Looking back at the March 25 PSSC Writers' Group workshop -- "Fishing for Poems, Part II"

Saturday, March 25

Poetry Society of SC workshop

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

10 a.m. - noon

Fishing for Poems, Part II

Charleston Library Society, 164 King St.

Charleston, SC

Free for PSSC/CLS members & CofC students; $15 for all others (PSSC membership $30; new memberships welcome)

Last Saturday was the second Poetry Society of SC (PSSC) Writers' Group workshop of the year, when we continued our exploration of "Fishing for Poems," generating new work. We began by each creating a word bank of nouns and verbs we might want to use in the day's writing. We then spent working with our class packet. For our first writing activity we wrote our own lines in-between the lines of a published poem, all of us using the same poem, "Though I've Never Been to Gettysburg, by Gabrielle Calverossi. We used her poem, which was tripled spaced to give us writing room, as ghost lines that we took off from by paying attention to sound, rhythms, and whatever else struck a core. Our intent was to make associative leaps, not necessarily to respond to the poem or even pay attention to it content.

We also wrote an erasure poem, either from our own earlier freewriting or from two pages of prose from a book called Weather Wisdom. An erasure poem is typically quite spare, with deliberate care spent on which single words to choose. We each circled only the words from the paragraphs in the Weather Wisdom excerpt that we wanted to cause to bump up against each other with surprise and freshness to create the poem. All the rest from the prose was "erased." No rearranging of words and no adding of new words. It's like choosing which stones to step on while crossing a wide creek.

Fourteen participants attended the workshop. I'm always grateful for the poets' input, as well as their writing and camaraderie.

The next PSSC W.G. workshop will be on Saturday, September 30. Same place, same time.

Looking back: Press 53 Gathering of Poets -- March 4, 2017

On March 4, 2017, in Winston-Salem, NC, Press 53 held its Gathering of Poets, a much anticipated annual event planned and offered by publisher Kevin Watson. I was honored to be on the faculty this year, along with these talented poets:

• Nickole Brown
• Richard Garcia
• Jessica Jacobs
• Tom Lombardo
• Seth Mickelson 

Each poet on the faculty offered an hour-and-a-half workshop twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. There were a variety of subjects, and participants were able to take a total of four workshops. Such a full day of poetry! My workshop was called "Song of the Imperative." Here's the approach we took in it:

___________

“Be unalone. Big up / your chest,” says poet Christian Campbell in the drumbeat of his poem “Incantation.” “Try to Praise the Mutilated World,” says Adam Zagajewski in the quieter, softer music of his lines. What does a memorable poem of the imperative offer? Perhaps advice, instruction, a blessing, even a recipe—real or imagined. A rhythm of imperative verbs, always. Plenty of surprise. Syntax and image worthy of any good poem. This is the chance for you as poet to speak from the core, imaginatively and directly to the reader. Our agenda includes discussion and writing time to generate a poem, as well as a workshop packet of writing strategies, exemplary poems, and resources.

___________

I was impressed by the creativity and talents of the workshop participants. Nothing like a room full of poets to write, talk, and inspire!

Looking back: Feb. 4: PSSC workshop -- Fishing for Poems

Looking back at a recent winter workshop:

PSSC Writers' Group Workshop:

Fishing for Poems

Sat., Feb. 4 

10 a.m. to noon

Charleston Library Society

164 King St., Charleston
Instructor, Susan Laughter Meyers

__________________________

Free for PSSC members, CLS members,

and CofC students; $15 for all others.

In this workshop let’s cast for poems, somewhat like throwing out a fishing line in first one spot and then another, knowing that sometimes we catch a fish, sometimes we don't. We're notfixed on the catch as much as we're determined to sit back and enjoy the process. If we dedicate ourselves to this time of generating something new--if we allow ourselves plenty of opportunities to let our imaginations loose, to experiment without judging our work—by the end of the workshop, we’ll each have several poem starts or drafts to take home for revision, as well as new strategies for filling our poetry pail. 

Last fall's Poetry Society of SC Writers' Group workshop: Oct. 29

Last fall's Poetry Society of SC Writers' Group workshop:

Saturday, October 29

Poetry Society of SC workshop

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

10 a.m. - 12 noon

Charleston Library Society, 164 King St.

