Poetry Workshop: Receptivity and Discovery                         Marie Howe

A Generative Class

Perhaps we have nothing to say in a poem – no point, no argument.   Perhaps the poem has something to say to us, or through us. “ A poem begins with a lump in the throat, with a homesickness,” Robert Frost has written.  Where is this place we are homesick for?  Perhaps the poem is a way to discover something we didn’t know before, a way to arrive at a place we have intuited but never named.  During this week in Italy we will practice a radical receptivity to what is all around us: what we see and hear and taste and smell and touch, -and to what is within us -whatever wants to speak.  All you need bring is willingness, lots of paper, and two or three poems you love.  This class is perfect for all writers – beginners or the very experienced. We will generate a great deal of writing and practice shaping what we’ve written by using techniques that will help us to become receptive and rigorous.  And we will have a wonderful time.