The whole world is speaking to us—and as poets it is our responsibility to bring its messages to those who need to hear them. Some of those messages arrive scented with wildflowers, others with the smoke from wildfires. They come postmarked from countries where the people and their land have been torn apart by war. Sometimes they come from the future with news of a global shift that will completely transform our lives. And sometimes, if we are open to receiving them, they arrive as love letters directly from the Earth to us—like the last words of a vanishing species before it disappears forever. The challenge is to capture these dispatches directly and express them powerfully so that all are invited to experience their heartfelt revelations.
In four powerful one-day workshops, writer and haiku master Clark Strand shows participants how to use the world’s smallest poem to address the biggest, most urgent issues of today.
Sign Up for One or More – or Register for ALL FOUR for a 20% DIscount!
CHANNELING OUR RAGE: Poems of Protest and Ecological Conscience
Saturday, May 16 on Zoom
Fee: $125
Discover haiku as a form of protest literature by exploring the political, environmental, and humanitarian causes that have inspired some of the best poetry of our age. We’ll learn to pack our strongest feelings into small spaces, creating “syllables under pressure” that explode with meaning and powerful emotion in the reader’s mind. The theme of the day is “Poetry As a Catalyst for Change.”
EROS & ENTANGLEMENT: Love Poems of the Natural World
Saturday, July 18 on Zoom
Fee $125
Learn how the pairing of human emotion with images drawn from nature can express the power of erotic love. Drawing on the animate Life Force that infuses all things—from birds and flowers to mountains and rivers and even the weather—we’ll look at the tradition of “love haiku,” ancient to modern, and find ways to embrace eros as ecology at every stage of life, from adolescence to old age. The theme is “Eros and Ecology are One.”
WRITING SCI-KU: Poetry on the Cutting Edge of Science and Discovery
Saturday, September 19 on Zoom
Fee: $125
Join us for a whirlwind tour of the cosmos—from the mysteries of meteorology to puns on the periodic table to quantum physics and the inexpressible vastness of space. We’ll learn how modern poets use science to restore wonder to our encounter with the world around us. The theme is “Poetry Is the Soul of Science.”
THE HEALING ART: Poetry as a Path Through Illness, Misfortune, or Grief
Saturday, November 14 on Zoom
Fee: $125
We’ll learn to use haiku as a daily “diary poem” to chart our course through life’s darkest, most difficult moments. We’ll read “Death Poems” by the masters; haiku by survivors of abuse or natural disasters; and poems expressing the stages of grief from denial to acceptance to healing . . . and finally joy. The theme is “Writing In the Dark.”
Each Saturday workshop will follow the same schedule on Zoom.
- Noon to 1:30 pm Eastern — An exploration of the workshop theme with sample poems, Q&A, and discussion. Followed by writing prompts and exercises—plus guidance for writing three haiku to discuss during our second session.
- 3:30 to 5:00 pm Eastern — A guided discussion of the theme-based poems shared by members, focusing on what is good about them. Poets may offer background on their inspiration, process, and purpose in writing them if they wish.
The workshop will conclude with resources for further writing and study, including platforms for publishing participants’ poems. All sessions will be recorded and sent to participants at the end of each workshop.
Click on a Registration Button after the Workshop Description ABOVE to Register for ONE workshop at a time for $125 Each
OR
Register for all four BELOW for $400 – a 20% Discount!
Dates: May 16th, July 18th, September 19th, November 14th
Each workshop has TWO afternoon sessions on a Saturday, from Noon to 1:30 & 3:30 to 5:00pm Eastern
Deposits and Workshops fees are non-refundable