2013/2014 Portland Arts & Lectures Subscription Packages

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Delve: Readers Seminars

Each Delve seminar is limited to 16 participants who will complete designated reading in advance and come prepared to discuss the text in an informal, friendly atmosphere.

2013/2014 Delve: Readers Seminars


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Writing Workshops

Poetry Workshop: Writing From Dreams (Collaborating with the Hidden Mind)

Taught by Emily Kendal Frey

Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ($185)
4 weeks, June 15th –  July 6th
A good poem draws on many resources, one of them being the unconscious. Poets will collaborate with their own unconscious mind to draw on various images, memories, and expectations. Investigative writing exercises will act as the catalyst to push our work to new places and create poems, perhaps related, that encapsulates this spirit of awakening. Registration by permission. Class is limited to 10 students. Contact Susan Denning, susan@literary-arts.org for more information on how to register.

Grand Theft Poetry: A Generative Workshop

Taught by Adam Fitzgerald

Saturday, July 20, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ($75)
As this is a generative workshop, we will explore various literary and extra-literary ways by which poetry arrives, sometimes in the form of a poem, sometimes through poetry’s mutated siblings: prose, fragments, notes or inventories to be quarried for future poem-making. We’ll mine for poems by listening to the ambient drone of Stars of the Lid; to the repetitive mathematical structures of Philip Glass; as well as the father of “Muzak,” the atmospheric and eternal Erik Satie. Pop culture, literature, history, memory, dreams, science, magic, jargon, YouTube may play a part.” Open to students at all levels. Limited to 12 students. Register on our web site or contact Susan Denning, susan@literary-arts.org for more information.

The Arc of the Finished Poem: A Master Class

Taught by Adam Fitzgerald

Saturday, July 20, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. ($150)
Students in this master class will discuss how we “finish” poems: some some rely on perfecting, some abandon, some revisit and mutilate for later. Students will also explore  how form is discovered, whether in lineation or stanza shape. Students will also discuss the prospects of publication, submissions and editorial involvement therein.”  Students  will submit a manuscript of 4-5 poems before the first class meeting, which Adam will read and prepare comments on these manuscripts before the class meets. These student manuscripts will be the basis for class discussion. Limited to 10 students. Contact Susan Denning, susan@literary-arts.org for more information.

Surprise! An Advanced Poetry Workshop

Taught by Zachary Schomburg

Thursdays, 6:30-8:30 p.m. ($275)
6 weeks, September 19th – October 17th
Primarily a workshop, this course will focus on the concept of Surprise within a narrative poem. The goal of the workshop will be to generate and revise 6-8 poems within the larger context of contemporary readings. We will discuss how Surprise operates within a narrative poem, how to identify it and use it to manipulate the poem’s pathos. We will examine the structure within a narrative poem: its set-up, its volta, and its exit. And we will consider how a complex pathos can be developed, an emotional confusion through humor and heartache, within this structure. This is an advanced workshop, limited to 10 students. Registration by permission. Contact Susan Denning, susan@literary-arts.org for more information on how to register.

Writing a Novel in Eight Weeks

Taught by Emily Chenoweth

Saturdays, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ($350)
8 weeks, September 5 – October 7
This boot camp for aspiring novelists will help you complete the first draft of a novel in just eight weeks. With the guidance of your instructor and the support of your classmates, you will commit to an aggressive writing schedule and learn numerous tricks of the craft, from creating a productive working environment to getting to the heart of your story’s conflict. The class partially coincides with National Novel Writing Month in November. Topics addressed will include outlining, character development, and narrative drive. You do not need permission to register, but is recommended that class participants have some prior experience in writing fiction. Limited to 12 students.


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