’s ability to orchestrate language in a way that creates an unforgettable experience in a reader. Line breaks, spacing, and punctuation provide cues intrinsic to that orchestration. How do we determine when and why to break the lines in our poems? How might visual spacing or punctuation further reveal a poem’s meanings? We’ll consider a sampling of exciting free-verse possibilities available to us in the shaping of our poems and we’ll write, keeping in mind that every turn of the line is a turn toward deeper meaning.
* This workshop will include a break from 12:00 to 1:30 pm.
TO REGISTER AND/OR FOR MORE INFORMATION: CONTACT US
VENICE, CALIFORNIA
POETRY READING at BEYOND BAROQUE
Sawnie Morris reading from Her, Infinite _(New Issues Press, 2016)
Elena Karina Byrne reading from Squander _(Omnidawn, 2016)
Readings followed by Q&A and book signing
- Date: Sunday, January 29, 2017
- Times: 4pm
- Location: Beyond Baroque Literary Center, 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA, 90291
TO REGISTER AND/OR FOR MORE INFORMATION: CONTACT US
MARCH
TAOS, NEW MEXICO
TAOS WRITERS CONFERENCE
THE MAGIC OF THE POETIC LINE: A generative workshop in which we explore the craft of line breaks and other visual and auditory experiences
- Date: Friday, March 10 (Part I) ; Saturday, March 11, (Part II)
- Times: 10am-5pm, March 10; 2pm-5pm, March 11
- Location: SOMOS, 108-B Civic Plaza Drive, Taos, NM, 87557
Description: Part of what makes poetry a magical art is the poet’s ability to orchestrate language in a way that creates an unforgettable experience in a reader. Line breaks, spacing, and punctuation provide cues intrinsic to that orchestration. How do we determine when and why to break the lines in our poems? How might visual cues and punctuation further reveal a poem’s meanings? In Part I of this workshop (Friday), we’ll focus on lineation. We’ll write, we’ll consider an array of exciting possibilities available to us in the shaping of our poems, and we’ll write again, making new poems in which every turn of the line is a turn toward deeper meaning. In Part II (Saturday), we consider the ways in which visual spacing and punctuation further reveal a poem’s meanings We’ll write, we’ll arrange, we’ll erase, we’ll cut and paste. Writers at all levels of writing experience are welcome. Bring paper and writing instrument, as well as your laptop, if you have one. (Part I and Part II are independent workshops, it is not necessary to participate in one in order to participate in the other.)
TO REGISTER AND/OR FOR MORE INFORMATION: CONTACT US
HOUSTON, TEXAS
A POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP, with Sawnie Morris
- Date: Saturday, March 25th, 2017
- Times: 10am-12:00pm
- Location: Houston, Texas
Description: Poetry for Prose Readers & Other Lovers of Language
What happens to us when we read a poem – when we are moved and we find it hard to say why? What has the poet done to orchestrate language in such a way as to create a meaningful experience in us, her readers? In this workshop we’ll read a selection of poems for that meaningful experience, for how the poems make us feel, what they cause us to ponder. Then we’ll go back and look at each poem the way a poet does, navigating her craft. We’ll also experiment with doing a little writing of our own, just for fun! Bring a notebook and a pen with which you enjoy writing.
TO REGISTER AND/OR FOR MORE INFORMATION: CONTACT US
TAOS, NEW MEXICO
DREAMS & CREATIVITY,
- Date: Weekly on Tuesdays, for 10 weeks, March 28 – May 30, 2017
- Times: 6pm – 8pm
- Location: Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico
Description: Nature speaks to us through dreams and listening to dreams is a beautiful way to access and invigorate the Creative within each of us. This workshop is for anyone interested in exploring the creative wellspring of the dream world. We will meet weekly for ten weeks to listen to and share dreams.
TO REGISTER AND/OR FOR MORE INFORMATION: CONTACT US
APRIL
AN ONLINE POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP
( PARTICIPATE FROM WHERE EVER YOU ARE! )
The Story Within the Story: Unleashing the Poem at the Center of Our Lives
Poetry is knowledge, salvation, power, abandonment. An operation capable of changing the world, poetic activity is revolutionary by nature; a spiritual exercise, it is a means of interior liberation. Poetry reveals this world; it creates another. -Octavio Paz
- Dates: Week of April 3 – Week of May 26
- Times: partially asynchronous, participate at the level you wish & at your convenience
- Host: Online, (sponsored by University of New Mexico’s Rananim project and the D.H. Lawrence Ranch); participants receive training & online support for use of the online system — you’ll be fine!
Description: Each of us has a poem coiled at the center of our lives, a story that must be told. What that story is or how it is revealed may appear to shift, but the story is always there, at times urgent under pressure, at other times rising as quietly and mysteriously as mist from the pond of our being. During this 8 week workshop we will plumb the depths for that which only the letting loose of words on the page can reveal. Our focus will be on writing poems based on what Galway Kinnell termed, “the intimate personal experience of a life” – allowing each of our individual voices and concerns to spring into shape from the concert of heart, mind, and body, with an ear to the music – however subtle – that is intrinsic to poetic dimension. We’ll read poems from a range of exciting contemporary poets, as well as insightful prose pieces on craft, and we’ll participate in routine peer discussions – all of which will provide us with inspiration and guidance on the way to writing as many poems as our muse allows and our spirits dare. While writers at all levels of experience can benefit, this workshop is primarily designed for beginning and intermediate poets who wish to expand their range of expression and knowledge of craft, while generating new poems and having fun.
