Poetry

Dear (ex) Love of My Life: Writing Poetry as Letters

A breakup letter to a particularly evil ex; a letter of unsaid feelings to a crush; a fan letter to a mega-celebrity; an open letter to a popular cereal brand–letters can make for incredible poems!

Writing poetry in the form of a letter can be a cathartic experience, allowing writers to unlock deep emotions of all kinds. When writing a poem in the form of a letter, writers can be intentional about their audience, and tailor their writing and voice accordingly.

In this workshop, we will read poems from living poets in the form of letters to see how they make this timeless form of communication new and fresh. Generative prompts will be provided to help us explore how we can write poetry in letter form, with a focus on specific techniques and approaches that workshop attendees can apply in their own writing practice.

Attendees will have the option to share drafts as part of the workshop. This workshop is open to writers of all levels, from experienced poets to first-time explorers.

What Participants Will Take Away

• An appreciation for the letter as a poetic form.
• A PDF of all readings and prompts provided during the workshop.
• A list or contemporary poems in the form of the letter.
• 2-3 new poem drafts.

There will be an optional opportunity to share.

Suitable for all levels.

Choose between two dates:

Saturday, June 3, 2023: 7 AM PDT / 10 AM EDT / 3 PM BST / 7:30 PM IST

Sunday, July 1, 2023: 4 PM PDT / 7 PM EDT / 8 AM JST / 9 AM AEST

About Instructor
Frances Klein (she/her) is a poet and teacher writing at the intersection of disability and gender. She is the 2022 winner of the Robert Golden Poetry Prize, and the author of the chapbooks New and Permanent (Blanket Sea 2022) and The Best Secret (Bottlecap Press 2022). Klein currently serves as assistant editor of Southern Humanities Review.

Registration: Want to register? Sign up for the mailing list and you’ll be notified when registration opens in May.

Click here for the text version of the June 3 time zone map.

Click here for the text version of the July 1 time zone map.