Charleston, SC

Mastering the Line:

Free for PSSC/CLS members & CofC students; $15 for all others

(PSSC membership, $25 annually; new memberships welcome)

How do you know where to begin and end the lines of your poems? What are some of the different aesthetics for line breaks? This workshop looked at how lineation affects a poem, how various poets have upheld the integrity of the line – whether it’s short, long, or a combination of the two. The workshop included writing activities and a resource packet. Participants were asked to bring a copy of 1-2 of in-progress poems.  

Ten of us met to work on lineation of poems, a subject that never gets old.

Looking back on the spring Poetry Society of SC Writers' Group workshop: Apr. 23

The second of three 2016 workshops of the Writers' Group of The Poetry Society of South Carolina (PSSC) was held about a month ago, and it was another stellar group. How I enjoy teaching these workshops! Below are the particulars about the logistics of the event and what we focused on while gathering for it:

Saturday, April 23

10 a.m. - noon

Charleston Library Society

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

164 King St., Charleston, SC 29401

Free for PSSC/CLS members & CofC students; $15 for all others 

(PSSC membership, $25 annually; new memberships welcome)

----------------------------

Poetry Workshop: Revision, Nuts & Bolts

A continued study of revising the poem, including both large and small issues. Taking time to draw back and ask why the poem exists and what it’s doing. Moving in close to look at all the movable parts, stanza to syllable, molding and shaping to give the poem its art. Discussion, revision activities, workshop packet.

Bring 2 or 3 copies of a relatively short poem of yours that is ready for revision. The extra copies are to allow you to mark up your poem for editing. Let’s spend time trading tips on revising and editing, learning strategies from one another.

______________

The final 2016 workshop will be on Saturday, October 29.

Looking back on the Queens Univ. MFA alumni weekend, Oct. 8 - 11, 2015

What a treat to return to Queens University of Charlotte campus for an alumni weekend this fall. I was pleased to be in a manuscript workshop masterfully taught by Jon Pineda, who teaches in the Queens MFA program. In the workshop with me were three other poets, with whom I enjoyed exchanging book manuscripts and feedback: Torie Dailey, Geoffrey Hall, and Lee Stockdale. We were a close-knit fivesome, learning much from Jon and his good advice for our manuscripts.

I also enjoyed being on a publishing panel with two other alumni, as well as running the open mic after dinner on Friday night. Here was the weekend's schedule:


Thur., Oct. 8  Evening alumni reading: Clifford Garstang, Rebecca Gummere

Fri., Oct.    9  Publishing Panel: Clifford Garstang, Rebecca Gummere, 
                     Susan Laughter Meyers  
                     Craft Seminars  
                     Reception & dinner, open mic 

Sat., Oct. 10  Seminar
                     Workshops, 2 sessions
                     Book publishing seminar

Sun., Oct 11  Individual conferences
                     Lunch

A look back at the fall PSSC Writers' Group workshop, Oct. 24, 2015

What a smart group of poets were a part of the fall PSSC Writers' Group workshop! We meet 3-4 times a year to study craft issues and work on our own poems.

Saturday, Oct. 24

"The Path of Surprise"

PSSC Writers' Group Workshop

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

10 a.m. - noon

Charleston Library Society

164 King St., Charleston, SC

Free for PSSC/CLS members & CofC students; $15 for others

(PSSC membership, $25 annually; new memberships welcome)

  

The Path of Surprise

Writing poems should be more than telling anecdotes from a life you already know or describing something you’ve seen. It should take you down a path of surprise. “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader,” Robert Frost wisely noted. In this workshop we’ll use writing activities and handouts of published poems, as well as discussion, to take us farther down that serendipitous path. We’ll study poems that leap, swerve, and follow their particular logic—then we’ll write our own.

Looking back--fondly!--on the 2015 Carolina Mountains Literary Festival (CMLF)

What a wonderful weekend the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival was back in September--the 11th and 12th--in charming Burnsville, NC. The groups in my two discussion sessions, as well as the poets in my poetry workshop, were bright and eager to participate. Each person there made the time with the groups that much more special. And what talent in the poetry workshop!

I'm grateful for being one of the presenters for this beautiful festival. The highlight was Saturday night's on-stage conversation between Ann Patchett and Barbara Kingsolver. So entertaining, memorable, and wise! If you have a chance to go next fall, don't miss it.

Saturday, May 2: Workshop in Columbia, SC

The Poet as Seeker

With

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

 

Saturday, May 2, 2015

10 until 3

 

"Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door," says Emily Dickinson. What better way for a poet to become seeker than to make the self available to possibility? As poets, we have questions to ask, some without answers; leaps to make, risks to take; mysteries to ponder. We must pay attention and be patient--which is to say, we must be willing to listen to the poem as it is being written.

