“Narrative Poems: Getting Out of the Rut” with David Meischen
April 15, 2023 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM CDT
$59.00 – $119.00
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This Event is for Members only.
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$59 for Members
$119 for Non-Members
Can’t make it to the live class? No problem! All classes are recorded and made available to class registrants for one month.
Most writers are trying to tell a story with their work, but stories can easily fall into a narrative rut – moving along predictably, chronologically.
This class is for writers who are currently working on or are interested in exploring and crafting nonlinear narrative poems, especially those looking to practice the art of surprise to find new and compelling ways to engage readers.
Over the course of three hours, participants will experiment with three approaches to writing a nonlinear narrative poem. We’ll begin with three poems that assemble chunks of narrative around a significant personal item—a grandmother’s butter churn, for example. Next, participants will examine what the instructor calls ambient noise—sights and sounds on the periphery of a story that lend both texture and surprise to nonlinear approaches. Finally, participants will examine poems that braid two or more narrative threads—alternating between two storylines that complete each other. The class will include two very short writing sessions, followed by a sharing of insights.
TAKE THIS CLASS IF:
- You’re a poet or poetry-curious writer interested in narrative poems.
- You enjoy the element of surprise when you read a story or poem.
- You’ve grown tired of habitual chronology in the poems you write.
- You have a narrative poem you’re working on and would like to learn ways to engage readers better.
The deadline to register for this class is Friday, April 14 at 5:00 PM CT.
Instructor
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A Pushcart honoree, with a personal essay in Pushcart Prize XLII, David Meischen is the author of Anyone’s Son, winner of the John A. Robertson Award for Best First Book of Poetry from the Texas Institute of Letters (TIL). Nopalito: Stories is forthcoming from the University of New Mexico Press. David has twice received the Kay Cattarulla Award for Best Short Story from TIL, most recently for “Crossing at the Light,” lead story in The Distance Between Here and Elsewhere: Three Stories (Storylandia, Summer 2020). His work has appeared in The Common, Copper Nickel, The Evansville Review, Salamander, Southern Poetry Review, The Southern Review, Valparaiso Fiction Review, and elsewhere. A former juror for the Kimmel Harding Nelson center for the arts, David completed a 2018 writing residency at Jentel Arts. Co-founder and Managing Editor of Dos Gatos Press, he lives in Albuquerque, NM with his husband—also his co-publisher and co-editor—Scott Wiggerman.
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Closed captioning is available for all online classes and special events.
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Writers’ League of Texas classes and workshops are also funded in part by the Texas Commission on the Arts – Investing in a Creative Texas. For more information, go to www.arts.texas.gov.