English poet, David Whyte, describes self-compassion as a form of faith, a way in which to converse with the world, and as poets, we can only best perform this act with innocent eyes. In this class, we will attempt to do just that. We will grant ourselves permission to wonder again, to gaze at the world freshly, to recognize our innate curiosities as our own spiritual journeys and to return to those curiosities with sacred ferocity. And in turn, hopefully,…

Come speak tree, gull, and frog. Write of tides and seasons, the saved and soon lost, and the necessary beauty that still exists in a much-misused world. Ecopoetics places the human experience alongside the horseshoe crab’s, giving equal weight to each. It refuses to “other” the non-human and demands that a salamander’s right to exist be acknowledged and praised. In this moment of peril, as our natural and social systems careen toward chaos, the ecopoetic perspective provides a path forward…

Whether you’re brand new to poetry or just need a refresher on the craft of writing poems, this class will focus on the fundamentals of what makes a great poem. With a strong emphasis on how to read a poem as a writer, this class mixes both traditional and formal poetry with modern contemporary examples and covers the basics of form and language. This class will help you build your toolbox of literary devices to begin crafting poems on your…

The Advanced Poetry Workshop is an expansion of the principles and techniques learned in the Poetry Workshop. It is open to students who have completed previous workshop-level classes at The Muse or those who have an extensive workshop or graduate-level experience. This class focuses on writing, criticism, and the exploration of contemporary poetic discourse. Students at this level are writing poetry with an increased focus on creating an individual voice and emotional richness. Students will be expected to submit regularly…

Revision may be the most demanding aspect of being a writer, but it need not be drudgery. In fact, reworking poems should be as focused on discovery and development as it is on cutting and correcting. With a blueprint that I will pass out at the start, each student will take one (or two) of his/her/their original poems through several stages of re-seeing that will promote a more inspired and creative approach to revision. Please note: This class is an…

The Poetry Workshop continues with returning members, new members from Introduction to Poetry Writing, and new members with poetry writing experience.  Members of the group will actively write and revise original poems, focusing on elements of craft and analyzing select poems by our best poets that effectively model those elements. All group members will have the opportunity to submit material for the workshop. Your instructor will make every effort to tailor the submission schedule to your individual goals. Please note:…

Forms may be understood as masks; personas may be understood as masks; some poets have conceived as poetry as the mask of the gods, others as masks they don to reveal themselves without (they argued) revealing themselves. The politics of masks precedes the current pandemic, and the sub-literate rah-rah which attends so many conversations on so many subjects today, including the subject of masks. That pre-cursive politics has been playing out in American poetry for decades: the poem, one side…

The studio continues: Members of the group will actively write and revise original poetry, with a special emphasis on the careful review of members' work, the examination of the literary and commercial marketplace, and the submission of work for publication. Work will be submitted in advance of each meeting. All poems submitted will be critiqued during that meeting. Please note: This class is an online class. To participate, students must have a stable internet connection with a computer or device…

In this 4-session class, each session we will read and write poems on different (but related) themes: Awareness/Intuition; Strength; Solidarity; Care. Workshop participants will be provided with prompts to inspire both their writing and a second layer of exploration— We will sketch out and exchange creative ideas for adding visual elements to our work. As we are inspired, perhaps we'll try collage; or turn poems into postcards, cutouts, erasures, illustrated letters, accordion books, mini poetry zines, repurposed books, matchbox poems,…