 

In this workshop we'll head out into the unknown, as we read exemplary poems from our class packet and generate new work of our own. (Feel free, too, to bring a poem draft that you're working on in an attempt to reach a deeper level in some way.) As seekers, we'll follow Bernard Malamud's advice to "Teach yourself to work in uncertainty." Who knows where our poems will end up? Come, let us open every door--and window!

  

A Writing Workshop
by the Broad River
in Columbia, SC

 

Susan Hendricks invites you for a day of poetry
and expressive writing among friends
in the natural setting of river, forest and wildlife

near downtown Columbia

  

Register:     

           Registration fee: $40

           By email to susanhendr@gmail.com

           By mail to 5 Possum Run, Columbia, SC 29223
           For Questions, phone 803-788-6826

 

Limited to 25 participants

Directions will be provided to registered participants

 

Susan Laughter Meyers, of Givhans, SC, is the author of My Dear, Dear Stagger Grass, winner of the Cider Press Review Editors Prize. Her collection Keep and Give Away (University of South Carolina Press, 2006) won the SC Poetry Book Prize, the SIBA Book Award for Poetry, and the Brockman-Campbell Book Award.  A long-time writing instructor, she has an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte.  http://susanmeyers.blogspot.com

How I enjoyed teaching the PSSC/Emrys seminar

The poetry community in Greenville, SC, is a talented, energetic one that I was delighted to be in the midst of for its annual PSSC/Emrys seminar last month. Nancy Dew Taylor, a long-time leader in both organizations, started this event in Greenville five years ago—and what a contribution she has made to this region's literary calendar with it. Seminar instructors so far have included Becky Gould Gibson, Cathy Smith Bowers, Jillian Wiese, Phebe Davidson, and me. Each year about 15-20 people gather for the opportunity to focus on a poetry topic—typically pertaining to craft or poetics. The seminar can consist of lecture, discussion, and writing—all as a way to further explore the day's subject. Thank you, Nancy and attending poets, for your participation and help in illuminating our topic this year, "Complicating the Poem."

The Poetry Society of South Carolina (PSSC) is proud to work with Emrys Foundation as sponsors of this event. Much appreciation to Emrys's president Vera Gomez for her leadership and for participating in the seminar.

Last month's event:
Saturday, Mar. 28

Emrys/PSSC seminar: "Complicating the Poem"

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

10 a.m. - noon

Coldwell Banker Caine, 111 Williams, St.

Greenville, SC
Nancy Dew Taylor, coordinator

Feb. 28: PSSC Writers' Group workshop -- "Writing toward a Poem's Mystery"

PSSC Writers' Group workshop:
"Writing toward a Poem's Mystery"
Saturday, Feb. 28
10 a.m. - 12 noon
Charleston Library Society
164 King St., Charleston, SC
Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor
Free for PSSC/CLS members & CofC students
$15 for all others
(PSSC membership, $25 annually; new members welcome.)
Contact: Susan at bardowl2@aol.com

Some of the most enduring poems, those that bear repeated readings, can claim both clarity and mystery. A poem’s mystery is achieved partly by its leaps, when much of the work of connecting—of getting from here to there—is left to the reader. Attendees are asked to bring a poem in progress, one that can benefit from greater mystery. Discussion, writing activities, and workshop packet included.

Feb. 19: Poetry workshop -- "This, Too, Is Me: The Self-Portrait Poem"

Thursday, Feb. 19

OLLI at CCU, Litchfield

Workshop: "This, Too, Is Me:

The Self-Portrait Poem"

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

10 a.m - 2 p.m.

Litchfield Education Center

  

How I enjoyed gathering with our small group on a cold, cold day for a workshop on the self-portrait poem. We gathered around a conference table to read exemplary published poems and to write a group poem, as well as to each write  a poem of our own. So many possible approaches to the self-portrait, and it was fun to hear the various approaches that workshop participants took. 