TO REGISTER AND/OR FOR MORE INFORMATION: CONTACT US
JUNE
PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON
THE MAGIC OF THE POETIC LINE: A generative workshop in which we explore the craft of line breaks and other visual and auditory experiences
- Date: Saturday, June 3 – Sunday, June 4, 2017
- Times: 10am-4pm, both days
- Location: Writers Workshoppe at Imprint Books, 820 Water Street, Port Townsend, Washington
Description: Part of what makes poetry a magical art is the poet’s ability to orchestrate language in a way that creates an unforgettable experience in a reader. Line breaks, spacing, and punctuation provide cues intrinsic to that orchestration. How do we determine when and why to break the lines in our poems? How might visual spacing or punctuation further reveal a poem’s meanings? We’ll consider a sampling of exciting free-verse possibilities available to us in the shaping of our poems and we’ll write, keeping in mind that every turn of the line is a turn toward deeper meaning.
Participants will be provided with multiple prompts for new poems, throughout the weekend, and can expect to complete 4 draft poems by the end of our time together. Please bring paper and a pen you enjoy writing with, as well as a lap-top (if you have one).
* This workshop will include breaks from 12:00 to 1:30 pm.
TO REGISTER AND/OR FOR MORE INFORMATION: CONTACT US
DENVER, COLORADO
LIGHTHOUSE WRITERS WORKSHOP
LIT FEST 3 WORKSHOPS
The Magic of the Poetic Line: A Generative Workshop
- Date: June 14
- Times: 2pm-4pm
- Location: Lighthouse Writers Workshop, 1515 Race Street, Denver
The Story Within the Story: Unleashing the Poem at the Center of Our Lives
- Date: June 14
- Times: 4:30pm – 6:30pm
- Location: Lighthouse Writers Workshop, 1515 Race Street, Denver
Influence and Inspiration: Writing into the Poetic Tradition
- Date: June 15
- Times: 2pm – 4pm
- Location: Lighthouse Writers Workshop, 1515 Race Street, Denver
TO REGISTER AND/OR FOR MORE INFORMATION: CONTACT US
JULY
RANCHOS DE TAOS, NEW MEXICO
6TH ANNUAL SUMMER POEM-A-DAY WRITING WORKSHOP
- Dates: Friday, July 7 – Thursday, July 13, 2017
- Times: 10am-1pm
- Location: Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico
- Fee: $400
Description: We will meet each day to share poems written within the previous 24 hours. At our first meeting, participants do some wild & giddy writing toward the creation of a new poem. After that, participants will bring the first draft of a new poem to the workshop each day. At the end of each workshop participants will be provided with a magic packet to draw from, if they wish, for the inspiration of their next poem. Participants will be free to use the suggestions from the packets in whatever way they wish, or not at all. After responding to one another’s poems each day, we’ll engage in lively discussion in relation to poems included in the magic packets. At the end of our week together, we’ll gather for a meal to celebrate congratulate one another.
As part of this year’s weeklong adventure, special guest instructor, ROBIN SHAWVER, will discuss visual poetics with us one morning. Fun!
Each poet will be eligible for a 10 minute private session with Sawnie, during the week, to discuss their poems. Writers at all levels of writing experience are welcome.
To reserve a place in the workshop & for information about meals & lodging, please contact Sawnie.
TO REGISTER AND/OR FOR MORE INFORMATION: CONTACT US
HOUSTON, TEXAS
A POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP, with Sawnie Morris
- Date: Sunday, July 23rd, 2017
- Times: 10am-1:00pm
- Location: Houston, Texas
Description: Poetry for Prose Readers & Other Lovers of Language
What happens to us when we read a poem – when we are moved and we find it hard to say why? What has the poet done to orchestrate language in such a way as to create a meaningful experience in us, her readers? In this workshop we’ll read a selection of poems for that meaningful experience, for how the poems make us feel, what they cause us to ponder. Then we’ll go back and look at each poem the way a poet does, navigating her craft. We’ll also experiment with doing a little writing of our own, just for fun! Bring a notebook and a pen with which you enjoy writing.
To register and/or for more information: CONTACT US
For a complete list of upcoming events and workshops: See our EVENTS page
October
OCTOBER – NOVEMBER
Traditional Forms, Ecstatic Arrangements:
An Online Poetry Writing Workshop
- Dates: October 1 – November 19
- Times: Sundays, 1pm – 3:45, Mountain Time
- Technical Requirements: 1) the ability to send and receive email attachments in a word doc. format; 2) a built-in camera on your computer
- Times: Sundays, 1pm – 3:45, Mountain Time
- Payment options: check or credit card
SawnieMorris.com 