Often the act of writing poetry is regarded as “lofty,” an endeavor requiring profound insight, else why even attempt it? But insight is not what goes into writing a poem, rather, it is what comes out of it.

What goes into a poem is work. Just as, when climbing a mountain, we first need to do some work (climbing) before it is possible to stop and take in the view (insight), poems need to be worked before they can yield insight. That insight, the trustworthy view we end up with, which is nothing we could have begun with, is known as extraordinary seeing.

In this workshop participants will be shown innovative and delightful ways to compose and revise poems, in order to lay the ground for extraordinary seeing. We will have time to start some new poems, and also get feedback on something we’ve brought in.

Cost: $100/125/150, sliding scale
Location: private home in Novato
Duration: 10am – 4pm