2014 workshops, readings, residencies, and other events

Thank you to the sponsors of these events and residencies that enabled me to teach, read, and write poetry in various venues last year:

WORKSHOPS taught:

• OLLI at CCU, Litchfield, SC 
• "Persistence and the Poem" -- Feb. 20
• "Poetry Critique Workshop" -- May 1
• "Opening the Gates of the Imagination" -- Nov. 13
• Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts (LILA), Charleston, SC
• "Complicating the Poem"-- Apr. 26
• Gathering of Poets, Press 53 & Jacar Press
• "Lose (Your) Intention & Find a Poem"-- Apr. 5
• Kevin Watson & Richard Krawiec, founders/facilitators

READINGS:

• Charleston, SC -- Monday Night Poetry & Music, Feb. 24
• East Bay Meeting House, 160 East Bay St.
• James J. Lundy, Jr., coordinator
• Charleston, SC -- LILA reading, Mar. 27
• Richard Garcia, Barbara G.S. Hagerty, Susan Laughter Meyers, Marjory Wentworth
• Circular Church
• Chapel Hill, SC -- Flyleaf Bookstore, Apr. 10
• Beth Swann & Susan Laughter Meyers
• Pam Baggett & Stan Absher, coordinators
• Raleigh, NC -- Quail Ridge Books & Music, May 4
• Maureen Sherbondy, John Thomas York, Susan Laughter Meyers
• Jo Taylor, coordinator
• Fearrington Village, NC -- McIntyre's Bookstore, Jun. 22
• Barbara G.S. Hagerty, Susan Laughter Meyers, Deborah Miller
• Series sponsored by The North Carolina Poetry Society
• Sara Claytor, founder/coordinator
• Southern Pines, NC -- NC Poetry Society, Sept. 20
• Brockman-Campbell Book Award honorable-mention reading
• Opening reading for Charmaine Cadeau, winner of the award
• Columbia, SC -- "Poems: Bones of the Spirit," Oct. 21
• Barbara G.S. Hagerty, Susan Laughter Meyers, Debbie Scott
• Al Black, founder/coordinator

SC BOOK FESTIVAL -- May 17-18

• Panel session -- "Diverse Verse"
• Gilbert Allen, Barbara G.S. Hagerty, Susan Laughter Meyers and Marjory Wentworth
• Ed Madden, moderator

FESTIVAL attended: Palm Beach Poetry Festival -- Jan. 20-25

• Workshop with poet Nick Flynn -- "Poetry as Bewilderment"

SC STATE PARKS SYSTEM Artist-in-Residence Program:

• Hickory Knob State Park, McCormick, SC -- Oct. 24-31 residency

Nov. 13 -- Poetry Workshop: Opening the Gates of Imagination

Every fall and late winter I look forward to teaching half-day workshops in the OLLI at CCU program at Litchfield, SC. The next one is less than a month away, and I'm busy working on it now. It's always an engaged, supportive group eager to read, write, and discuss poetry. Here are the details:

Thursday, Nov. 13

OLLI at CCU, Litchfield

Workshop:

"Opening the Gates of Imagination"

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

10 a.m - 2 p.m.

$30 (plus $20 OLLI membership)

http://coastal.edu/olli

843-349-6584

_________________________________

Opening the Gates of the Imagination   

"I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart's affections and the truth of the imagination," said John Keats. In this workshop we'll explore how the imagination can evoke emotion in a poem. In-class writing, discussion, class packet. Within two weeks after the workshop, participants have the option of e-mailing a poem to the instructor for feedback. Lunch can be brought or bought nearby.

Thursday, May 1: Poetry Critique Workshop

Poetry Critique Workshop

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

Thur., May 1

10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

OLLI at CCU

Litchfield Education Ctr.

Bi-Lo Shopping Center, 14427 Ocean Hwy

Litchfield/Pawleys Island, SC

Registration: $30, plus OLLI membership  

For further info: 843-234-3422

Our critique session will give you an opportunity for a close reading of your poem(s) by fellow poets. Our job is not to fix your poem but to help you find ways to re-envision it. Please bring about 6-7 copies of 1-3 poems. Class packet included, with a variety of revision strategies. Within two weeks after the workshop, participants have the option of e-mailing a poem to the instructor for feedback.  

Sat., April 26: LILA workshop -- Complicating the Poem

Saturday, April 26, 2014

10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

LILA Write Charleston! workshop: "Complicating the Poem"

Susan Laughter Meyers, instructor

Circular Congregational Church

150 Meeting St., Charleston

Registration: $30; $20 for LILA members/students/seniors

To register: bardowl2[at]aol.com (bard+owl+2 . . .) 

Like our contemporary world, some poems are best understood as complexities. This workshop will look at strategies for moving a poem draft from the simple to the complex--from the linear to the braided, the multi-faceted. We'll be looking for a variety of ways to delve into a subject that is better-served by the complications of research, collage, associative leaps, as well as other approaches that can enlarge and enliven the poem. And the ironic thing is this: to complicate a poem is simple! (If you already have a chosen subject for a poem, feel free to bring a draft or some notes/research.)

