Two classes for Spring 2012

With blossoms bursting out all over my plum trees and daffodils peeking up through the peastraw, it’s time to pimp the Spring Poetry Classes.

Two shorter classes this time round. First, a three week Formal Poetry class. We’ll be having a shameless wallow in the points and pleasures of historical forms, such as (but not limited to) the sonnet, the ghazal, the ballad, the ode and the triolet. Why do we use them? What do they do? How have they changed over time? Lots of examples, plenty of writing time, and a good option for anyone interested in modern uses of rhyme and rhythm, or just wanting to brush up on their technical knowledge. Suitable for all levels.

Saturdays, September 22nd, 29th, and October 6th, 2012
(three weeks)
10.30 am – 1.30 pm
Habgood Lounge
Lincoln Event Centre
Meijer Drive, Lincoln
Fee: $30

Minimum of 12, maximum of 24 places.
Closing date for enrolments: 14th September, 2012

The other offering is a shameless attempt to tie-in with the CPC Spring Poetry in Performance readings. David Gill and I are offering a weekend class, ‘Poem Unleashed: preparing your poem for publication and performance’. A combination of Editing 101 and Voice Training, we’ll look at common issues that come up when editing a poem, workshop submitted poems (one each, no more than 50 lines long) as a group, and discuss tactics for making editing easier. David will take us through some vocal work, and look at how to annotate the poem and rehearse it for performance, (with the sneaky aim of putting what we learn into practice at the Open Mic sessions of the CPC readings). We’ll also look at the do’s and don’t’s of submission, and some very practical steps for managing the whole process. Suitable for all levels.

Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th October, 2012
(two days)
10.30 am – 1.30 pm
Habgood Lounge
Lincoln Event Centre Meijer Drive, Lincoln
Fee: $40

Minimum of 11, maximum of 20 places.
Closing date for enrollments: 20th October, 2012

Should be quite a lot of fun, in both cases. You know what to do next.
(Go on. You know you want to.)