Calendar Color Guide
In Person Events & Classes
Online Events & Classes
Hybrid Events & Classes
The Scary Poem Workshop
OnlineDo you love both horror and poetry? Ever wondered how the two meet? In Horror Poetry, we will read horror poems and explore how we can challenge our conception of horror. This class will have a generative aspect in which we will write horror poems.
The Prose Poetry Workshop
Online or at The MuseDo you find that your poetry lives in the space between poetry and prose? Do you enjoy playing with hybridity in your work? The Prose Poetry Workshop is the place for you! The Prose Poetry Workshop is a workshop in which we will read, discuss, and workshop prose poems. This class will offer multiple opportunities…
The Lyric Poem: ‘What The Heart Wants to Say’
Online or at The MuseMostly what we wrestle with as poets is understanding what we 'feel' and finding the language that moves others to feel 'with' us. In this class, we will examine emotionally rich poems and, with prompts, work on our own poems with an intense focus on how feeling informs the text and, most importantly, the reader.
Exploring “Hermit Crab” Poems
The Muse Writers Center 2200 Colonial Avenue, #3, Norfolk, VA, United StatesHermit Crab poetry takes its name from the subgenre of creative non-fiction in which the writing takes refuge in a found form. From bingo boards to recipes to Punnett squares, any “shell” can become the creative home for a poem. What environments do different found forms offer to our writing? How do we, as writers,…
Syntax and Surprise: Ways Into (and Out) of the Poem
Online or at The MuseWe've heard it said that writing must engage from the outset, and must keep us interested until the very end. How can we leverage the grammar and syntax of the poem alongside its other elements, to lead us (and our readers) to moments of greater pleasure, insight, and surprise; as well as toward more effective…
Writing in the Moment: A Pop Culture Poetry Session
OnlineThere are many things that poetry can be, one of which is playful and fun. Poetry invites us to explore a range of topics, including the mass media and trends that make up pop culture. Don’t be afraid of “dating” your work by including pop culture references—instead, let it function as a time capsule. In…
The Intermediate Poetry Workshop
OnlineThe Poetry Workshop continues with returning members and new members having poetry writing experience. Fresh, intriguing poetry prompts offer group members the opportunity to experiment with various styles, forms, subjects and themes, and in doing so, will clarify their own voices as they actively write and revise original poems. Each workshop will include consideration of…
The Poetry Studio
Online or at The MuseThe 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…
The Craft of Poetry
Online or at The MuseWhat makes great poems? In this class, we will read and discuss the craft strategies involved in work that resonates. We will examine such things as anaphora, enjambment, meter, metaphor, and so forth, in poems offered to us by Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Bishop, William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Louise Gluck, Robert Pinsky, Derek Walcott, Rosanna Warren,…
Mapping the Unseen: Poetry, Cartography, and the Imagined City
OnlineHow do we map the unmappable? This workshop explores the intersection of poetry, essay, and cartography through Calvino’s Invisible Cities, Cerrone’s operatic adaptation, and Solnit’s Infinite Cities. Through generative writing and spatial storytelling, students will craft poetic maps, reimagining place through language and form. Using a variety of media, participants will create a final project blending…
Poetry Playground
OnlineWelcome to the poetry playground, a class that invites students to explore poetry in experimental and playful ways! We will read and write poems that both wander and chase; poems that dig in the sandbox for unlikely treasures; poems that swing us higher and higher—and dare us to jump. Each week, we’ll have fun with…
It’s All About You: An Introduction to Poetry Workshop
Online or at The MusePoetry is a descriptive space. It’s for you to wonder why crying feels so good sometimes. It’s for you to describe how a child’s laughter can erase a bad day. Poetry is safety. It’s vulnerability. Poetry is about who you love, and what makes you smile. Poetry is invincibility, tragedy, beauty, strength, fragility. It’s contradiction.…