Why "complicate" a poem, you might ask. Because certain poems--perhaps with a subject that leans toward being unwieldy--cannot contain themselves in a brief, simple, linear fashion. That's when it's time to break the poem open to see where it wants to go, what approaches it wants to take, who it wants to take with it, and how. We'll be exploring some of the possible paths to take.

Please write me with any questions you might have. As I do with all my workshops, I'll provide a class packet with suggested writing activities, pertinent quotes, and resources for participants to take home and turn to later for further investigation of how our topic.

If you're in the area, I hope you can join us!

For more information about Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts (LILA) events, check out the website here.

This year's Press 53 Gathering of Poets

What a great time I had at this year's Gathering of Poets in Winston-Salem, NC, on April 5. It was the fourth year that Press 53 and Jacar Press have cosponsored the event, and my second time attending (this year as faculty). Six of us were on this year's faculty: Jaki Shelton Green, Katherine Soniat, Metta Sama, Keith Flynn, Richard Krawiec, and I. We each taught the same workshop twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. I had the pleasure of sitting in on Katherine's and Metta's workshops, and I'm all the richer for those two experiences. My own workshop was called "Losing (Your) Intention and Finding a Poem," a subject which I thoroughly enjoyed investigating to prepare for the day. When thinking about what to teach in classes and workshops, I always choose a topic that I myself want to spend time on and learn from.

Every workshop that I taught or attended at the Gathering of Poets was filled with 15-20 engaged, inquisitive, knowledgeable poets who had much to offer all the others in the room. The sort of gathering that brings about learning and friendships! If you're in the area next year, it'll be the last weekend in April. Do go if the opportunity arises, and be sure to register early as the day accommodates only 53 registered participants, a small but mighty group.

Tomorrow's poetry workshop: "Persistence and the Poem"

I'm looking forward to teaching an OLLI at CCU workshop at the Litchfield Education Center tomorrow. Because it's on "Persistence and the Poem," I've been thinking a lot about digging deeper when writing a poem, not giving up on it too soon. It's hard to sit there and keep at it when you don't know which way to turn, or what's working and what's not, or how much of what you've written you'll have to ditch—but the thing is to keep going. All those matters can be dealt with later. I like the idea of being persistent. It's a good life lesson. And, hey, it's fun—if you consider the discomfort of squirming in your seat fun.

It’ll be my first time teaching in the new Litchfield Education Center. We’re a small class so we’ll happily meet in the conference room around a big table. Nothing beats the camaraderie and imaginative thinking that go on when a bunch of poets get together.

Hats off to Hub City! A few words about their Writing in Place conference

Last weekend's Writing in Place conference, offered by Hub City Writers Project and held at Wofford College, was the 13th annual one—and what a wonderful weekend it was. Betsy Teter, the brain and heart of Hub City, truly knows how to plan a conference. Lots of classroom time, of course, for the workshops focusing on writing something new in the particular genre—but also readings by faculty and workshop participants, casual receptions that gave us time to get to know one another better, a panel on publishing, and a couple of concurrent Sunday workshops on specific topics. Plus plenty of good food! 

In the poetry workshop I taught—“An Arrival of Poems"—there were 13 participants: talented, dedicated poets who came together in the spirit of not only writing new work but also encouraging the others in the class with their own writing. I felt lucky to have such a congenial, hard-working group gathered together for our three sessions. Thank you, poets! 

And thank you, Hub City, for this gift of time, as well as the chance for each of us to allow ourselves  to wander off in a new direction with our writing, to try something we don't yet know how to do--to risk sounding clumsy and maybe even silly—but ultimately to trust that eventually it's all leading somewhere we need to go.

 

Hub City Writing in Place conference, Jul. 12-14

It's less than a week until the annual Hub City Writing in Place conference. I can't wait! Invited to be the poet on faculty, I've been having fun putting a class packet together--called "An Arrival of Poems" and completed last night. The weekend conference workshops are for the purpose of generating new work, which is my kind of workshop.

The conference is held on the campus of Wofford College in Spartanburg. Other faculty this year include Wiley Cash, keynote speaker; Judy Goldman, Jim Minick; and Susan Tekulve. Betsy Teter is the director of Hub City and the conference. Check it out here. It may be the perfect jumpstart for your writing next year.