The Manzanita Writers’ Series will once again hold PoetryFest, a day-long event dedicated to the joys of poetry, on Saturday, April 19, 2014.
There will be two workshops led by noted poets Lisa Steinman and John Sibley Williams.
Join Lisa Steinman from 10 a.m. to noon for a workshop to generate new writing. Discover ways to make poems out of ordinary images, memories, or sounds. Take part in two guided exercises aimed at making extraordinary poems out of ordinary things.
Ms. Steinman has taught at Reed College in Portland, Oregon since 1976. Since 1983, she and her husband, Jim Shugrue, have edited the poetry magazine Hubbub. Absence & Presence is her ninth book. Earlier poetry books include Lost Poems, All That Comes to Light, A Book of Other Days, and Carslaw’s Sequences. She has three books about poetry, as well: Made in America, Masters of Repetitio, and most recently, Invitation to Poetry.
John Sibley Williams will lead a workshop from 1 to 3 p.m. in how to take a poem from the merely personal to one that speaks to larger issues. This interactive workshop will consider poems that have succeeded in “universalizing the intimate” and provide hands-on advice on how to strengthen your poetry to ensure it touches readers while remaining true to your experience and vision.
Mr. Williams is the author of Controlled Hallucinations and six poetry chapbooks. He is the winner of the HEART Poetry Award and finalist for the Pushcart, Rumi, and The Pinch Poetry Prizes. John serves as editor of The Inflectionist Review, co-director of the Walt Whitman 150 project, and Marketing Director of Inkwater Press. He has edited two Pacific Northwest poetry anthologies. Previous publishing credits include: Third Coast, Nimrod International Journal, Inkwell, Cider Press Review, Bryant Literary Review, RHINO, and various anthologies.
At 3 pm, Lisa Steinman and John Sibley Williams will sign their books. Following that there will be roundtable readings and conversation—a supportive forum for members of the public and workshop participants to share one of their own poems.
Tuition for the workshops is $30 each, or $50 for both. Both the book signing and the roundtable conversations are free and open to the public.
Click here to download and print a registration form for the workshops.